August 20, 2025 • 29 mins
On this episode, we welcome back Andrew Wiebe—who joined us last fall to share his career journey and is now a key part of the Sunday Night Soccer crew alongside Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman. Andrew helps us preview Charlotte FC’s clash with the New York Red Bulls, a matchup loaded with history, streaks, and plenty of tactical intrigue. We’re also joined by Logan Meyer from the Crown Cast to add some local perspective to a big night on MLS Season Pass.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
It's time for the Charlotte FC Podcast.
All right, we're here. Welcome to the Charlotte FC
Podcast. Nick Finnelli here, along with a
friend of the podcast, Logan Meyer from the Crown cast, and
our special guest Andrew Evie, someone who we've had a chance
to talk with one-on-one last November, kind of dove into his
(00:25):
journey. And now Andrew's a part of the
Sunday Night soccer experience alongside with Jake Zivin and
Taylor. 12 men. This Sunday, Charlotte FC faces
the New York Red Bulls in a Sunday night soccer match on MLS
season pass. Lots of history, there's lots of
streaks. There's lots of tactical things
going on there. Andrew, it's great to have you.
(00:46):
It's wonderful to be here guys. I am currently at a 8 year old
soccer practice at the Wiles of indoor soccer here in Kansas
City. But looking forward to getting
to Charlotte. I have actually never been to
the Queen City for a game. I have only been, what was it?
Oh, I was there to interview TimReem and Dean Smith and various
(01:06):
other folks out of your playoff appearance last year.
So looking forward to seeing Peppa's in person and just
getting the the full Queen City experience.
Awesome and then as far as like the the Balkans, fishing late
night top salads. What's changed from the last
time we? Spoke in there you know I
haven't got to fish in a while What's changed is that I'm no
longer in New Jersey. We are in in Kansas City now
(01:31):
closer to family and and more inthe middle of the country for
all these flights to take me around the country to do Sunday
night soccer. So settling into a new old
place. I would call it new because it's
new to us in the sense of where we're living but old in the
sense that we lived here for twoyears during the pandemic.
I'm from the area just happy to be back and you know happy to be
on Sunday night soccer. It has been an absolute
(01:53):
whirlwind, tornado, incredible journey so far.
I've seen so much and what I'm really looking forward to is
starting to check off some of these cities that I haven't seen
this year. And I'm really glad we're
getting Charlotte at this time, boys, because it is a hot
Charlotte team rolling into thismatch, League's Cup excluded.
Yeah, a lot of a lot of people aren't really talking about that
(02:14):
and it's quietly if they win on Sunday against the Red Bulls, it
will be 7 in a row and that would tie them for 3rd in the
post shootout era as far as streaks.
So only a couple teams ahead of them.
So that would be pretty impressive.
So tell me about Sunday Night Soccer.
It's kind of like a marathon foryou.
You get to do a little bit of everything.
You get to be like your own hostin a way.
(02:36):
You get to do interviews, you get to be tactical, kind of
talking about the game, but thenyou get to talk to random people
or fans and stuff like that. How do you keep it all together
and cohesive? Well, you know, the, the nice
thing for me in terms of both myrole on the show, but also my
role at MLS over the years is that I'm, I'm just sort of
inhabiting all these various roles that I've, I've done for
(02:59):
many years. You know, it's, it's not new.
It's just everything I've done in one show, whether that be
sort of the experiential, which I really enjoy of trying to help
people understand what it's liketo be in a city on game day,
what their bucket list should beif they were ever to go.
Just just like, you know, the very basic question of like when
you're watching it on TV is I wonder what it feels like there.
(03:20):
And I want to be the one to really help answer that
question. And so you know, I can do that
side of it. I've been an interviewer for so
long. So that's a really fun part of
this. And instead of interviewing sort
of in that that more long form setting, almost like what we're
doing now, where people are sortof settled in and relaxed, you
have an opportunity to do it in really one of the most high
emotion moments of any player's life, which is before and in the
(03:43):
middle and after a game. So you get that side of it and
then you get the tactical side, which I've done to the last
couple years in studio and for many years.
Overall, it's just like this grab bag of all the things that
I love and instead of having to choose one or only getting to
choose one, now I'm doing all ofthem and I feel super fortunate
to be in this position. Awesome.
Well, let's focus in on the match.
(04:05):
So I feel like 7 is the magic number here because of Charlotte
wins. That'll be seven in a row, the
streak we just talked about, butalso if something happens with a
tie or a loss, that's seven straight against the Red Bulls
where they did not win. And that's also not good is
being dominated by such a team. So what do you actually I was
(04:26):
even thinking about this? The last time or the only time
Charlotte won was when Dean Smith was in the house watching
a match in 2022. So that's that's really the only
time Charlotte has won a match against the Red Bulls.
So what are the stories you're going to be bringing us this
weekend? Well, the the one let's start
off the field, the one I want tobring and the one I'm I'm
(04:48):
efforting to bring live on air. We'll see if I can make it
happen. I might have to either be
recorded or go on social. Is is pep us, man?
Like if I if I could choose one bucket list Charlotte thing to
be a part of, to sort of envelope myself in.
It's to get in the stands with those supporters and just, and
to do it with them and to feel what it feels when you have this
massive collective, all, you know, for lack of a better
(05:10):
phrase, jumping in unison. I, I cannot wait for that
moment. I've heard a lot about it.
I've obviously seen it on video,but I, I know from experience
this year, But you know, everybody has that life
experience that being in the middle of the tornado is much
different than hearing about a tornado.
And so I'm looking forward to feeling the wind whip around my
cheeks, so to speak. And, you know, have just sort of
(05:31):
the collective euphoria that it looks like the company's that.
So, you know, off the field, that's, that's sort of #1 for
me, I have been on the field. I, I have been really interested
and curious. And Edan Pokamati, you know,
since, since they signed him really.
But certainly once it became clear that Patrick Ajiman was
not going to be around long term, you know, I, I just
(05:52):
digging into the, the tape and the numbers.
I don't know what podcast was on.
I don't know what appearance I made, but I went on some show.
It might have been this is MLS. We were talking about Ajiman's
departure and I said, you know, this is going to sound crazy,
but I actually think that in theend, Charlotte might be better
off. Yeah.
And that's not a knock on on bigPat at all.
You know, I'm I'm hive member TID.
(06:13):
I'm so happy to see him make this big move and to have an
opportunity to elevate his career.
But I just felt like T.O.K Lamotti was sort of this ace in
the hole that is is such a different player.
I think to Pat, to me, Pat was more of a a guy who was going to
threaten in the channels, get him behind really good one.
V1 had some size that that he could use to his vintage and and
(06:34):
A and a pretty solid but improving finisher in the final
third to me. So Clamati is is more of a
traditional sort of fine space in the box, good finisher, sort
of striker. And I I just thought that that
might give Charlotte a little bit of a different look, not
just for the entire team, but also in particular for the way
that you provide service and think about service for a player
(06:57):
like that. And in in particular somebody
like Zaha and BL before him. I hope he gets back soon.
