Is Charlotte FC headed for a goalkeeper controversy?
Plus U.S. Men's National team coming to town for Gold Cup; Beer showers gone wrong; Previewing Saturday night's home game against Columbus Crew
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With Kahlina on the mend and given Marks’ gaffe, is there a goalie change — or dilemma — in the works?
Second-year player George Marks (left) has been filling in for veteran Kristijan Kahlina, who underwent offseason back surgery. (Photos courtesy of Charlotte FC and Crown Legacy FC.)
For five games, George Marks has played well as Charlotte FC’s No. 1 goalkeeper. He has been blocking shots — barrages of them at times — and more than holding his own while veteran Kristijan Kahlina makes his way back from back surgery. But for one moment, at the end of last week’s game against Colorado, Marks flinched.
With Charlotte leading 2-1 in extra time, poised to claim only its second win of the season and first at home, Marks took his eye — and his hands — off the ball. What should have been an authoritative grab became a shoo-in for Colorado and Charlotte (1-4-3) was left with a 2-2 tie. The tie — Charlotte’s third in eight games this season — felt a lot like a loss.
Marks’ gaffe just happened to come the night after Kahlina made his first start in goal for the Crown Legacy FC, Charlotte’s Next Pro team that plays in Matthews — in what amounted to a “minor league rehab start,” to borrow a baseball term.
The first words from Charlotte FC coach Christian Lattanzio in his postgame press conference after Saturday’s tie with Colorado were “It’s Christmas every day with us,” referring to Marks’ mistake and a litany of similar gifts from the back line this season. The second point he made shortly thereafter was how much the team missed three experienced players who have been injured, and the first among those he mentioned was Kahlina (as well as midfielder Ashley Westwood and center back Guzman Corujo).
“We have three players with big experience that can help and can make everyone more at ease,” Lattanzio said.
Interestingly enough, both Westwood (questionable with thigh injury) and Corujo (out following knee surgery) were still listed on the injury report this week, while Kahlina was not. A week ago, he was listed as “questionable.”
Ever since Kahlina returned to the practice field to begin his return from offseason back surgery, a goalkeeping decision was on the horizon. Marks’ gaffe, and Lattanzio’s comments after it, made you wonder if a change is coming soon.
Lattanzio wasn’t scheduled for his usual weekly press conference until Friday afternoon — after this newsletter comes out. There’s a good chance he won’t divulge his goalkeeping plans anyway. But here are some factors he’s surely considering:
Kahlina played the full 90 minutes last Friday night for Crown Legacy FC and got the “clean sheet” in a 3-0 win vs. Inter Miami II. He didn’t need to make any saves, though, and might benefit from another game for Crown Legacy to get up to “game speed.” Crown Legacy FC plays at home Sunday at 2 p.m.
Kahlina, 30, started 31 of 34 games at goalkeeper for Charlotte FC last year. He was a leader on the team, both on the field and off. He was steady in goal, but not infallible, making the occasional mistake himself. One example was when he was caught off his line on a free kick from midfield by Lucas Zelarayán the last time Charlotte played Columbus last Oct. 5. The result of that game was also a 2-2 tie — this one putting an end to Charlotte FC’s playoff chances.
Marks, 23, is tied for fifth in MLS with 26 saves, while playing only five games — two fewer than anybody else among the league leaders. He’s given up nine goals, though many have come as the result of defensive miscues. If Lattanzio elects to start Kahlina Saturday against Columbus, he runs the risk of squashing Marks’ confidence by not sending him back out there to right his own wrong.
Marks, to his credit, has been right back out in public this week, serving the Charlotte community, by participating in a local laundry service event and appearing at a game for Charlotte FC’s Unified team featuring athletes from the Special Olympics. It remains to be seen what he’ll be doing Saturday night.
➡️ What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Concacaf Coup: U.S. Men’s National team coming to town
When the club announced last week that the Concacaf Gold Cup was returning to Charlotte for the fourth time — and first since Charlotte got an MLS team — the thinking was they’d be doing well to land either the Mexican National team or the U.S. Men’s National team. It was best-case scenario.
The U.S. Men’s National team is coming to Charlotte for the first time ever, to participate in a group play doubleheader Sunday, July 2. The United States will play Nicaragua at 7 p.m., followed by Honduras facing Haiti at 9 p.m. Matchups were announced this week.
