September 18, 2025 • 23 mins
Broadcaster Jessica Charman returns to the Charlotte FC Podcast with fresh insights and a new perspective from the MLS Season Pass booth. With Charlotte FC riding a historic win streak and NYCFC surging up the Eastern Conference table, Jess breaks down the tactics, key players, and storylines that make this matchup one of the most compelling of the season. From Wilfred Zaha’s impact in the attack to the rise of Idan Toklamati, from Maxi Moralez’s timeless influence to Matt Freese’s strong goalkeeping, no angle is left uncovered.
Jess also shares her personal journey—why she left the comfort of a secure role in Charlotte to bet on herself, how she earned her place calling MLS matches, and what it means to prove she belongs at the highest level of the sport.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's time for the Charlotte FC Podcast.
All right, welcome to another edition of the Charlotte FC
Podcast. And I am delighted to have
Jessica Charming back on the show.
And this time it's for a whole nother reason.
(00:21):
And Jess, first of all, welcome back.
It's been an adventure. I am so glad to be back and it's
been an adventure. That's a great way to put it.
It's been a wild six months but delighted that the stars have
aligned and we have a good reason to reconnect.
Yes. And I, I can't believe you got
the prime match up in my opinion.
(00:42):
And it's just not just a, a Charlotte FC thing.
Like you have the match you haveyou have two teams that have
been playing so well lately. And by the way, didn't you do
your first MLS match in New York?
Yeah, I did actually. Yep, I did New York versus
Chicago and then I called the repeat of that game last
weekend. I called New York this
Wednesday. So all I'm saying is it's been
(01:04):
very nice to have New York consistently before I have
Charlotte again, because as a broadcaster that worked for a
club, you obviously it's not necessarily even biases.
You just have more natural knowledge of a team that you
work for for three years. So to be able to have recency
bias now with New York City having called their last two
matches going into this one, it just helps you have an
(01:27):
understanding of the club and helps with the, I guess, the
evenness of the broadcast we're going to produce on.
Yeah, and I think you can see more tendencies because as as
much as a team likes to play, it's how they're playing in that
current moment is what you see. So you've had a up close
advantage of seeing them not only the last two weeks, but
(01:48):
also knowing how Charlotte playsand probably watching Charlotte
from afar. Just some stats on this.
This is history in the making. If it happens, ten in a row
would be the first time. But Charlotte's got in their
last ten matches, nine wins in arow of course, and then the
previous one was a draw. They were actually and in 9th
place at 26 points when they metNew York, which started the
(02:13):
streak back in July. And New York was in 7th place at
31 points. And they have actually in their
last ten won seven matches, 2 losses and one draw.
So I think these are two the hottest teams in MLS.
They are, and what is so specialabout it is also not only are
they hot and consistent, but they're both playing really
exciting attacking soccer. The match yesterday for New York
(02:34):
City was incredible. They trailed Columbus Crew
twice. I know Columbus right now on the
table don't look necessary like one of the best teams in the
league, but anyone that's watched Wilfred Nancy's side
knows how good that Columbus Crew can be for Charlotte FC.
It's just unprecedented right now.
It's funny because every weekendwhen I'm calling games, I like
(02:55):
to have a look and I always willlook to the Charlotte FC result
because I care about the team. And when you get an opportunity
to see, every time I would open it up and I'd be like, wow, they
won again, Wow, they won again. No way they won again.
And even this recent week, I wasin the middle of a broadcast
while the game was happening andwe were getting score updates
and we have obviously a sponsored segment on Apple with
(03:16):
the scores. And I just couldn't believe it
that they were beating into Miami.
And that's not a disrespect to Charlotte FC, it's just how
unlikely it is to go on a win streak like this from a selfish
standpoint, the opportunity to potentially cause such a big
moment in history, it is really exciting.
And either way, just what Dean Smith has done.
(03:38):
But I love looking at this tablebecause Nick, so many MLS
pundits that have been in this game even longer than I have.
Obviously, I've been paying attention to MLS really since I
arrived in America. So we're looking at 20/13/2014
this in conference standing. It is incredible when you look
at the top to the bottom of the playoffs and there's 10 points
(03:58):
in between them. It's wild that there's a
possibility that and we were talking to Dean Smith just
earlier today and he said The thing is we're not even
guaranteed. Like we can drop as low as the
playing game at this point. So yes, our post season is
alive, but we can't take our foot off the gas because all it
takes is a couple of poor results and all of a sudden
(04:19):
you're not in a hosting position.
Yeah, and New York creeping in there.
They still have a game at hand against most of these guys along
with Miami that they can creep up there into.
I believe even with a a win, they would be in fourth under
Charlotte even if they are tied because of wins, but still like
having them go into that spot and nobody's talking about New
York. No, they're they're a bit of a
(04:41):
dark horse. And I think what Pascal Jansen
has done with this side, they'vehad some bad results, but
ironically their bad results have occurred against weaker
teams. They have one of the worst
records against teams that are low in the table.
You mentioned one of those losses in recent form as against
DC United to run. They do well against good teams.
I use Columbus as an example again, yet again, recency bias,
(05:03):
but Columbus have fantastic players.
Columbus LED twice, yet New YorkCity were able to show
resilience. And the biggest thing about this
New York City side that I think Charlotte's going to have to be
aware of is that they don't lay down and die.
They're not a team that Charlotte can get the first goal
and feel comfortable as they showed against Columbus where
Columbus LED twice. New York City end up winning 332
(05:24):
or even in Chicago where Chicagoscored early in in that match in
Chicago and yet eunuch City wereable to turn the screws and
eventually win three 1. So it's a tough match.