So I felt like Toklamati was going to hit the ground running.
I'm not, I'm not going to say that I saw this sort of like
rubber meets the earth situation, but he is going to be
the player bar none, that I watch the closest in this match
just to see it in person, just to see if some of the feelings I
(07:17):
had about him prior to that, youknow, stand up to sort of the
eye test. I've got so much to say about
it. Donto Climati, we've been raving
about him for a while. Some of the statistics in the
background on it, Don, are the type of statistics that you look
at and you say, hey, we're looking at a a guy with a really
small data set and that's why we're seeing some of these
outlying numbers. We're seeing non penalty XG plus
(07:41):
XAG in like the .7 range. It it was at it was at Messi's
range when it before he even hitthe field, it it was in like can
I believe the data sort of range, Logan?
It was it was wild stuff. And what we were saying is as he
gets more minutes, we should allsort of expect this, these
numbers are going to return to the mean a little bit.
And we're really excited right now because the minutes are
(08:03):
going up and the numbers aren't changing.
Any player who is sitting in that .6 range for what I just
said, non penalty goals and non penalty assist expected per 90,
you have to look at and say that's a threatening, very
dangerous player. It it Dons, I think he's right
now sitting at like .75 and and he's earned it.
This isn't he did this for for three 90s.
(08:24):
This is now his shirt and he's proving it.
I completely agree with you and I think a lot of that comes just
in my, my opinion, you guys, youguys watch more Charlotte than I
do, no doubt about it, because I'm trying to get 30 teams in.
He seems to two things. 1 is where space will be and how did
time runs to get into the right the right space.
And when I say right space, I mean particularly for his
(08:47):
position space where you have anopportunity to put a ball and
go, whether that's with your head, whether that's with your
foot, whether that's in your post or the back post.
He just seems to have that knack, that little feel for the
game, for service, for his teammates that that keeps
putting them in these positions.And and listen, non penalty XG
is one thing, finishing is another thing.
(09:07):
And right now he's combining thetwo.
I completely agree with you, Logan, that at some point here,
these numbers, you would think, you would think will will fall
off a little bit. Other teams will start to have
more tape on him. They'll start to understand some
of the things that are being built around him and and be
better able to stop him. But you know, this is the ideal
scenario and this is what every MLS team should be thinking
(09:29):
about dreaming about and not just dreaming about practically
putting together. When you have a player like
Ajman and before him, you know, when Swadarski is in there and
you had other strikers, you know, what is your, what's sort
of the, the, the game theory here?
But what do you want to happen? Like if Charlotte were in a
nutshell, I think if, if you said, hey, here's $8 million at
any point of the Patrick Ozimon time in Charlotte, they would
(09:52):
have snatched your hand off for it.
And then it comes down to Are you ready when you take the $8
million check? And I give Zoran Cornetta and
this coaching staff a ton of credit for being fully ready for
having a guy that maybe hadn't hadn't got starters minutes yet,
but was integrated into the group who was on a good contract
in terms of his U22 deal. And you had the potential to to
come in and, and not just replace, but, you know, dare I
(10:15):
say elevate this Charlotte team.And if you can do that, if you
can sell a player in the summer and elevate yourself with
somebody internal, you've done avery good job at at planning out
and developing talent and, and having sort of that, that that
plan in place to, you know, hey,the king is dead.
Long live the king sort of thing, you know.
(10:36):
Absolutely. If you gave me an hour, I would
keep going, but I'm not because I know we don't have that time.
I do have a question I wanted tothrow your way specifically
about how other teams look in atCharlotte FC and that is we
spend a lot of time really digging into the numbers.
We spend a lot of time watching Charlotte FC players.
Not everyone has that time. Like you said, you cover 30
(10:57):
teams, not one. From the outside perspective, in
where is Red Bull New York looking at Charlotte FC going,
we have to deal with this danger.
What are? What are the problems they're
looking? At first and foremost, I mean, I
think you start with Zaha, right?
I mean, you have to right now, given the, the sort of form that
he's in you, you start with Zahaand then and then you kind of go
from there because when you think of Totamati like it is a
(11:18):
service situation and you don't have BL.
So I know that, you know, the likes of Abada and Vargas and
other guys are chipping in and starting to find their place.
But like, you start with Zaha, like it's as simple as that.
How do you get numbers around Wilfred Zaha?
How do you ensure that he receives the ball, most
importantly, in positions where he's not already faced at you,
where he's not already at speed?Like, you know, those things
(11:40):
sound simple. They're so much harder to
actually execute in game. But starting point was Zaha's do
not let him get the ball where he can run it.
Do not let him get the ball whenhe's already running.
If he does those two things, you're in trouble.
Now the the Red Bulls are no longer this sort of like press,
press, press all the time sort of team.
They have different, they have different gears.
(12:01):
And so I would expect that, particularly in Charlotte, that
there will be times that the RedBulls say we don't feel the need
to push numbers high. We don't feel the need to expose
ourselves. We are going to sit more in a, a
lower block situation and take space away from Zaha and wait
for the moment when Charlotte pushed numbers forward and then
try to hit on the counter. And when you hit on the counter
(12:22):
and when you're the Red Bulls and it's going to flow straight
through, you know, Forsberg. So find his feet and go from
there. The one place I look at
Charlotte and have questions about, or I should say the
biggest is midfield. I'm still just not sure that
Dean Smith has found the balancethat that he would want from his
(12:42):
three central midfielders. I, I'm just not sure it's gotten
there, whether it's, it's knowing who your 6 is, how that
6 plays, you know, whether how much ground and time Westwood
can cover. You need him in there because
he's so good on the ball. But the flip side is, is that he
can leave you a little bit exposed at times.
So you have to have 1/6 of a certain vintage.
And I'm not sure that guy's on the roster.
(13:03):
So I think that's the one place that I would have a little bit
of concern if I was Charlotte. And those moments when you find
Forsberg's feet and the Red Bulls get turned and start to
get downhill, can you slow him down?
Like, because really that's whatit comes down to.
You don't got to stop him. You just got to slow him down
and route him into places where your back line can deal with it.
And that's the one place where Isay I'm still still a little bit
unsure on Charlotte. But listen, that's that's
(13:25):
picking nits for a team that's won six straight.
Yeah, anytime, anytime you win six in a row, it definitely
counts. I'm going to ask you one sort of
more question on this and that is that you talked about the
fact Red Bull New York is not quite as we're going to get up
in your face as they used to be.And there is some worry from our
side that we can see an issue where as Charlotte loses its
(13:49):
compressions in its lines, it's forward attacking line gets
drawn a little bit further up, that midfield does get a little
bit weaker. Do you think that space is going
to be something that Red Bull actively chooses to stay back a
little bit further and maybe even play a little further into
their new system specifically knowing that weakness?
Or do you think it's still sort of same game?
No, I I think so for sure. That's sort of what I was
(14:09):
referencing there is I'd expect Sandra Schwartz is a really,
really sound and interesting tactical mind to try to take
away what what makes Charlotte special.