“The honor of hosting the United States’ Men’s National Team at such a pivotal moment in the soccer landscape of this country is a testament to the region’s deep history of being a soccer hotbed,” Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue said in a prepared statement. “This has undoubtedly been reinforced by Charlotte FC’s historic expansion into Major League Soccer and Tepper Sports and Entertainment’s commitment to bringing top class entertainment, including international soccer matches, to Uptown Charlotte.”
The Concacaf Gold Cup, which is in its 17th iteration, is held every two years, featuring the best national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean. Charlotte has hosted Gold Cup matches in 2011, 2015 and 2019, and welcoming the Mexican National team each of those three years.
Tickets went on sale to Charlotte FC season ticket holders Wednesday and Panthers PSL holders on Thursday. Tickets will be available to the public on Tuesday.
News and Notes
Nuno Santos and Andre Shinyashiki were off the 20-man roster for last Saturday’s game against Colorado, which was notable for two skilled players who are among the first subs called upon in the midfield — if not the occasional start. Lattanzio declined to elaborate on why after the game, saying he’d rather focus on the players who were on the active roster.
Left back Joseph Mora had to leave the Colorado game with a left knee injury and is listed as “out” for Saturday’s game in the injury report. It’s a costly part of the field to be short-handed for Charlotte FC. The team is thin at outside back. Mora was getting just his second start of the season but has proven a reliable member of the defensive rotation.
Fullback Joseph Mora had to be helped from the field Saturday. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Charlotte made a run at signing Irish midfielder Jack Byrne, 26, of the Shamrock Rovers, according to reports by Irish independent journalist Daniel McDonnell, making an offer north of $400,000, only to have the club ultimately reject it. Byne, who has played four games for the Irish National team, played for Lattanzio when he was coaching in the Manchester City youth program.
Beer showers one thing — beer dumping another
A screen grab from the video of fans dumping beverages at Charlotte FC game. (Video taken by Mike Binetti of YouTube channel’s “Halftime with Bayern Ryan.”)
Beer showers to celebrate goals have became a regular thing in the Charlotte FC supporters section at Bank of America Stadium, often leaving fans damp and a little smelly after games. For the most part, though, the practice has been fairly contained — with the exception of a time last season when fans had to be reprimanded for throwing the cup, along with the beverage, into the air.
That changed last Saturday night, when videos circulated online of what appeared to be a male fan and a younger companion dumping beverages directly on the fans in front of them. And no, it wasn’t an anomaly, either. An independent videographer named Mike Binetti caught the same people doing the same thing on the second Charlotte FC goal as well.
“If you throw beer on the wrong person, you’ve got a brawl,” said Ryan Gibson, of York, S.C., a who is host of “Halftime with Bayern Ryan” on YouTube. Binetti took the fan footage for Gibson’s show and shared it with him afterward.
Gibson decided to send the video clip to several Charlotte FC fans, and that’s how Aaron Bright came across it and decided to share it on Twitter. Bright said he’s not big on the idea of throwing beer to begin with: “I think throwing a $14 beer at Bank of America is a waste of money anyway.” (Yes, Aaron, excellent point.) But he, like many of the Charlotte FC fans among those who responded, believe there’s a right way to do it — and this was wrong.
“If people are going to use these kind of celebrations to try to be anonymous and dump beer down someone's back, it’s going to ruin it for everybody,” Bright said. “Eventually, it’s going to turn into the club banning it altogether.”
Charlotte FC chief fan officer Shawn McIntosh is out on paternity leave following the birth of his daughter. But he took time to respond to the issue on Twitter this week, saying: “This simply isn’t how you ‘beer shower.’ If you’re going to do it, have the slightest bit of respect for your fellow supporters, and throw the beer up in the sky and NOT directly toward others.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (1-4-3) vs. Columbus (4-2-2)
When/Where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte.
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. For information on how to sign up, click here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 FM in English. WOLS 106.1 FM in Spanish.
Charlotte is still looking for its first home win this season, going 0-2-2 so far.
Columbus Crew comes to town for the first time since the makeup of a rainout last Oct. 5. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and knocked Charlotte out of playoff contention. This time Columbus is under the leadership of Frenchman Wilfriend Nancy, who joined the Crew after two seasons as head coach of CF Montreal.
While Columbus is unbeaten in its past four games and sits fourth in the Eastern Conference with 14 points, the Crew is winless on the road this season at 0-2-2 (vs. 3-0-1 at home).
Blue foam crowns will be given out to the first 8,000 fans at Bank of America Stadium.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now cutting her teeth on soccer and the Charlotte FC just as fans in Charlotte do. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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