I think that I even got a text from good friend Willie P over
at WFNZ and it basically said, goodness gracious, out of all
the games that we should have for that 10th win, this is
(05:47):
starting to look like a really tough one to make history.
Oh man, yes. And speaking that you're talking
about different players, I want to key in on a couple players
for this match up. Of course you got Wilf and Edon.
Can you talk a little bit about them and what you see, how they
are? Their play could disrupt New
(06:08):
York. Yeah, I mean, I love Wilfred
Zaha and I followed his career during his time in England.
I know he gets a lot of tough love just because of his
personality type, but I don't think Wilfred Zaha would be the
player that he was if he didn't have that personality type.
We saw a glimpse of what a good teammate he can be, and you
can't understate the moment of giving the penalty away to Eden
(06:29):
Toklamati to get the hat trick against into Miami.
But what I like about Wolf is maybe he's not scoring as many
goals as he would like personally when you look at a
number, but his involvement in getting others involved, his
trickery, and then an underratedpart of his game is drawing the
fouls. One of the most foul players in
the entirety of Major League Soccer.
(06:49):
And once he's able to control it, not let it get under his
skin and see it as #1A compliment.
If players are fouling you, thatmeans they can't handle you,
they're scared of you, and they want to commit the foul #2 now
you're allowing someone like Ashley Westwood.
We've seen how good Ashley Westwood service can be from a
dead bull. You're allowing opportunities
for others to get into the end of the play on a small pitch
like New York City. Any free kick in and around the
(07:13):
attacking half becomes an opportunity to score a goal.
So I think Wilfred Zaha getting into good errors on the pitch,
drawing contact, luring this Columbus, this New York City
side rather into making fouls aswe saw them do against Columbus
Crew, could be beneficial. Edan Toklamati, I didn't get an
opportunity to really witness him during my time at Charlotte
(07:33):
FC and I'll be completely transparent.
I'm blown away with just how quickly he has shown.
Dean Smith has been extremely transparent with us as
broadcasters, that with Patrick Ajaman knowing that he wasn't
going to sign a contract and knowing that he wanted to be out
of this team, that he wasn't tooconcerned about it.
He already thought that Tokolamati was challenging for
(07:55):
Patrick Ajaman's minutes and when Patrick went to Gold Cup,
he obviously filled his boots. What I think Toklamati does
differently is his hold up play.He does a great job of showing,
holding up the ball, connecting with others.
With Patrick Ajaman, a lot of what we saw with Big Pat's
success was direct balls forwardfor him to run onto.
Dan Toklamati is more of a diverse forward.
(08:15):
He's comfortable holding the ball up, bounce passes.
He's great in the air as I love this picture that you have going
on here. His aerial presence from set
pieces and then just the the diversity of the goals he's
scoring. He's scoring all sorts of
different goals. I think he is.
It's been an absolute find and it's another testament to the
front office at Charlotte. We talk about Adelson, Malanda
(08:35):
all the time. We talk about even Pep BL, who's
available for selection coming into this game.
That's a great opportunity to have, particularly in the tight
spaces of New York City's pitch.A player like Pep I think can be
very impactful. He's very good in those tight
knit spaces and great ball control.
That sort of Spanish flair of all around is going to be
important in this game. I think the front office
(08:57):
deserves a lot of credit becausemaybe Charlotte, you can put
Zahar in there as a big name signing, but maybe Zahar doesn't
have a son or doesn't have a Marco Royce or doesn't have a
Messi. But what they're doing in
finding players in intricate leagues that a lot of outsiders
have never heard of is very impressive to me.
Yeah, let's talk about New York.On the other hand, I got a
(09:19):
couple of players that I think you would you would agree are
having some good seasons for them.
And so these three players, so Iwanted to point out Alonzo
Martinez, Maxi Morales and of course Hans Wolf, like those
those guys are, are really threatening and kind of people
(09:41):
to be like, wait a second. This is where the scoring and
the assists are coming from mainly.
I can't believe Maxi Morales still continues to do it at his
ripe old age, 38 years of age and still contributing
consistently. He is little in stature but big
in heart and his ball control his movements.
I mentioned that tight space again.
Maxi Morales is the sort of player that you need in those
(10:02):
tight spaces, always finding an angle out, calm under pressure,
calm in possession and has an eye for a great pass.
I thought Alonzo Martinez was actually pretty poor against
Columbus Crew, but as a whole isan extremely exciting player.
Very correct. Again, we talk about the pitch
whenever you're playing in New York, Small baseball pitches
allow for transitional moments. He is going to lurk on the back
(10:24):
shoulders of whoever's playing center back for Charlotte FC and
they need to be able to clear the ball because if they don't
clear the ball, it's one-on-one.And Kristian Kalina, one of the
best goalkeepers in the league, but he will be challenged in
those moments because Alonzo Martinez running through on you
is a scary sight. Alice what was an interesting
one because he hadn't scored consistently for a long period
(10:44):
of time, but he's broken that dry treat now with the brace in
and around the right areas of the pitch.
One of his goals was a poacher'stapping.
One of them was a fantastic finish.
His goals got the headline, but his trickery on the flanks is
also very dangerous. So I think the attacking
combination of New York City is huge.
But a picture that there isn't of is Matt Freeze and I talked
(11:05):
about good goalkeepers. We know Nick got a goalkeeper
bias. I was.
Waiting this for the last one. I knew you wanted to talk about
goalkeepers, so. You knew me to.
This is why, that's why I have so much respect for you because
you saw where my brain was going.