And in in many cases, at least from my point of view, that's
space for those wide players, whether that was BL coming
inside a little bit or that's aha who who can stay outside or
come inside. Like how do you take away space
(14:31):
from those guys? How do you make them
uncomfortable? And then through uncomfort come
turnovers and then through turnovers come and turn a field.
Then all of a sudden, now that you have more space to work
with. So I, I would certainly expect
that from the Red Bulls. I, I also think you'll see
moments where if Charlotte want to try to play around a little
bit and see if they can draw himup field, the Red Bulls will hit
that switch. You know, they'll, they'll try
(14:51):
to pick their moments where theysay, Hey, you're, you're a
little bit too comfortable, you know, on the ball or, or
whatever it is, like, let's flipthat switch and, and try to
press a little bit. And I think back in, you know,
particularly the last year's play offs in terms of, you know,
the sort of scheming that SandraSchwartz can do against, let's
just say in this case, the likesof the Columbus Crew, they did
not press for 90 minutes. They simply chose the right
(15:12):
moments to press. And then that collective sort of
organization behind it was really, really good.
So I think you're going to see certainly some moments where
they try to take this thing out of the game and try to take
those wingers and take them out of positions where they're
comfortable. But I also think that Sandra
Schwartz will have we'll have some triggers where he says, if,
if this, then we are going to step our lines up and we're
(15:34):
going to press because ultimately, you know, your best,
your best attack is winning the ball close to goal.
Like that's true for every team.So I, I, I think look for, you
know, it's like any good picturepitcher, you have to have off
speed, right? Like Sandra's going to have a
couple different looks to throw out Dean Smith.
And I'm, I'm curious to see how Charlotte deal with it.
I'm also curious to see how, if rebels take away Zaha, what does
(15:59):
Charlotte do? Like where, where do they go?
If if it's a total kind of, hey,we're going to block this guy
out. Is is that a dare by the the Red
Bulls? It could be, but listen, I'd ask
you this, if that happens and they they just they push numbers
to the right, who do you want tosee on the left?
And this is me almost like prepping right now, just in
terms of using your both of yourexpertise is like if, if Zaha
(16:20):
becomes the focus, which let's be honest, he has been, it
hasn't mattered. That's a matter And he's he's
still he's still cooking fools out there.
Who is the right balance on the right side for the Charlotte
team? I mean, I'll absolutely, yeah,
I'll absolutely jump in here. I think a lot of it depends.
I don't necessarily love the idea that I think Charlotte FC
has to be a little reactionary based on how the lines are set
(16:44):
by Red Bull New York. If Red Bull New York does choose
to sit a little bit deeper back,I actually think Leah Lobata is
the better small space player that could mirror that other
side and he could kind of be a little bit of Zaha light and
force a little bit more creativity on the other wing.
If they choose to push a little bit higher up.
I think you have to respect the athleticism and the and the
(17:05):
speed outright of Kerwin Vargas.So it's one of the questions
where I wouldn't be surprised ifI see a relatively significant
shift midway through this match.I mean, it was yeah.
And, and listen, that's a gain credit to Charlotte and and a
sense of roster building, right?Like to have two guys that can
(17:26):
sort of have a different look tothis match.
Yeah. Have have I have either hit
their ceiling. Charlotte, I don't think you
could say that. But listen, it's sometimes it's
a matter of time. Sometimes it just it takes the
right moment, it takes the rightopportunity.
And yeah, 2 extremely talented guys.
I'd be curious to see where Zoran goes.
But I completely agree with you,Logan, in the sense that at
(17:48):
home, Charlotte should play the player that they think is best
suited to the way that they wantto play.
Not in reaction to where the RedBulls play, but I believe the
game is going to be full of sortof different reactions to
different moments. So, you know, that's the beauty
of the 90 minutes. We can talk about it all we
want, but at some point a card gets played and the other coach
has to figure out how to counter.
(18:09):
So is Dean going to do anything differently?
Because if you go through and dothe same thing or want the same
thing and you're not getting theresults, is he going to, you
know, do you feel like he's got something else he has to throw
because other things have not been working?
No, no, it's, it's, it's stick with what you know, dance with
the girl that brung it when you win six matches in a row.
(18:30):
I think the last thing a coach like Dean Smith is going to do
is to make any sort of significant change.
You know, he he's a, he's a guy that I think respects the new
school, but deep down in his heart, I think is old school.
And I, I would never expect him in the midst of a six
game-winning streak to send a message to his team.
That's anything but what you aredoing is working be you and be
(18:51):
better than than the other team.So I, I would expect, I don't, I
don't wouldn't expect anything to change significantly,
particularly at home. Yeah, he always preaches that
85% of the time he's just working on his team and how they
play. And really they spend a small
amount of time on what the otherteam does because they have to
be good for what they do. A. 100%.
One of the questions I can jump in here with is that Red Bull
(19:14):
New York has had honestly similar statistical season to
Charlotte FC. If you just look at the table,
you'll find that their goal difference isn't that
significant. One of the big sort of columns
people will look at is that Red Bull has had a number of draws
where Charlotte FC has tended toeither lose games or win games.
(19:34):
Would you say that the set up right now at Red Bull New York
is one that that lends itself toclose games?
Yeah, I think so. I, I also just think that they,
they have not hit their stride and, and maybe this is another
similarity, really hit their stride yet in terms of getting
the most out of attackers not named Chupa Moting in particular
(19:55):
or Forsberg. And so when you have situations
where either of those guys are out, which has happened, I think
more and more often than they would like, you're sort of
looking for that third option. And is it Sofo?
Is it Mohammed Sofo? Like he's popped up a couple
times with big goals. You know, who, who is that
player who can, who can change agame that either those guys
aren't in or they're being takenout of?
(20:16):
It's a big question mark. So I I think to me it's more of
a. It's more of a personnel thing
and where how that personnel about like creates a lack of
balance for them. Then it is like, hey, we want to
play close games. I think if you ask Sandra
Schwartz, certainly does he wantto be in every game?
Yes. Does he want to score more
goals? I I think he would say yes.
And I would like to see guys that are not too promoting pick
(20:38):
up some of those, pick up some of those goals.
You talk about a lot of the players and the players that
Charlotte has in this window that we're in right now.
This international window has seen a lot of movement from
Charlotte. Anything kind of stand out for
you just looking at it from afar?
Yeah. I mean, I think the, the, the
price tags like you know, how, how often have we seen in in the
(21:00):
last A-Team that's in contention, let alone but any
team sell two players for $5,000,000 plus in a window, You
know, so I look at the the business that Charlotte has done
and I don't think about it in terms of this business.
I don't something just summer, Ithink that's so reductive to
think about the moment of the sale.
I think about the the work that they've done over the last two
(21:21):
or three years to scout, to sign, to develop the guys that
have now moved on and also ensure that the market is one
that they they get top dollar for.
So I think it's been an incredibly impressive window for
Zoran. You know, the challenge now is
that some point you can't just replace from within, right?
