3 Things to Watch: Building On Foundation Against Inter Miami

Charlotte FC vs Inter Miami

Kickoff: Saturday, Feb. 19 at 8 PM

Where: Patriots Point, Charleston, South Carolina

How to Watch: Livestream available at charlottefootballclub.com/live. This stream is free and available to viewers within the Charlotte FC broadcast territory.

Building Off Foundation 

In their previous outing against the Columbus Crew, Charlotte FC showed improvement in every category compared to the game against the Charleston Battery. 

“We progressed a lot, we analyze every game, every training, [and] we work hard every day,” Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina said about the team’s improved performance. 

The game against Inter Miami is an opportunity for the team to continue their momentum and build off the previous performance. In a previous interview, Charlotte FC head coach Miguel Ramírez said that the foundational principles of his game model have been set. 

So, naturally, the next step would be to go beyond that foundation and work on implementing the next level of the game model. The last preseason game is the ideal moment to practice those next principles and instructions because you still have room to make mistakes and adjustments. 

Part of that next stage will be improving the attack in the final third… 

If there is one thing that Inter Miami and Charlotte FC have in common this tournament, it’s that both have struggled to create many scoring opportunities.  

For Inter Miami, this has been a trend that has followed them from their 2021 MLS season, where they ranked as one of the lowest in chance creation stats. And, while Charlotte FC have come close, they have yet to score in the Carolina Challenge Cup. 

Scoring is the most difficult thing to do in the sport of soccer and breaking up the cohesion of the squad with lineup changes, as is necessary to manage preseason minutes, only makes it that much harder. 

With that said, both teams will want to end their preseason with some goals, especially from their attackers, going into the start of the MLS regular season. 

The most likely scoring candidate for Miami looks to be Ariel Lassiter, who has scored both goals for Miami this tournament. Yordy Reyna and Karol Świderski have seemed the mostly likely to break the goal scoring drought on CLTFC’s side. 

So much of anything on the pitch comes down to chemistry between players. You may have the perfect tactics and the perfect personnel, but if there is no chemistry or connection between the players, it doesn’t matter. 

This is especially important in the complex, positional system that Charlotte are looking to play under Ramírez. So much of positional play is dependent on understanding when and where your teammates will be and move to, something goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina is keen to continue developing. 

“I need to make good connections in my brain with Sergio [Ruiz], with Jordy [Alcivar] when he is playing the number six. This is the most important thing for me,” said Kahlina. “When I get this confidence with my teammates, we will look much much better.” 

This is an understanding that is only built through time, of which Charlotte has not had much as an expansion team. The game against Miami will be the fifth preseason game the team plays together and seeing how the chemistry is progressing between individuals will be something to keep an eye on.