I think that Matt Freeze will bedisappointed in the second goal
he conceded. I think he got his bearings a
little wrong and was caught off guard by the Abu Ali header,
(11:27):
which is why I think he caught all of us off guard.
Honestly, even as broadcasters, I was like, wait a minute, how
did that find its way into the back of the net?
But he's a good goalkeeper, fullof confidence, good with his
feet, which you have to be againin these tight areas.
But Christian Kalina just goes from strength to strength.
And what I think is fascinating about Christian Kalina is when
you have a player that has a breakout season or a season
(11:48):
where he finally got the respectthat he deserved, like his 2024
Goalkeeper of the Year season, it's very hard to replicate that
again. And you saw some of the
difficulties of replicating thatearlier on in the season.
He sat on the bench for a littlewhile, but that worked as a good
motivator. Dean Smith has always been very
hard on Christian Kliner, in my opinion.
He talks about making the saves he's expected to save.
(12:11):
He doesn't get over excited about anything.
Christian, Kalina. Does it's very rare to give a
compliment to Christian Kalina? Yeah.
And I mean, but I quite like that.
I think that's the hard, the hard approach that makes
Christian Kalina want to play even better.
Bringing in Drake calendar as competition.
It's motivated Christian Kalina.And I can speak from experience,
(12:33):
when I was playing in goal and Igot a little complacent with the
competition I had behind me, when I thought, OK, that's my
starting spot, I probably wasn'tplaying at the best level that I
could. I wasn't practicing as hard as I
could. The minute you bring someone in
there that you know has the opportunity to take your jersey,
all of a sudden you're shufflingthat much quicker.
(12:53):
You're holding that ball that maybe you were powering away a
little lazily. You're popping back up to your
feet a little quicker. You're seeing that with
Christian Kalina in his performances.
And I just, I just love watchinghim go from strength to
strength. And the Leo Messi penalty save,
it was, I'm not going to lie, I wish I'd had an opportunity to
talk about that. That would have been good.
(13:14):
But alas, they did a fantastic job.
Yeah, yeah. So looking at this match kind of
from a from, you spoke to both coaches, like from a tactical
standpoint, they're both going to do what they do best.
So how do we what do we see Charlotte doing best that's
making New York be like, wow, this is too tough for us?
(13:35):
Yeah, that's a really great question because again, I don't
want to have drum on about the pitch, but I do think the pitch
changes things a little bit. Dean Smith was honest about how
they're going to need to be so much better in tight spaces.
They're going to have a lot lesstime when they move the ball.
They're going to have to make better decisions of when to play
the ball, when to go long. Even with using Christian
Kaliner as a bounce pass, it's difficult because the minute the
(13:58):
goalkeeper has the ball, if you pressure them, they don't have
time to think. So decision making is going to
be key in those moments and making sure they don't play into
New York City's hands, handling the pressure.
The transitional moments have tobe smart for Charlotte FC.
New York City likes to play in transition.
Charlotte FC has some really good moments in transition.
So picking when to possess and picking when to spring forward.
(14:20):
And it's also just about being clinical with this New York City
side. Defensively, yes, they haven't
necessarily shown that in the last couple of games with the
goals they've been conceding, but defensively they've been
very good, very tight knit. A player like Justin Hack, I
love how he plays in the back line for New York City, stepping
into dangerous areas when he steps.
They have to find ways to punishand utilize that space left in
(14:43):
behind. That's why I think a player like
Eden Toccolamati or Wilfred Zahacan be really impactful.
And I'm interested to see how the midfield looks for Charlotte
because we've seen the rotationswith Grant Broniker.
Johnny, you've obviously got Ashley Westwood who is a no
brainer, but whether or not Pep BL, we saw him come off the
bench, how long he can go because I think he is suited in
(15:04):
a lot of ways to a match in tight spaces and a player like
Johnny who I've always been highon, I think he has the potential
to be one of the most impressiveplayers on this team.
The issue is his consistency lets him down in some moments.
Johnny has great footwork, particularly for a big YEAH.
Yeah, and he could be physical too.
(15:25):
Exactly. But he's going to have to choose
when to use that great footwork and when to release the ball
under pressure because New York City will swarm you and make you
uncomfortable and they will go with numbers and step and jump
lines. You have to be able to choose
when to go long and when to try and play through that pressure.
So is that really what New York's going to try to do to
(15:47):
frustrate Charlotte? Yeah, pounce on them.
Yeah, it was inopportune moments.
I mean, they made Columbus Crew look uncomfortable and Columbus
is one of the best known possession teams.
But I don't want to call Pasco Yance inside A1 trick pony
either because they out possessed Columbus crew
yesterday. They had a higher percentage.
So where this New York City sideis really dangerous is they can
(16:08):
press, they can be dangerous, but they also when they want to
string a few passes together, can string a few passes
together. Don't forget though, New York
City's had such a quick turn around.
A Wednesday to Saturday is a pretty quick turn around.
A Wednesday to Saturday at noon is an even quicker turn around.
The fresh legs of Charlotte FC and the fact they've been able
to have a proper week of practice versus New York City
(16:29):
that's had game, you know, recovery today.
I'm sure it it's, I think that'san advantage for Dean Smith's
side. Yeah, especially after playing a
team like Columbus. It is good that they had
possession, but you can be chasing Columbus all over.
Yeah, the shadows, the Columbus love to move the ball, but who
would have thought Columbus would be sitting where they are
on the table right now? It is realistic that Wilfred
(16:51):
Nancy's side could be in a play and game at the end of the
season. It's incredible.
Well, that's the kind of season we've had.