So you know, when, when you loseMalanda, you've got to have a
(21:44):
you've got to have a another player that that comes in here
at some point, unless you truly are saying, Hey, we now trust
Bill Tuiloma to the, you know, basically to the tune of the
transfer, we that we signed him for the first time.
So you know, that's, that's a long term problem.
That's a problem that can be solved in the summer.
And I give credit to to Zoran aswell for that because it's
incredibly, I think difficult inin some ways to say to a
(22:07):
Championship team just starting their season, wait till the
winter. Like, hey, Middlesbrough paying
you $8 million, like most peoplethat are going to pay you that
amount of money. Sorry, my my son is kicking
somebody in a line. Listen, you always got to watch
(22:29):
out for those random slide tackles.
We're we're throwing them in right now.
It's. Very aggressive, huh?
Depends on the moment. Aggressively not listening, I
think is one way to put it. No, I just, I think I think the
business on on Malanda is reallyimportant because ultimately I
think what Dean would tell you and what every single fan in
that stadium is going to tell you is that that's not their $8
(22:49):
million. They want to see a winner.
They want to see Charlotte compete for a championship.
And when you have Zaha in this level of form, when you have BL
coming back in time to build a little momentum before the
playoffs, you'd hope this is a team that can go win something.
And if you lost Malanda right now, I think your chances of
winning something are are hit pretty significantly.
(23:13):
Yeah, agreed. The the national coverage of
Charlotte was pretty high at thebeginning of this year, last
year, you know, picked last, that kind of stuff.
Everybody kind of jumped on the bandwagon and then all of a
sudden everybody's dropped again.
And it's kind of like they saw their struggles in May and June.
They're like, this is not reallythe team we thought it was going
to be. What does Charlotte need to do
(23:33):
to get that respect back, that win on, the win on?
Nick, Nick, win on the road, Manwent on the road.
I remember when you guys were infirst place.
I went on, this is MLS and everybody's singing Charlotte's
praises. And I wasn't trying to be a
hater. I'm not trying to be a hater
now. I just said the shine is about
to come off unless they figure out how to win on the road and
the shine came off away from home.
(23:54):
Like it's as simple as that. When this team is at home, they
are extremely difficult to beat.They they, they seem to just
have a different level of confidence and belief in
themselves. They they attack games, whereas
I don't always see that that same mentality away for them.
And I think that shows in the results.
(24:15):
So I think it's as simple as that.
Ultimately what it comes down tois, you know, to get the seed
that you need to play at home inthe playoffs, you got to win on
the road. So like it, you know, if you
want to, if you want to use the advantage that you've built at
home, there is a, a sort of a requirement that you that you
take care of some business on the road.
You don't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be, you know,
(24:37):
seamless. There can be blips, but every
once in a while you'd be pickingup three points just to climb up
that table and and get a top four seed at the very, very
least. And I think that's what
Charlotte's goal needs to be therest of the way.
Start to chip away and and not just win on the road for
seating, win on the road becausethere's a good chance that you
are going to be on the road against a higher seed.
(24:57):
And at the very least in the three round series, you will be
on the road one game that you need to to get a result out of
to either extend the series or to to, you know, to end it.
So that's the last step I would say for Charlotte is is to win
on the roads. Sounds like a good step to me
that that will take a lot that. Step can wait.
That step can wait. Who cares about that step when
(25:18):
you have the Red Bulls this weekend, right?
Right, exactly. So what are you looking forward
to do in Charlotte ahead of the match?
Because I know you probably comein a little bit before.
Are you going to kind of get getinto town and mingle with the
with the natives? I, I would like to have a drink,
maybe a little bit of a late night drink on Saturday night.
So if you guys got a recommendation on a part of town
(25:40):
or a particularly good bar that I should go check out, I'm going
to do that. And then I always like to go get
a nice breakfast day of game. So any Charlotte fans listening
that that have recommendations on that front?
I'm all ears there. And then, you know, for me,
really the, the whole thing is just experiencing game day.
You know, I, I'm going to get tothe stadium early as I always
do. And I just kind of putter around
(26:00):
like, for lack of a better word,we've got a shoot schedule that
I've got a hit and I'm I'm working on building that out.
But I just like to sort of walk around, see what people are up
to, see what the feel of the stadium is and, and go from
there. What is here's a question for
you guys. If I'm going to do something pre
game where I want to, I want to be where the fans are, I want
to. If I was if I was to experience
(26:22):
a Charlotte game at its its highest point pre game outside
the stadium tailgate style, where would I go?
Logan, you got this one. I mean the the easy answer is
you go just a few blocks over towhere all the tailgating is
happening. There is a.
There is a. Party.
It is, it is a monstrous party. They have a a giant parking lot
(26:46):
that people bring food trucks and it is, it is the place to be
before matches. The supporters party is the
place. If that sort of bigger
atmosphere isn't really where you want to go, there's a place
called Lada Arcade that is rightnext to one of the beautiful
parks in Charlotte, right in Uptown.
It's like a block and a half away and you will be able to get
good food there, good beer there.
(27:06):
If you're a cocktail person instead of a beer guy, there's a
great cocktail bar in there and there's a couple of bars in
there that are just like that. Their whole thing is is soccer,
so. A lot of arcade could I go to a
lot of the night before? Like if I got in at 9:00 on
Saturday night, can I drop my stuff and just jet to a lot of?
I would. I would actually not just tell
you you can, I would tell you one of your question for you
(27:29):
first. Are you a beer guy?
Are you a cocktail guy? I'm a I'm a whatever strikes me
in the moment guy. I would say I'm a 5050 and I'm I
just whatever, whatever is looking good is what I'm going
with. My recommendation is there's a
place called Cotton Room and they did not pay me to say that
you will have trouble finding it.
It is in lot of arcade. You will have to ask someone in
(27:50):
the arcade how to get upstairs to find the cotton room, but
once you do, you will be happy you did.
It's just really, really, reallygood cocktails.
Awesome. Well, Andrew, thanks a lot for
coming on. We appreciate.
We're looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, possibly somebody
else out there on Saturday when Andrew's roaming around town.
Also the supporters, if you wantto see the March, you can March
(28:13):
up with them. If you go to the supporters at
the time, you might already. Be in the stadium.
I can tell you for sure that I will be at the tailgate.
I cannot tell you for sure that I'll be at the March, but I can
tell you I'm hoping that the scheduling gods align so that I
can do both and hopefully bring those to everybody else at home.
Because, you know, I'm sort of the pied piper of, of, of
(28:33):
helping other people experience it.
So I get to do it, which is the blessing.
And then hopefully I get to showother people what Charlotte's
all about. Awesome, thanks.
So everybody don't miss it. Charlotte FC and New York Red
Bulls see Andrew Sunday Night soccer on MLS season pass with
of course, Andrew and then doingthe call Jake and Taylor.
Thanks, Andrew. Appreciate it, guys.
