Even Zaha needs time for transition
The new Charlotte FC star is adapting to MLS, plus Ream calls Doumbia 'actual left back,' Aston Villa fans gather in town, and a preview of Saturday's rivalry game vs. Nashville
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Charlotte FC’s star winger is showing signs of frustration as he continues to adapt to a new league and lifestyle
Wilfried Zaha, looking incredulous, is adjusting to life and play in MLS. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith tried to pump the brakes on Wilfried Zaha mania after the star player collected his first goal, a near assist and a Man of the Match crown after a 2-0 win over Atlanta in his MLS debut.
It’s like Smith knew.
“We’ll probably expect too much too soon,” the gaffer had said. “There’s a fanfare that comes with a new DP [designated player] coming into the club and understandably so. We’re really happy to have Wilf here, but he’s got to get used to his teammates. He’s got to get up to speed.”
In the weeks to follow, Charlotte FC fans have been fed a steady stream of highlight videos — Zaha dancing on the dribble, his purple-cleated moves all the more devastating in slow motion — but he’s gone four games without a goal contribution while looking increasingly frustrated.
What the former Crystal Palace star is finding out, like other highly-anticipated international players to join Charlotte FC, is that it takes time to adjust to MLS.
“It’s a tough league to get to grips with,” said veteran defender Tim Ream, who came back from England with the advantage of having two seasons with the New York Red Bulls. “It’s a physical league. It takes time to get comfortable and do the things you want to do. … It’s understanding what he can and can’t do, what will be called and what won’t be called, and what type of impact he can have.”
Polish international Karol Swiderski, Charlotte FC’s first-ever designated player, scored two goals in back-to-back games early in the inaugural season in 2022, but then went 11 games without a goal. In the meantime, his body language read frustration — with his teammates, himself and especially the officials. He went on to post back-to-back double-digit goal-scoring seasons. [Coincidentally, Swiderski snapped his scoreless streak with a goal at home against Nashville, the club Charlotte FC is hosting this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.]
Argentinian striker Enzo Copetti showed similar frustration in his early days with Charlotte to start the 2023 season. While he eventually quit being so demonstrative with officials, he never did seem to adapt to Charlotte’s style of play, or MLS defenders, and scored just seven goals in 35 games.
Zaha is a more skilled player than both of those strikers, though his body language lately has been reminiscent of both of them. He drew a yellow card for complaining to an official in Saturday’s 2-0 loss in Colorado, which led to yellows for both coaches. Zaha is tied for fourth in MLS with 17 fouls drawn, so his struggles are not all based on officiating. Defenders have forced him into mistakes, either on passes into high-traffic areas, or with the ball at his feet.
“He’s shown glimpses of what Wilf can do,” said captain Ashley Westwood, who turned 35 this week and is in his third season since coming from the Premier League. “He’s not played a lot of football recently. He’s new to the league, he’s new to the team, so he’s only going to get better. … If Wilf keeps playing and getting minutes under his belt, he’s going to make a real difference for us.”
Westwood pointed out that in the meantime, he’s attracted so much attention from defenses that it has opened up space for midfielder Pep Biel, who is tied for second in MLS with six goal contributions (two goals + four assists).
Zaha’s playing time diminished after he left Crystal Palace two years ago. He made just 13 starts for Galatasaray in his first season in Turkey and one start last season for Lyon in France. While he’s played 90 minutes of all five starts so far in Charlotte, he missed the season opener for the birth of his daughter in England and has missed practice time on a subsequent visit to see his daughter and a bout with the flu.
“We all know the quality he has, but he has to get into a rhythm as well,” Smith said. “From what he’s showed so far, there are definitely defenders who are scared of him.”
Some smooth sailing is coming for Zaha on a personal level. Smith said Zaha has found a house in Charlotte, and his family is expected to move from England in the next few weeks. [Zaha shared a house-hunting pic on Snapchat this week and joked “Everything looks like something out of ‘Home Alone.’”]
As for Zaha’s frustration level? Smith said it doesn’t bother him.