So the last part of this, I wanted just to talk to you about
your adventure here. So like you said, you just
you've been working in CharlotteFC and you worked previously
with with Atlanta United. And then you get this
opportunity to to go and just step out and not only step out
(17:15):
as other roles in, you know, women's soccer, but also you get
this chance with MLS and you getthe chance to be the
broadcaster, to be the commentator that we know you had
in there. And it's kind of like I'll do
color, but I'm really a play by play person.
So tell me about how that's gonefor you and your feelings now.
Yeah, it's really funny because I when I left Charlotte, it
(17:39):
wasn't an easy decision at all. And it was a risky decision.
I went from a stable position with a club that respected me,
with a team that utilized me andallowed me an opportunity to
talk about the professional gameweek in, week out where I was
guaranteed games. And I took a jump and I bet it
(17:59):
and counted on myself. When I left Charlotte, I always
knew I wanted to get back into Major League Soccer just because
of the passion I have for this league.
But I gave myself a realistic timeline.
I thought it would take two to three years to really build my
resume, to build my credibility,to get my reps in and to earn
that position. It was a great start to the
season with NWSLI was doing a lot of play by play with USL
(18:23):
Super League, USL Men's Championship, which was
important to me. Again, to be a voice in both
men's and with sports. The best way to be a pioneer and
to be a leader by example is showing that you want to be
involved in both the men's and women's game.
I just want to be a play by playcommentator and do as much
soccer, as much football as I can.
(18:44):
And then I got the call in May where, you know, Apple had heard
some of my stuff. They were very interested in
making sure that they could diversify their voices and they
felt that I was ready. Having listened to my tape.
They took a bit of a gamble on me and it paid off.
And ever since then I've been getting a lot of matches.
So I'm doing something right. They had me working with a
(19:06):
talent coach called Joe Montgomery, who has really
developed who I want to be as a broadcaster and has helped me.
I was really coming into this assomeone that loved the game,
that played the game, that was passionate, but maybe didn't
have the media or the broadcasting background that a
lot of players have. I didn't go to an elite
(19:28):
broadcasting journalism program,I just learned on the job, so
it's been really nice to get that structure and continue to
continue to develop. And they just brought that in
there like, or they said, Hey, would you be willing to to work
with this person? Yeah, they basically connected
me with her. She works with a lot of the
Apple talent and helps us fine tune the little things and gives
(19:49):
us a little bit of structure to thrive in.
And it's so nice to me now I don't go into a match and I
wouldn't say I was a headless chicken, but just like all my
thoughts out there, I have a bitmore of a structure and I found
the balance of structure, passion, knowing where I want to
be. And I know I've when I listen
back to my first game and you've, you know, you know this
too, from my first game to game.I think I'm on game 1516 now.
(20:13):
It is such a difference and I'm.I'm proud of myself for taking
on all of the feedback. I'm proud of myself for
continuing to develop reps I'm proud of myself for blocking out
the noise because obviously whatat Charlotte, I was a, you know,
I don't want to say a club legend that sounds good at
Charlotte, very popular personality.
I was well known. It was easy because when you're
(20:34):
the voice of a team, no one's going to get mad at you for
having an opinion because you'resharing the opinion.
You're almost a fan. When you a neutral voice, you
aren't going to be liked by everybody, particularly if their
team is losing or you right about their team.
So I've had to learn how to dealwith that.
But it's been a fantastic opportunity.
(20:54):
And I'll be completely transparent.
One of the main reasons I know Igot this look is because they
wanted to diversify their voices.
They wanted a female broadcaster, but being a female
gets you the in it might open the door, but it doesn't keep
the door open. And so I'm very proud of myself
for continuing to keep that dooropen.
And I do that from working my butt off, saying yes to
(21:16):
everything and just taking feedback the right way and being
open to develop as a human being.
Am I the broadcaster I want to be in 10 years time?
No. But when I look back to who I
was 10 years ago, calling college games, climbing a ladder
after I'd finished playing a college game, Pretty happy with
where she's at now. Yeah, I remember you, we were
(21:36):
messaging before that first gameand you were saying some things
like, you know, just your nervesbasically were coming out and
you were, you were, you were like scrambling all this stuff.
And I was like, you're going to be fine.
Just do your be yourself kind ofthing.
And like you said, you just, youwent ahead and did that and you,
you realized that, you know, youhad a lot to offer and that you
were just going to do the best you could and, you know, see
(21:59):
what? Happens never having regrets,
right? I think that's the biggest
thing. And am I going to call a perfect
game every time? Absolutely not.
There's no such thing as callinga perfect game.
But is it going to be my best game?
I'm not necessarily going to have a better game than I did on
Wednesday, on Saturday. But it's about learning and
making sure that I listen to it,take feedback, get better, grow.
(22:22):
And then the other part about itis not beating myself up about
that. If I have a stumble on a word,
it's not the end of the world. Having that goldfish memory, you
know, if you want to Ted like memory Ted Lassa reference is
important. And then the other part I think
that is really pivotal is staying true to yourself and
making sure the reason I don't, if I don't, if I have a bad
(22:43):
game, it's not going to be because I didn't prep well.
You know, there's never going tobe that reason.
I'm never going to let myself down from not trying hard
enough. And that's huge to me as well.
That's awesome. Well, we're going to enjoy the
story that you tell that unveilsitself on Saturday.
Thanks for your time. I know it's been a crazy, crazy
time. Like you said, just barely
enough time to see your family. So go ahead and join them before
(23:06):
you have to go call this match. Well, Nick, I'm looking forward
to it and I will see you on September 27th because I have
the home game as well, so I willsee you against Montreal.
Awesome. Take care again.