(28:55):
Thank you. Again, thanks for listening to
another episode of the CharlotteFC Podcast where we bring you
the fascinating people who work for and around Charlotte FC and
the world of football. The Charlotte FC Podcast is
edited and produced by me, Nick Fanelli and Eli Fanelli.
Please help us out and share this episode with others.
(29:15):
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, we're here. Welcome to the Charlotte FC
Podcast. Nick Finnelli here, along with a
friend of the podcast, Logan Meyer from the Crown cast, and
our special guest Andrew Evie, someone who we've had a chance
to talk with one-on-one last November, kind of dove into his
(00:25):
journey. And now Andrew's a part of the
Sunday Night soccer experience alongside with Jake Zivin and
Taylor. 12 men. This Sunday, Charlotte FC faces
the New York Red Bulls in a Sunday night soccer match on MLS
season pass. Lots of history, there's lots of
streaks. There's lots of tactical things
going on there. Andrew, it's great to have you.
(00:46):
It's wonderful to be here guys. I am currently at a 8 year old
soccer practice at the Wiles of indoor soccer here in Kansas
City. But looking forward to getting
to Charlotte. I have actually never been to
the Queen City for a game. I have only been, what was it?
Oh, I was there to interview TimReem and Dean Smith and various
(01:06):
other folks out of your playoff appearance last year.
So looking forward to seeing Peppa's in person and just
getting the the full Queen City experience.
Awesome and then as far as like the the Balkans, fishing late
night top salads. What's changed from the last
time we? Spoke in there you know I
haven't got to fish in a while What's changed is that I'm no
longer in New Jersey. We are in in Kansas City now
(01:31):
closer to family and and more inthe middle of the country for
all these flights to take me around the country to do Sunday
night soccer. So settling into a new old
place. I would call it new because it's
new to us in the sense of where we're living but old in the
sense that we lived here for twoyears during the pandemic.
I'm from the area just happy to be back and you know happy to be
on Sunday night soccer. It has been an absolute
(01:53):
whirlwind, tornado, incredible journey so far.
I've seen so much and what I'm really looking forward to is
starting to check off some of these cities that I haven't seen
this year. And I'm really glad we're
getting Charlotte at this time, boys, because it is a hot
Charlotte team rolling into thismatch, League's Cup excluded.
Yeah, a lot of a lot of people aren't really talking about that
(02:14):
and it's quietly if they win on Sunday against the Red Bulls, it
will be 7 in a row and that would tie them for 3rd in the
post shootout era as far as streaks.
So only a couple teams ahead of them.
So that would be pretty impressive.
So tell me about Sunday Night Soccer.
It's kind of like a marathon foryou.
You get to do a little bit of everything.
You get to be like your own hostin a way.
(02:36):
You get to do interviews, you get to be tactical, kind of
talking about the game, but thenyou get to talk to random people
or fans and stuff like that. How do you keep it all together
and cohesive? Well, you know, the, the nice
thing for me in terms of both myrole on the show, but also my
role at MLS over the years is that I'm, I'm just sort of
inhabiting all these various roles that I've, I've done for
(02:59):
many years. You know, it's, it's not new.
It's just everything I've done in one show, whether that be
sort of the experiential, which I really enjoy of trying to help
people understand what it's liketo be in a city on game day,
what their bucket list should beif they were ever to go.
Just just like, you know, the very basic question of like when
you're watching it on TV is I wonder what it feels like there.
(03:20):
And I want to be the one to really help answer that
question. And so you know, I can do that
side of it. I've been an interviewer for so
long. So that's a really fun part of
this. And instead of interviewing sort
of in that that more long form setting, almost like what we're
doing now, where people are sortof settled in and relaxed, you
have an opportunity to do it in really one of the most high
emotion moments of any player's life, which is before and in the
(03:43):
middle and after a game. So you get that side of it and
then you get the tactical side, which I've done to the last
couple years in studio and for many years.
Overall, it's just like this grab bag of all the things that
I love and instead of having to choose one or only getting to
choose one, now I'm doing all ofthem and I feel super fortunate
to be in this position. Awesome.
Well, let's focus in on the match.
(04:05):
So I feel like 7 is the magic number here because of Charlotte
wins. That'll be seven in a row, the
streak we just talked about, butalso if something happens with a
tie or a loss, that's seven straight against the Red Bulls
where they did not win. And that's also not good is
being dominated by such a team. So what do you actually I was
(04:26):
even thinking about this? The last time or the only time
Charlotte won was when Dean Smith was in the house watching
a match in 2022. So that's that's really the only
time Charlotte has won a match against the Red Bulls.
So what are the stories you're going to be bringing us this
weekend? Well, the the one let's start
off the field, the one I want tobring and the one I'm I'm
(04:48):
efforting to bring live on air. We'll see if I can make it
happen. I might have to either be
recorded or go on social. Is is pep us, man?
Like if I if I could choose one bucket list Charlotte thing to
be a part of, to sort of envelope myself in.
It's to get in the stands with those supporters and just, and
to do it with them and to feel what it feels when you have this
massive collective, all, you know, for lack of a better
(05:10):
phrase, jumping in unison. I, I cannot wait for that
moment. I've heard a lot about it.
I've obviously seen it on video,but I, I know from experience
this year, But you know, everybody has that life
experience that being in the middle of the tornado is much
different than hearing about a tornado.
And so I'm looking forward to feeling the wind whip around my
cheeks, so to speak. And, you know, have just sort of
(05:31):
the collective euphoria that it looks like the company's that.
So, you know, off the field, that's, that's sort of #1 for
me, I have been on the field. I, I have been really interested
and curious. And Edan Pokamati, you know,
since, since they signed him really.
But certainly once it became clear that Patrick Ajiman was
not going to be around long term, you know, I, I just
(05:52):
digging into the, the tape and the numbers.
I don't know what podcast was on.
I don't know what appearance I made, but I went on some show.
It might have been this is MLS. We were talking about Ajiman's
departure and I said, you know, this is going to sound crazy,
but I actually think that in theend, Charlotte might be better
off. Yeah.
And that's not a knock on on bigPat at all.
You know, I'm I'm hive member TID.
(06:13):
I'm so happy to see him make this big move and to have an
opportunity to elevate his career.
But I just felt like T.O.K Lamotti was sort of this ace in
the hole that is is such a different player.
I think to Pat, to me, Pat was more of a a guy who was going to
threaten in the channels, get him behind really good one.
V1 had some size that that he could use to his vintage and and
(06:34):
A and a pretty solid but improving finisher in the final
third to me. So Clamati is is more of a
traditional sort of fine space in the box, good finisher, sort
of striker. And I I just thought that that
might give Charlotte a little bit of a different look, not
just for the entire team, but also in particular for the way
that you provide service and think about service for a player
(06:57):
like that. And in in particular somebody
like Zaha and BL before him. I hope he gets back soon.
So I felt like Toklamati was going to hit the ground running.