“If you’ve watched him for the last 15 years — he’s been playing in the Premier League — you’ll see the frustration levels even when he’s playing for Crystal Palace, Manchester United and back to Crystal Palace,” Smith said. “Because he knows what his standards are. He expects the best from himself and his teammates.”
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Backline shuffling: Ream more comfortable at center back
Souleyman Doumbia is a more prototypical left back, where he has greater potential to link up with Wilfried Zaha farther upfield. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Center back Andrew Privett returns from a one-game red card suspension Saturday, which means Smith will have to show his hand at left back. Prior to the past two games — when Tim Ream played center back in Privett’s absence in Colorado and was off with the U.S. Men’s National team for Charlotte’s game against San Jose — Ream spent 12 games at left back. Charlotte lost only two of those games while going 6-2-4, including draws in first-round playoff games against Orlando that went to penalty kicks.
Now that Charlotte FC has Souleyman Doumbia to play left back, it figures that Ream would slot back in to his natural center back position. Not that Smith would divulge his plans before a rivalry game. Ream gave a clue, though, when asked this week about what Doumbia brings to the team.
“He’s an actual left back,” Ream said. “He knows how to get in an attack, how to link up, when to go, when to stay. He has a good engine on him, can run all day and get up and down and back and forth. Having him able to join in will allow Wilf a little bit more freedom, a little bit more time on the ball, little bit more space, and that can only be a good thing for Wilf and the guys on the attack.”
Notable: National Aston Villa fan group meets in CLT
Aston Villa 2025 North American Meetup: Several hundred fans of English Premier League team Aston Villa from all over the country are meeting in Charlotte this weekend, thanks to Dean Smith. He’s a lifelong Aston Villa fan, and former head coach, who happens to live and coach in Charlotte now.
Originally, the idea was for Villa fans to watch Aston Villa play Nottingham Forest Saturday morning, in a game scheduled to kick off at 7:30 a.m. locally. Then they could attend Charlotte’s game against Nashville at 2:30 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium. Unfortunately, the Aston Villa game was changed to 12:30 p.m. locally, so now the group will gather at Middle James Brewing Company in Pineville to watch both the Aston Villa and Charlotte FC games on TV.
They’ll still get a chance to see Dean Smith in person, though, as he’s planning to drop in for a meet-and-greet Friday night in Pineville. Smith said he was invited to join former Aston Villa player Alan McInally at the event.
“It’ll be great,” Smith said. “And from all the messages I’ve had from Aston Villa fans, they’re all very supportive of Charlotte FC now, which is great.”
While on the subject of Aston Villa, Smith was asked if he’s ever met a famous fan of the club, actor Tom Hanks, to which Smith responded: “No, he was cast away.” Smith pointed out that he’s met Prince William, as in the heir to the British throne, multiple times. “He used to go into the training ground regularly to watch us train,” Smith said.
Up Next: Charlotte FC (3-2-1) vs Nashville SC (3-2-1)
When/Where: 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.
Notable:
Charlotte FC returns to “The Fortress,” where the team has won a club-record six consecutive games dating back to last season. The team is 3-0 at Bank of America Stadium this season with wins over Atlanta, Cincinnati and San Jose, outscoring opponents 8-1.
Charlotte is coming off a 2-0 loss in Colorado, which kept the team winless on the road this season after games in Seattle (2-2 draw), Miami (1-0 loss) and Colorado.
Nashville got off to its best start in history with 10 points through the first five games [three wins and a draw] under new coach and former U.S. Men’s National team assistant B.J. Callaghan, before falling to Cincinnati 2-1 last weekend.
Zaha suffered ligament damage to his thumb in Colorado and will play in a splint.
This is Charlotte’s second 2:30 p.m. start time in four home games so far this season. It’s the last scheduled day game, though, until Charlotte travels to Washington, D.C., for a 2:30 p.m. start on Oct. 4, which is “Decision Day” as the last game of the regular season.
The first fans through the gates Saturday will receive foam goalie gloves presented by Bojangles, as modeled by three Walton boys. The other side of the foam gloves (not pictured) features a brick wall pattern in honor of defending MLS goalkeeper of the year Kristijan Kahlina.
From left to right, Johnny, Wade and Wes Walton. (Photo credit: Mom)
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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