Thanks for listening to another episode of the Charlotte FC
Podcast where we bring you the fascinating people who work for
(23:26):
and around Charlotte FC and the world of football.
The Charlotte FC Podcast is edited and produced by me, Nick
Finnelli and Eli Finnelli. Please help us out and share
this episode with others. Five stars and follow CLTFC
Podcast on Instagram X and YouTube.
Until next time, enjoy the day.
It's time for the Charlotte FC Podcast.
All right, welcome to another edition of the Charlotte FC
Podcast. And I am delighted to have
Jessica Charming back on the show.
And this time it's for a whole nother reason.
(00:21):
And Jess, first of all, welcome back.
It's been an adventure. I am so glad to be back and it's
been an adventure. That's a great way to put it.
It's been a wild six months but delighted that the stars have
aligned and we have a good reason to reconnect.
Yes. And I, I can't believe you got
the prime match up in my opinion.
(00:42):
And it's just not just a, a Charlotte FC thing.
Like you have the match you haveyou have two teams that have
been playing so well lately. And by the way, didn't you do
your first MLS match in New York?
Yeah, I did actually. Yep, I did New York versus
Chicago and then I called the repeat of that game last
weekend. I called New York this
Wednesday. So all I'm saying is it's been
(01:04):
very nice to have New York consistently before I have
Charlotte again, because as a broadcaster that worked for a
club, you obviously it's not necessarily even biases.
You just have more natural knowledge of a team that you
work for for three years. So to be able to have recency
bias now with New York City having called their last two
matches going into this one, it just helps you have an
(01:27):
understanding of the club and helps with the, I guess, the
evenness of the broadcast we're going to produce on.
Yeah, and I think you can see more tendencies because as as
much as a team likes to play, it's how they're playing in that
current moment is what you see. So you've had a up close
advantage of seeing them not only the last two weeks, but
(01:48):
also knowing how Charlotte playsand probably watching Charlotte
from afar. Just some stats on this.
This is history in the making. If it happens, ten in a row
would be the first time. But Charlotte's got in their
last ten matches, nine wins in arow of course, and then the
previous one was a draw. They were actually and in 9th
place at 26 points when they metNew York, which started the
(02:13):
streak back in July. And New York was in 7th place at
31 points. And they have actually in their
last ten won seven matches, 2 losses and one draw.
So I think these are two the hottest teams in MLS.
They are, and what is so specialabout it is also not only are
they hot and consistent, but they're both playing really
exciting attacking soccer. The match yesterday for New York
(02:34):
City was incredible. They trailed Columbus Crew
twice. I know Columbus right now on the
table don't look necessary like one of the best teams in the
league, but anyone that's watched Wilfred Nancy's side
knows how good that Columbus Crew can be for Charlotte FC.
It's just unprecedented right now.
It's funny because every weekendwhen I'm calling games, I like
(02:55):
to have a look and I always willlook to the Charlotte FC result
because I care about the team. And when you get an opportunity
to see, every time I would open it up and I'd be like, wow, they
won again, Wow, they won again. No way they won again.
And even this recent week, I wasin the middle of a broadcast
while the game was happening andwe were getting score updates
and we have obviously a sponsored segment on Apple with
(03:16):
the scores. And I just couldn't believe it
that they were beating into Miami.
And that's not a disrespect to Charlotte FC, it's just how
unlikely it is to go on a win streak like this from a selfish
standpoint, the opportunity to potentially cause such a big
moment in history, it is really exciting.
And either way, just what Dean Smith has done.
(03:38):
But I love looking at this tablebecause Nick, so many MLS
pundits that have been in this game even longer than I have.
Obviously, I've been paying attention to MLS really since I
arrived in America. So we're looking at 20/13/2014
this in conference standing. It is incredible when you look
at the top to the bottom of the playoffs and there's 10 points
(03:58):
in between them. It's wild that there's a
possibility that and we were talking to Dean Smith just
earlier today and he said The thing is we're not even
guaranteed. Like we can drop as low as the
playing game at this point. So yes, our post season is
alive, but we can't take our foot off the gas because all it
takes is a couple of poor results and all of a sudden
(04:19):
you're not in a hosting position.
Yeah, and New York creeping in there.
They still have a game at hand against most of these guys along
with Miami that they can creep up there into.
I believe even with a a win, they would be in fourth under
Charlotte even if they are tied because of wins, but still like
having them go into that spot and nobody's talking about New
York. No, they're they're a bit of a
(04:41):
dark horse. And I think what Pascal Jansen
has done with this side, they'vehad some bad results, but
ironically their bad results have occurred against weaker
teams. They have one of the worst
records against teams that are low in the table.
You mentioned one of those losses in recent form as against
DC United to run. They do well against good teams.
I use Columbus as an example again, yet again, recency bias,
(05:03):
but Columbus have fantastic players.
Columbus LED twice, yet New YorkCity were able to show
resilience. And the biggest thing about this
New York City side that I think Charlotte's going to have to be
aware of is that they don't lay down and die.
They're not a team that Charlotte can get the first goal
and feel comfortable as they showed against Columbus where
Columbus LED twice. New York City end up winning 332
(05:24):
or even in Chicago where Chicagoscored early in in that match in
Chicago and yet eunuch City wereable to turn the screws and
eventually win three 1. So it's a tough match.
I think that I even got a text from good friend Willie P over
at WFNZ and it basically said, goodness gracious, out of all
the games that we should have for that 10th win, this is
(05:47):
starting to look like a really tough one to make history.
Oh man, yes. And speaking that you're talking
about different players, I want to key in on a couple players
for this match up. Of course you got Wilf and Edon.