I'm not, I'm not going to say that I saw this sort of like
rubber meets the earth situation, but he is going to be
the player bar none, that I watch the closest in this match
just to see it in person, just to see if some of the feelings I
(07:17):
had about him prior to that, youknow, stand up to sort of the
eye test. I've got so much to say about
it. Donto Climati, we've been raving
about him for a while. Some of the statistics in the
background on it, Don, are the type of statistics that you look
at and you say, hey, we're looking at a a guy with a really
small data set and that's why we're seeing some of these
outlying numbers. We're seeing non penalty XG plus
(07:41):
XAG in like the .7 range. It it was at it was at Messi's
range when it before he even hitthe field, it it was in like can
I believe the data sort of range, Logan?
It was it was wild stuff. And what we were saying is as he
gets more minutes, we should allsort of expect this, these
numbers are going to return to the mean a little bit.
And we're really excited right now because the minutes are
(08:03):
going up and the numbers aren't changing.
Any player who is sitting in that .6 range for what I just
said, non penalty goals and non penalty assist expected per 90,
you have to look at and say that's a threatening, very
dangerous player. It it Dons, I think he's right
now sitting at like .75 and and he's earned it.
This isn't he did this for for three 90s.
(08:24):
This is now his shirt and he's proving it.
I completely agree with you and I think a lot of that comes just
in my, my opinion, you guys, youguys watch more Charlotte than I
do, no doubt about it, because I'm trying to get 30 teams in.
He seems to two things. 1 is where space will be and how did
time runs to get into the right the right space.
And when I say right space, I mean particularly for his
(08:47):
position space where you have anopportunity to put a ball and
go, whether that's with your head, whether that's with your
foot, whether that's in your post or the back post.
He just seems to have that knack, that little feel for the
game, for service, for his teammates that that keeps
putting them in these positions.And and listen, non penalty XG
is one thing, finishing is another thing.
(09:07):
And right now he's combining thetwo.
I completely agree with you, Logan, that at some point here,
these numbers, you would think, you would think will will fall
off a little bit. Other teams will start to have
more tape on him. They'll start to understand some
of the things that are being built around him and and be
better able to stop him. But you know, this is the ideal
scenario and this is what every MLS team should be thinking
(09:29):
about dreaming about and not just dreaming about practically
putting together. When you have a player like
Ajman and before him, you know, when Swadarski is in there and
you had other strikers, you know, what is your, what's sort
of the, the, the game theory here?
But what do you want to happen? Like if Charlotte were in a
nutshell, I think if, if you said, hey, here's $8 million at
any point of the Patrick Ozimon time in Charlotte, they would
(09:52):
have snatched your hand off for it.
And then it comes down to Are you ready when you take the $8
million check? And I give Zoran Cornetta and
this coaching staff a ton of credit for being fully ready for
having a guy that maybe hadn't hadn't got starters minutes yet,
but was integrated into the group who was on a good contract
in terms of his U22 deal. And you had the potential to to
come in and, and not just replace, but, you know, dare I
(10:15):
say elevate this Charlotte team.And if you can do that, if you
can sell a player in the summer and elevate yourself with
somebody internal, you've done avery good job at at planning out
and developing talent and, and having sort of that, that that
plan in place to, you know, hey,the king is dead.
Long live the king sort of thing, you know.
(10:36):
Absolutely. If you gave me an hour, I would
keep going, but I'm not because I know we don't have that time.
I do have a question I wanted tothrow your way specifically
about how other teams look in atCharlotte FC and that is we
spend a lot of time really digging into the numbers.
We spend a lot of time watching Charlotte FC players.
Not everyone has that time. Like you said, you cover 30
(10:57):
teams, not one. From the outside perspective, in
where is Red Bull New York looking at Charlotte FC going,
we have to deal with this danger.
What are? What are the problems they're
looking? At first and foremost, I mean, I
think you start with Zaha, right?
I mean, you have to right now, given the, the sort of form that
he's in you, you start with Zahaand then and then you kind of go
from there because when you think of Totamati like it is a
(11:18):
service situation and you don't have BL.
So I know that, you know, the likes of Abada and Vargas and
other guys are chipping in and starting to find their place.
But like, you start with Zaha, like it's as simple as that.
How do you get numbers around Wilfred Zaha?
How do you ensure that he receives the ball, most
importantly, in positions where he's not already faced at you,
where he's not already at speed?Like, you know, those things
(11:40):
sound simple. They're so much harder to
actually execute in game. But starting point was Zaha's do
not let him get the ball where he can run it.
Do not let him get the ball whenhe's already running.
If he does those two things, you're in trouble.
Now the the Red Bulls are no longer this sort of like press,
press, press all the time sort of team.
They have different, they have different gears.
(12:01):
And so I would expect that, particularly in Charlotte, that
there will be times that the RedBulls say we don't feel the need
to push numbers high. We don't feel the need to expose
ourselves. We are going to sit more in a, a
lower block situation and take space away from Zaha and wait
for the moment when Charlotte pushed numbers forward and then
try to hit on the counter. And when you hit on the counter
(12:22):
and when you're the Red Bulls and it's going to flow straight
through, you know, Forsberg. So find his feet and go from
there. The one place I look at
Charlotte and have questions about, or I should say the
biggest is midfield. I'm still just not sure that
Dean Smith has found the balancethat that he would want from his
(12:42):
three central midfielders. I, I'm just not sure it's gotten
there, whether it's, it's knowing who your 6 is, how that
6 plays, you know, whether how much ground and time Westwood
can cover. You need him in there because
he's so good on the ball. But the flip side is, is that he
can leave you a little bit exposed at times.
So you have to have 1/6 of a certain vintage.
And I'm not sure that guy's on the roster.
(13:03):
So I think that's the one place that I would have a little bit
of concern if I was Charlotte. And those moments when you find
Forsberg's feet and the Red Bulls get turned and start to
get downhill, can you slow him down?
Like, because really that's whatit comes down to.
You don't got to stop him. You just got to slow him down
and route him into places where your back line can deal with it.
And that's the one place where Isay I'm still still a little bit
unsure on Charlotte. But listen, that's that's
(13:25):
picking nits for a team that's won six straight.
Yeah, anytime, anytime you win six in a row, it definitely
counts. I'm going to ask you one sort of
more question on this and that is that you talked about the
fact Red Bull New York is not quite as we're going to get up
in your face as they used to be.And there is some worry from our
side that we can see an issue where as Charlotte loses its
(13:49):
compressions in its lines, it's forward attacking line gets
drawn a little bit further up, that midfield does get a little
bit weaker. Do you think that space is going
to be something that Red Bull actively chooses to stay back a
little bit further and maybe even play a little further into
their new system specifically knowing that weakness?
Or do you think it's still sort of same game?
No, I I think so for sure. That's sort of what I was
(14:09):
referencing there is I'd expect Sandra Schwartz is a really,
really sound and interesting tactical mind to try to take
away what what makes Charlotte special.
And in in many cases, at least from my point of view, that's
space for those wide players, whether that was BL coming
inside a little bit or that's aha who who can stay outside or
come inside. Like how do you take away space
(14:31):
from those guys? How do you make them
uncomfortable? And then through uncomfort come
turnovers and then through turnovers come and turn a field.
