Swiderski: ‘I'm happy to be back’
Charlotte FC’s returning star speaks to Charlotte media for first time since coming back from Italy; Plus: Abada bound for Olympics with Israeli national team, preview of Saturday's game in Austin
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Swiderski, Charlotte’s top scorer from its first two seasons with 22 goals, is eager to produce here again
Passing the torch: Karol Swiderski (right) returns to the lineup Saturday, as Liel Abada, Charlotte’s newest designated player, heads to the Olympics. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
Strolling out to practice Friday morning, returning Charlotte FC star Karol Swiderski and new coach Dean Smith greeted each other with a smile and a side hug. It was a small but telling gesture, revealing just how much the climate has changed around Atrium Health Performance Park.
It’s been almost six months since Swiderski left for Italy’s Hellas Verona on loan, meeting a long-stated goal to play in one of the top European leagues. He left just two weeks into the preseason rebuild under Smith. Technically, the transaction was temporary, but few expected Swiderski back — starting with Charlotte’s front office. When newcomer Liel Abada was signed in March, he was given Swiderski’s old No. 11 jersey.
Verona was expected to buy out Swiderski’s contract permanently if it had a successful season, and if not, Charlotte figured to deal him somewhere else.
Charlotte FC general manager Zoran Krneta had said in the weeks following Swiderski’s departure: “Dean doesn’t want a player that doesn’t want to play for him. I don’t want a player that doesn’t want to play for him. So we found a solution that was the best possible solution at the time. … I’m very confident he’ll be taken, if not by Verona, by some other club.”
But the loan didn’t go especially well for Swiderski, who scored just two goals in 15 games primarily off the bench, and Verona elected not to buy his contract, bringing Swiderski back to the fold after the loan expired June 30. He’ll wear the No. 9 jersey, as TopBin90.com first reported.
In two weeks since he returned to practice in Charlotte, though, Swiderski has been a “bright” addition, Smith has maintained. His attitude and effort in practice has turned heads, especially Smith’s.
Smith pointed out that Swiderski scored six or seven goals in practice Monday and said: “That tells me a lot about him and the type of player he is and where he wants to play.”
By Friday morning on the eve of Charlotte’s departure for the Saturday game in Austin — Swiderski’s first game eligible to play — Smith said he envisioned using Swiderski at striker. In previous press conferences, he’d left open the possibility of using him in the midfield or on the wing.
As for whether he’d use him in the starting 11 on Saturday, Smith said: “He’s available to start.”
Swiderski met with a small group of local media Friday morning, speaking publicly for the first time since rejoining the team earlier this month. Here’s an edited version of the questions and responses he got this morning from reporters, including The Ledger. The native Polish speaker conducted the interview in English, and it was edited in parts for clarity.
Q. What has it been like getting back in the groove here?
It’s nice to be back. It's good because almost everyone on the team, I know. We played together before. Two weeks here training [without playing] was really hard for me, so I'm ready for the game.
Swiderski has been training with Charlotte FC for two weeks. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
Q. Having been with Smith in the preseason and in the past two weeks, what have you learned about what he is looking to see from you?
Yes, two weeks in the preseason and now two weeks [in training] but also I watch every game, so I know how we want to play and how we play, so I hope I will feel good in this system and I will give some goals and assists.
Q. What are your thoughts on how Patrick Agyemang has played at striker, and how you all might be able to play together?
I’m happy he scored goals this season because he has talent, he has potential and he’s good with runs behind the defensive line. He’s scored a lot of goals, and I hope we will play together and I can give him also some assists.
Q. Smith has said it seems you’re hungry, you want to prove something. Is that right?
I think yes. I try to push in every training, every game. Maybe the last six months were not the best for me. I have some small injuries, but now I'm back. I'm feeling good. I'm ready to show my quality again.