Can you talk a little bit about them and what you see, how they
are? Their play could disrupt New
(06:08):
York. Yeah, I mean, I love Wilfred
Zaha and I followed his career during his time in England.
I know he gets a lot of tough love just because of his
personality type, but I don't think Wilfred Zaha would be the
player that he was if he didn't have that personality type.
We saw a glimpse of what a good teammate he can be, and you
can't understate the moment of giving the penalty away to Eden
(06:29):
Toklamati to get the hat trick against into Miami.
But what I like about Wolf is maybe he's not scoring as many
goals as he would like personally when you look at a
number, but his involvement in getting others involved, his
trickery, and then an underratedpart of his game is drawing the
fouls. One of the most foul players in
the entirety of Major League Soccer.
(06:49):
And once he's able to control it, not let it get under his
skin and see it as #1A compliment.
If players are fouling you, thatmeans they can't handle you,
they're scared of you, and they want to commit the foul #2 now
you're allowing someone like Ashley Westwood.
We've seen how good Ashley Westwood service can be from a
dead bull. You're allowing opportunities
for others to get into the end of the play on a small pitch
like New York City. Any free kick in and around the
(07:13):
attacking half becomes an opportunity to score a goal.
So I think Wilfred Zaha getting into good errors on the pitch,
drawing contact, luring this Columbus, this New York City
side rather into making fouls aswe saw them do against Columbus
Crew, could be beneficial. Edan Toklamati, I didn't get an
opportunity to really witness him during my time at Charlotte
(07:33):
FC and I'll be completely transparent.
I'm blown away with just how quickly he has shown.
Dean Smith has been extremely transparent with us as
broadcasters, that with Patrick Ajaman knowing that he wasn't
going to sign a contract and knowing that he wanted to be out
of this team, that he wasn't tooconcerned about it.
He already thought that Tokolamati was challenging for
(07:55):
Patrick Ajaman's minutes and when Patrick went to Gold Cup,
he obviously filled his boots. What I think Toklamati does
differently is his hold up play.He does a great job of showing,
holding up the ball, connecting with others.
With Patrick Ajaman, a lot of what we saw with Big Pat's
success was direct balls forwardfor him to run onto.
Dan Toklamati is more of a diverse forward.
(08:15):
He's comfortable holding the ball up, bounce passes.
He's great in the air as I love this picture that you have going
on here. His aerial presence from set
pieces and then just the the diversity of the goals he's
scoring. He's scoring all sorts of
different goals. I think he is.
It's been an absolute find and it's another testament to the
front office at Charlotte. We talk about Adelson, Malanda
(08:35):
all the time. We talk about even Pep BL, who's
available for selection coming into this game.
That's a great opportunity to have, particularly in the tight
spaces of New York City's pitch.A player like Pep I think can be
very impactful. He's very good in those tight
knit spaces and great ball control.
That sort of Spanish flair of all around is going to be
important in this game. I think the front office
(08:57):
deserves a lot of credit becausemaybe Charlotte, you can put
Zahar in there as a big name signing, but maybe Zahar doesn't
have a son or doesn't have a Marco Royce or doesn't have a
Messi. But what they're doing in
finding players in intricate leagues that a lot of outsiders
have never heard of is very impressive to me.
Yeah, let's talk about New York.On the other hand, I got a
(09:19):
couple of players that I think you would you would agree are
having some good seasons for them.
And so these three players, so Iwanted to point out Alonzo
Martinez, Maxi Morales and of course Hans Wolf, like those
those guys are, are really threatening and kind of people
(09:41):
to be like, wait a second. This is where the scoring and
the assists are coming from mainly.
I can't believe Maxi Morales still continues to do it at his
ripe old age, 38 years of age and still contributing
consistently. He is little in stature but big
in heart and his ball control his movements.
I mentioned that tight space again.
Maxi Morales is the sort of player that you need in those
(10:02):
tight spaces, always finding an angle out, calm under pressure,
calm in possession and has an eye for a great pass.
I thought Alonzo Martinez was actually pretty poor against
Columbus Crew, but as a whole isan extremely exciting player.
Very correct. Again, we talk about the pitch
whenever you're playing in New York, Small baseball pitches
allow for transitional moments. He is going to lurk on the back
(10:24):
shoulders of whoever's playing center back for Charlotte FC and
they need to be able to clear the ball because if they don't
clear the ball, it's one-on-one.And Kristian Kalina, one of the
best goalkeepers in the league, but he will be challenged in
those moments because Alonzo Martinez running through on you
is a scary sight. Alice what was an interesting
one because he hadn't scored consistently for a long period
(10:44):
of time, but he's broken that dry treat now with the brace in
and around the right areas of the pitch.
One of his goals was a poacher'stapping.
One of them was a fantastic finish.
His goals got the headline, but his trickery on the flanks is
also very dangerous. So I think the attacking
combination of New York City is huge.
But a picture that there isn't of is Matt Freeze and I talked
(11:05):
about good goalkeepers. We know Nick got a goalkeeper
bias. I was.
Waiting this for the last one. I knew you wanted to talk about
goalkeepers, so. You knew me to.
This is why, that's why I have so much respect for you because
you saw where my brain was going.
I think that Matt Freeze will bedisappointed in the second goal
he conceded. I think he got his bearings a
little wrong and was caught off guard by the Abu Ali header,
(11:27):
which is why I think he caught all of us off guard.
Honestly, even as broadcasters, I was like, wait a minute, how
did that find its way into the back of the net?
But he's a good goalkeeper, fullof confidence, good with his
feet, which you have to be againin these tight areas.
But Christian Kalina just goes from strength to strength.