Then all of a sudden, now that you have more space to work
with. So I, I would certainly expect
that from the Red Bulls. I, I also think you'll see
moments where if Charlotte want to try to play around a little
bit and see if they can draw himup field, the Red Bulls will hit
that switch. You know, they'll, they'll try
(14:51):
to pick their moments where theysay, Hey, you're, you're a
little bit too comfortable, you know, on the ball or, or
whatever it is, like, let's flipthat switch and, and try to
press a little bit. And I think back in, you know,
particularly the last year's play offs in terms of, you know,
the sort of scheming that SandraSchwartz can do against, let's
just say in this case, the likesof the Columbus Crew, they did
not press for 90 minutes. They simply chose the right
(15:12):
moments to press. And then that collective sort of
organization behind it was really, really good.
So I think you're going to see certainly some moments where
they try to take this thing out of the game and try to take
those wingers and take them out of positions where they're
comfortable. But I also think that Sandra
Schwartz will have we'll have some triggers where he says, if,
if this, then we are going to step our lines up and we're
(15:34):
going to press because ultimately, you know, your best,
your best attack is winning the ball close to goal.
Like that's true for every team.So I, I, I think look for, you
know, it's like any good picturepitcher, you have to have off
speed, right? Like Sandra's going to have a
couple different looks to throw out Dean Smith.
And I'm, I'm curious to see how Charlotte deal with it.
I'm also curious to see how, if rebels take away Zaha, what does
(15:59):
Charlotte do? Like where, where do they go?
If if it's a total kind of, hey,we're going to block this guy
out. Is is that a dare by the the Red
Bulls? It could be, but listen, I'd ask
you this, if that happens and they they just they push numbers
to the right, who do you want tosee on the left?
And this is me almost like prepping right now, just in
terms of using your both of yourexpertise is like if, if Zaha
(16:20):
becomes the focus, which let's be honest, he has been, it
hasn't mattered. That's a matter And he's he's
still he's still cooking fools out there.
Who is the right balance on the right side for the Charlotte
team? I mean, I'll absolutely, yeah,
I'll absolutely jump in here. I think a lot of it depends.
I don't necessarily love the idea that I think Charlotte FC
has to be a little reactionary based on how the lines are set
(16:44):
by Red Bull New York. If Red Bull New York does choose
to sit a little bit deeper back,I actually think Leah Lobata is
the better small space player that could mirror that other
side and he could kind of be a little bit of Zaha light and
force a little bit more creativity on the other wing.
If they choose to push a little bit higher up.
I think you have to respect the athleticism and the and the
(17:05):
speed outright of Kerwin Vargas.So it's one of the questions
where I wouldn't be surprised ifI see a relatively significant
shift midway through this match.I mean, it was yeah.
And, and listen, that's a gain credit to Charlotte and and a
sense of roster building, right?Like to have two guys that can
(17:26):
sort of have a different look tothis match.
Yeah. Have have I have either hit
their ceiling. Charlotte, I don't think you
could say that. But listen, it's sometimes it's
a matter of time. Sometimes it just it takes the
right moment, it takes the rightopportunity.
And yeah, 2 extremely talented guys.
I'd be curious to see where Zoran goes.
But I completely agree with you,Logan, in the sense that at
(17:48):
home, Charlotte should play the player that they think is best
suited to the way that they wantto play.
Not in reaction to where the RedBulls play, but I believe the
game is going to be full of sortof different reactions to
different moments. So, you know, that's the beauty
of the 90 minutes. We can talk about it all we
want, but at some point a card gets played and the other coach
has to figure out how to counter.
(18:09):
So is Dean going to do anything differently?
Because if you go through and dothe same thing or want the same
thing and you're not getting theresults, is he going to, you
know, do you feel like he's got something else he has to throw
because other things have not been working?
No, no, it's, it's, it's stick with what you know, dance with
the girl that brung it when you win six matches in a row.
(18:30):
I think the last thing a coach like Dean Smith is going to do
is to make any sort of significant change.
You know, he he's a, he's a guy that I think respects the new
school, but deep down in his heart, I think is old school.
And I, I would never expect him in the midst of a six
game-winning streak to send a message to his team.
That's anything but what you aredoing is working be you and be
(18:51):
better than than the other team.So I, I would expect, I don't, I
don't wouldn't expect anything to change significantly,
particularly at home. Yeah, he always preaches that
85% of the time he's just working on his team and how they
play. And really they spend a small
amount of time on what the otherteam does because they have to
be good for what they do. A. 100%.
One of the questions I can jump in here with is that Red Bull
(19:14):
New York has had honestly similar statistical season to
Charlotte FC. If you just look at the table,
you'll find that their goal difference isn't that
significant. One of the big sort of columns
people will look at is that Red Bull has had a number of draws
where Charlotte FC has tended toeither lose games or win games.
(19:34):
Would you say that the set up right now at Red Bull New York
is one that that lends itself toclose games?
Yeah, I think so. I, I also just think that they,
they have not hit their stride and, and maybe this is another
similarity, really hit their stride yet in terms of getting
the most out of attackers not named Chupa Moting in particular
(19:55):
or Forsberg. And so when you have situations
where either of those guys are out, which has happened, I think
more and more often than they would like, you're sort of
looking for that third option. And is it Sofo?
Is it Mohammed Sofo? Like he's popped up a couple
times with big goals. You know, who, who is that
player who can, who can change agame that either those guys
aren't in or they're being takenout of?
(20:16):
It's a big question mark. So I I think to me it's more of
a. It's more of a personnel thing
and where how that personnel about like creates a lack of
balance for them. Then it is like, hey, we want to
play close games. I think if you ask Sandra
Schwartz, certainly does he wantto be in every game?
Yes. Does he want to score more
goals? I I think he would say yes.
And I would like to see guys that are not too promoting pick
(20:38):
up some of those, pick up some of those goals.
You talk about a lot of the players and the players that
Charlotte has in this window that we're in right now.
This international window has seen a lot of movement from
Charlotte. Anything kind of stand out for
you just looking at it from afar?
Yeah. I mean, I think the, the, the
price tags like you know, how, how often have we seen in in the
(21:00):
last A-Team that's in contention, let alone but any
team sell two players for $5,000,000 plus in a window, You
know, so I look at the the business that Charlotte has done
and I don't think about it in terms of this business.
I don't something just summer, Ithink that's so reductive to
think about the moment of the sale.
I think about the the work that they've done over the last two
(21:21):
or three years to scout, to sign, to develop the guys that
have now moved on and also ensure that the market is one
that they they get top dollar for.
So I think it's been an incredibly impressive window for
Zoran. You know, the challenge now is
that some point you can't just replace from within, right?
So you know, when, when you loseMalanda, you've got to have a
(21:44):
you've got to have a another player that that comes in here
at some point, unless you truly are saying, Hey, we now trust
Bill Tuiloma to the, you know, basically to the tune of the
transfer, we that we signed him for the first time.
So you know, that's, that's a long term problem.