And what I think is fascinating about Christian Kalina is when
you have a player that has a breakout season or a season
(11:48):
where he finally got the respectthat he deserved, like his 2024
Goalkeeper of the Year season, it's very hard to replicate that
again. And you saw some of the
difficulties of replicating thatearlier on in the season.
He sat on the bench for a littlewhile, but that worked as a good
motivator. Dean Smith has always been very
hard on Christian Kliner, in my opinion.
He talks about making the saves he's expected to save.
(12:11):
He doesn't get over excited about anything.
Christian, Kalina. Does it's very rare to give a
compliment to Christian Kalina? Yeah.
And I mean, but I quite like that.
I think that's the hard, the hard approach that makes
Christian Kalina want to play even better.
Bringing in Drake calendar as competition.
It's motivated Christian Kalina.And I can speak from experience,
(12:33):
when I was playing in goal and Igot a little complacent with the
competition I had behind me, when I thought, OK, that's my
starting spot, I probably wasn'tplaying at the best level that I
could. I wasn't practicing as hard as I
could. The minute you bring someone in
there that you know has the opportunity to take your jersey,
all of a sudden you're shufflingthat much quicker.
(12:53):
You're holding that ball that maybe you were powering away a
little lazily. You're popping back up to your
feet a little quicker. You're seeing that with
Christian Kalina in his performances.
And I just, I just love watchinghim go from strength to
strength. And the Leo Messi penalty save,
it was, I'm not going to lie, I wish I'd had an opportunity to
talk about that. That would have been good.
(13:14):
But alas, they did a fantastic job.
Yeah, yeah. So looking at this match kind of
from a from, you spoke to both coaches, like from a tactical
standpoint, they're both going to do what they do best.
So how do we what do we see Charlotte doing best that's
making New York be like, wow, this is too tough for us?
(13:35):
Yeah, that's a really great question because again, I don't
want to have drum on about the pitch, but I do think the pitch
changes things a little bit. Dean Smith was honest about how
they're going to need to be so much better in tight spaces.
They're going to have a lot lesstime when they move the ball.
They're going to have to make better decisions of when to play
the ball, when to go long. Even with using Christian
Kaliner as a bounce pass, it's difficult because the minute the
(13:58):
goalkeeper has the ball, if you pressure them, they don't have
time to think. So decision making is going to
be key in those moments and making sure they don't play into
New York City's hands, handling the pressure.
The transitional moments have tobe smart for Charlotte FC.
New York City likes to play in transition.
Charlotte FC has some really good moments in transition.
So picking when to possess and picking when to spring forward.
(14:20):
And it's also just about being clinical with this New York City
side. Defensively, yes, they haven't
necessarily shown that in the last couple of games with the
goals they've been conceding, but defensively they've been
very good, very tight knit. A player like Justin Hack, I
love how he plays in the back line for New York City, stepping
into dangerous areas when he steps.
They have to find ways to punishand utilize that space left in
(14:43):
behind. That's why I think a player like
Eden Toccolamati or Wilfred Zahacan be really impactful.
And I'm interested to see how the midfield looks for Charlotte
because we've seen the rotationswith Grant Broniker.
Johnny, you've obviously got Ashley Westwood who is a no
brainer, but whether or not Pep BL, we saw him come off the
bench, how long he can go because I think he is suited in
(15:04):
a lot of ways to a match in tight spaces and a player like
Johnny who I've always been highon, I think he has the potential
to be one of the most impressiveplayers on this team.
The issue is his consistency lets him down in some moments.
Johnny has great footwork, particularly for a big YEAH.
Yeah, and he could be physical too.
(15:25):
Exactly. But he's going to have to choose
when to use that great footwork and when to release the ball
under pressure because New York City will swarm you and make you
uncomfortable and they will go with numbers and step and jump
lines. You have to be able to choose
when to go long and when to try and play through that pressure.
So is that really what New York's going to try to do to
(15:47):
frustrate Charlotte? Yeah, pounce on them.
Yeah, it was inopportune moments.
I mean, they made Columbus Crew look uncomfortable and Columbus
is one of the best known possession teams.
But I don't want to call Pasco Yance inside A1 trick pony
either because they out possessed Columbus crew
yesterday. They had a higher percentage.
So where this New York City sideis really dangerous is they can
(16:08):
press, they can be dangerous, but they also when they want to
string a few passes together, can string a few passes
together. Don't forget though, New York
City's had such a quick turn around.
A Wednesday to Saturday is a pretty quick turn around.
A Wednesday to Saturday at noon is an even quicker turn around.
The fresh legs of Charlotte FC and the fact they've been able
to have a proper week of practice versus New York City
(16:29):
that's had game, you know, recovery today.
I'm sure it it's, I think that'san advantage for Dean Smith's
side. Yeah, especially after playing a
team like Columbus. It is good that they had
possession, but you can be chasing Columbus all over.
Yeah, the shadows, the Columbus love to move the ball, but who
would have thought Columbus would be sitting where they are
on the table right now? It is realistic that Wilfred
(16:51):
Nancy's side could be in a play and game at the end of the
season. It's incredible.
Well, that's the kind of season we've had.
So the last part of this, I wanted just to talk to you about
your adventure here. So like you said, you just
you've been working in CharlotteFC and you worked previously
with with Atlanta United. And then you get this
opportunity to to go and just step out and not only step out
(17:15):
as other roles in, you know, women's soccer, but also you get
this chance with MLS and you getthe chance to be the
broadcaster, to be the commentator that we know you had
in there. And it's kind of like I'll do
color, but I'm really a play by play person.
So tell me about how that's gonefor you and your feelings now.
Yeah, it's really funny because I when I left Charlotte, it
(17:39):
wasn't an easy decision at all. And it was a risky decision.
I went from a stable position with a club that respected me,
with a team that utilized me andallowed me an opportunity to
talk about the professional gameweek in, week out where I was
guaranteed games. And I took a jump and I bet it
(17:59):
and counted on myself. When I left Charlotte, I always
knew I wanted to get back into Major League Soccer just because
of the passion I have for this league.
But I gave myself a realistic timeline.
I thought it would take two to three years to really build my
resume, to build my credibility,to get my reps in and to earn
that position. It was a great start to the
season with NWSLI was doing a lot of play by play with USL
(18:23):
Super League, USL Men's Championship, which was
important to me. Again, to be a voice in both
men's and with sports. The best way to be a pioneer and
to be a leader by example is showing that you want to be
involved in both the men's and women's game.
I just want to be a play by playcommentator and do as much
soccer, as much football as I can.
(18:44):
And then I got the call in May where, you know, Apple had heard
some of my stuff. They were very interested in
making sure that they could diversify their voices and they
felt that I was ready. Having listened to my tape.
They took a bit of a gamble on me and it paid off.
And ever since then I've been getting a lot of matches.
So I'm doing something right. They had me working with a
(19:06):
talent coach called Joe Montgomery, who has really
developed who I want to be as a broadcaster and has helped me.
I was really coming into this assomeone that loved the game,
that played the game, that was passionate, but maybe didn't
have the media or the broadcasting background that a
lot of players have. I didn't go to an elite
(19:28):
broadcasting journalism program,I just learned on the job, so
it's been really nice to get that structure and continue to
continue to develop. And they just brought that in
there like, or they said, Hey, would you be willing to to work
with this person? Yeah, they basically connected
me with her. She works with a lot of the
Apple talent and helps us fine tune the little things and gives
(19:49):
us a little bit of structure to thrive in.
And it's so nice to me now I don't go into a match and I
wouldn't say I was a headless chicken, but just like all my
thoughts out there, I have a bitmore of a structure and I found
the balance of structure, passion, knowing where I want to
be. And I know I've when I listen
back to my first game and you've, you know, you know this
too, from my first game to game.I think I'm on game 1516 now.
(20:13):
It is such a difference and I'm.I'm proud of myself for taking
on all of the feedback. I'm proud of myself for
continuing to develop reps I'm proud of myself for blocking out
the noise because obviously whatat Charlotte, I was a, you know,
I don't want to say a club legend that sounds good at
Charlotte, very popular personality.
I was well known. It was easy because when you're
(20:34):
the voice of a team, no one's going to get mad at you for
having an opinion because you'resharing the opinion.
You're almost a fan. When you a neutral voice, you
aren't going to be liked by everybody, particularly if their
team is losing or you right about their team.
So I've had to learn how to dealwith that.
But it's been a fantastic opportunity.
(20:54):
And I'll be completely transparent.
One of the main reasons I know Igot this look is because they
wanted to diversify their voices.
They wanted a female broadcaster, but being a female
gets you the in it might open the door, but it doesn't keep
the door open. And so I'm very proud of myself
for continuing to keep that dooropen.
And I do that from working my butt off, saying yes to
(21:16):
everything and just taking feedback the right way and being
open to develop as a human being.
Am I the broadcaster I want to be in 10 years time?
No. But when I look back to who I
was 10 years ago, calling college games, climbing a ladder
after I'd finished playing a college game, Pretty happy with
where she's at now. Yeah, I remember you, we were
(21:36):
messaging before that first gameand you were saying some things
like, you know, just your nervesbasically were coming out and
you were, you were, you were like scrambling all this stuff.
And I was like, you're going to be fine.
Just do your be yourself kind ofthing.
And like you said, you just, youwent ahead and did that and you,
you realized that, you know, youhad a lot to offer and that you
were just going to do the best you could and, you know, see
(21:59):
what? Happens never having regrets,
right? I think that's the biggest
thing. And am I going to call a perfect
game every time? Absolutely not.
There's no such thing as callinga perfect game.
But is it going to be my best game?
I'm not necessarily going to have a better game than I did on
Wednesday, on Saturday. But it's about learning and
making sure that I listen to it,take feedback, get better, grow.
(22:22):
And then the other part about itis not beating myself up about
that. If I have a stumble on a word,
it's not the end of the world. Having that goldfish memory, you
know, if you want to Ted like memory Ted Lassa reference is
important. And then the other part I think
that is really pivotal is staying true to yourself and
making sure the reason I don't, if I don't, if I have a bad
(22:43):
game, it's not going to be because I didn't prep well.
You know, there's never going tobe that reason.
I'm never going to let myself down from not trying hard
enough. And that's huge to me as well.
That's awesome. Well, we're going to enjoy the
story that you tell that unveilsitself on Saturday.
Thanks for your time. I know it's been a crazy, crazy
time. Like you said, just barely
enough time to see your family. So go ahead and join them before
(23:06):
you have to go call this match. Well, Nick, I'm looking forward
to it and I will see you on September 27th because I have
the home game as well, so I willsee you against Montreal.
Awesome. Take care again.
Thanks for listening to another episode of the Charlotte FC
Podcast where we bring you the fascinating people who work for
(23:26):
and around Charlotte FC and the world of football.
The Charlotte FC Podcast is edited and produced by me, Nick
Finnelli and Eli Finnelli. Please help us out and share
this episode with others. Five stars and follow CLTFC
Podcast on Instagram X and YouTube.
Until next time, enjoy the day.
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