That's a problem that can be solved in the summer.
And I give credit to to Zoran aswell for that because it's
incredibly, I think difficult inin some ways to say to a
(22:07):
Championship team just starting their season, wait till the
winter. Like, hey, Middlesbrough paying
you $8 million, like most peoplethat are going to pay you that
amount of money. Sorry, my my son is kicking
somebody in a line. Listen, you always got to watch
(22:29):
out for those random slide tackles.
We're we're throwing them in right now.
It's. Very aggressive, huh?
Depends on the moment. Aggressively not listening, I
think is one way to put it. No, I just, I think I think the
business on on Malanda is reallyimportant because ultimately I
think what Dean would tell you and what every single fan in
that stadium is going to tell you is that that's not their $8
(22:49):
million. They want to see a winner.
They want to see Charlotte compete for a championship.
And when you have Zaha in this level of form, when you have BL
coming back in time to build a little momentum before the
playoffs, you'd hope this is a team that can go win something.
And if you lost Malanda right now, I think your chances of
winning something are are hit pretty significantly.
(23:13):
Yeah, agreed. The the national coverage of
Charlotte was pretty high at thebeginning of this year, last
year, you know, picked last, that kind of stuff.
Everybody kind of jumped on the bandwagon and then all of a
sudden everybody's dropped again.
And it's kind of like they saw their struggles in May and June.
They're like, this is not reallythe team we thought it was going
to be. What does Charlotte need to do
(23:33):
to get that respect back, that win on, the win on?
Nick, Nick, win on the road, Manwent on the road.
I remember when you guys were infirst place.
I went on, this is MLS and everybody's singing Charlotte's
praises. And I wasn't trying to be a
hater. I'm not trying to be a hater
now. I just said the shine is about
to come off unless they figure out how to win on the road and
the shine came off away from home.
(23:54):
Like it's as simple as that. When this team is at home, they
are extremely difficult to beat.They they, they seem to just
have a different level of confidence and belief in
themselves. They they attack games, whereas
I don't always see that that same mentality away for them.
And I think that shows in the results.
(24:15):
So I think it's as simple as that.
Ultimately what it comes down tois, you know, to get the seed
that you need to play at home inthe playoffs, you got to win on
the road. So like it, you know, if you
want to, if you want to use the advantage that you've built at
home, there is a, a sort of a requirement that you that you
take care of some business on the road.
You don't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be, you know,
(24:37):
seamless. There can be blips, but every
once in a while you'd be pickingup three points just to climb up
that table and and get a top four seed at the very, very
least. And I think that's what
Charlotte's goal needs to be therest of the way.
Start to chip away and and not just win on the road for
seating, win on the road becausethere's a good chance that you
are going to be on the road against a higher seed.
(24:57):
And at the very least in the three round series, you will be
on the road one game that you need to to get a result out of
to either extend the series or to to, you know, to end it.
So that's the last step I would say for Charlotte is is to win
on the roads. Sounds like a good step to me
that that will take a lot that. Step can wait.
That step can wait. Who cares about that step when
(25:18):
you have the Red Bulls this weekend, right?
Right, exactly. So what are you looking forward
to do in Charlotte ahead of the match?
Because I know you probably comein a little bit before.
Are you going to kind of get getinto town and mingle with the
with the natives? I, I would like to have a drink,
maybe a little bit of a late night drink on Saturday night.
So if you guys got a recommendation on a part of town
(25:40):
or a particularly good bar that I should go check out, I'm going
to do that. And then I always like to go get
a nice breakfast day of game. So any Charlotte fans listening
that that have recommendations on that front?
I'm all ears there. And then, you know, for me,
really the, the whole thing is just experiencing game day.
You know, I, I'm going to get tothe stadium early as I always
do. And I just kind of putter around
(26:00):
like, for lack of a better word,we've got a shoot schedule that
I've got a hit and I'm I'm working on building that out.
But I just like to sort of walk around, see what people are up
to, see what the feel of the stadium is and, and go from
there. What is here's a question for
you guys. If I'm going to do something pre
game where I want to, I want to be where the fans are, I want
to. If I was if I was to experience
(26:22):
a Charlotte game at its its highest point pre game outside
the stadium tailgate style, where would I go?
Logan, you got this one. I mean the the easy answer is
you go just a few blocks over towhere all the tailgating is
happening. There is a.
There is a. Party.
It is, it is a monstrous party. They have a a giant parking lot
(26:46):
that people bring food trucks and it is, it is the place to be
before matches. The supporters party is the
place. If that sort of bigger
atmosphere isn't really where you want to go, there's a place
called Lada Arcade that is rightnext to one of the beautiful
parks in Charlotte, right in Uptown.
It's like a block and a half away and you will be able to get
good food there, good beer there.
(27:06):
If you're a cocktail person instead of a beer guy, there's a
great cocktail bar in there and there's a couple of bars in
there that are just like that. Their whole thing is is soccer,
so. A lot of arcade could I go to a
lot of the night before? Like if I got in at 9:00 on
Saturday night, can I drop my stuff and just jet to a lot of?
I would. I would actually not just tell
you you can, I would tell you one of your question for you
(27:29):
first. Are you a beer guy?
Are you a cocktail guy? I'm a I'm a whatever strikes me
in the moment guy. I would say I'm a 5050 and I'm I
just whatever, whatever is looking good is what I'm going
with. My recommendation is there's a
place called Cotton Room and they did not pay me to say that
you will have trouble finding it.
It is in lot of arcade. You will have to ask someone in
(27:50):
the arcade how to get upstairs to find the cotton room, but
once you do, you will be happy you did.
It's just really, really, reallygood cocktails.
Awesome. Well, Andrew, thanks a lot for
coming on. We appreciate.
We're looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, possibly somebody
else out there on Saturday when Andrew's roaming around town.
Also the supporters, if you wantto see the March, you can March
(28:13):
up with them. If you go to the supporters at
the time, you might already. Be in the stadium.
I can tell you for sure that I will be at the tailgate.
I cannot tell you for sure that I'll be at the March, but I can
tell you I'm hoping that the scheduling gods align so that I
can do both and hopefully bring those to everybody else at home.
Because, you know, I'm sort of the pied piper of, of, of
(28:33):
helping other people experience it.
So I get to do it, which is the blessing.
And then hopefully I get to showother people what Charlotte's
all about. Awesome, thanks.
So everybody don't miss it. Charlotte FC and New York Red
Bulls see Andrew Sunday Night soccer on MLS season pass with
of course, Andrew and then doingthe call Jake and Taylor.
Thanks, Andrew. Appreciate it, guys.
(28:55):
Thank you. Again, thanks for listening to
another episode of the CharlotteFC Podcast where we bring you
the fascinating people who work for and around Charlotte FC and
the world of football. The Charlotte FC Podcast is
edited and produced by me, Nick Fanelli and Eli Fanelli.
Please help us out and share this episode with others.
(29:15):
Five stars and follow CLTFC podcast on Instagram X and
YouTube. Until next time, enjoy the day.
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