Q. How would you characterize your time in Italy?
I had small injuries. Every two, three weeks, something happened, like my ankle or my hips. I didn’t play a lot, but I think it was a good time for me, a new league, a difficult league. Defensively, when you play in a small club, it’s so difficult to have a chance to even shoot on target.
Q. Did you think you’d be back here ever?
I think so. I come here back with my family. I took my old stuff back, so we’ll see what happens. But yeah, I’m here, and everything the club will decide [going forward], I need to accept.
Q. In the preseason was it already in your mind you were leaving? Did you and Smith really get to know each other at that point?
It was only two weeks and in the winter, like I said [in reports in Poland] maybe my interviews before last winter, when I said I wanted to try to go to the top leagues in Europe [it didn’t sit well]. … I think it’s normal for a player, when you want to try to play with the best players in the world. I think it was good to try to be there in Italy, in one of the best leagues, but now I’m happy to be back.
I never said I didn’t like Charlotte, because I love this club. I give a lot of my passion. Always, I try to score, to give assists, to be close with the fans in the game. I’m happy to be back.
Q. Did you feel like you needed to earn Smith’s trust?
I don’t know. I think he knows me. He watched a couple of games before he signed the contract, so he knows how I play. He sees me now in the trainings, and I hope he’s happy with my performance.
Q. What’s different in the atmosphere around the team now than before?
I think it’s more calm now. It’s a really great atmosphere, and the results are also better than last year. I think we are all together, [from] what I can see in the locker room, and also with all the staff around the club. So yeah, it’s a nice atmosphere, and that goes together with the results.
Q. Now that you have played in Europe, what are your expectations for the future?
I think when I was here before, I played really well. I scored a lot of goals, created assists. I want to give this again for the team, for the club, for the fans, and I hope I will play well and the fans will be happy.
Q. Are you excited to get back to playing at Bank of America Stadium?
Yeah, I was thinking when I came back, maybe I can play [my] first game against Inter Miami at home in the beginning of this month. But then they said I needed to wait [to play] when the transfer window will be open. So yeah, it’s just 10 more days before the first game at home, so I will wait.
Q. Do you feel like you appreciate being here in a different way than before?
I don’t know because I never said I don’t want to be here. I went for a half-season loan, and I’m back. I tried to watch every game. I spoke with the players always. So it’s not like I left and I don't care anymore about Charlotte.
Like I said before, I’m happy to be here. I love this club. I think this club is really amazing, and this is a good place to be for every player. When I said I wanted to try to play in the top leagues, I didn’t move just to get money or something. I love this club. I’m back now, and I’m pretty sure I will give my best on the field and then the fans still will love me, the team, and they will support me.
Q. Can both be true, you can love being in Charlotte but also aspire to play against higher competition in Europe?
Of course. Football is like this. Players always move to better leagues, better teams sometimes. It was always like this and will always be like this. I tried. I was in Italy, in one of the best leagues in Europe. But now I’m back here, and I’m not thinking about leaving again.
Q. Is your son excited to be back in Charlotte again? [His son, Antoni, is 4.]
Yes. He was crazy about Charlotte. He asked me every week, “When are we going back to Charlotte?” He’s so happy to be here. Even yesterday, we had a day off, so I came with him to the dining facility. He was running around here to play soccer, then we played ping-pong. He’s really happy to be here.
Abada heads off for the Olympics
Just as Swiderski returns, Liel Abada has left for the Summer Olympics in Paris with the Israeli national team. As eager as fans might have been to see what the two dynamic offensive players could do together, it’s a good time for Abada to go, in some ways, given that a) Swiderski is back and eligible just as he leaves and b) the summer transfer window is now open so more additions might come.
Abada has been the lone designated player for Charlotte FC since Enzo Copetti’s transfer back to Argentina two months ago. He missed a month with a quadriceps strain, but he has rounded into form over the past month and leaves on a high.
Abada took nine shots, including six on target, the past two games against Cincinnati and Columbus. He had a goal and an assist against Cincinnati and could have easily matched that against Columbus. His speed on the wing has made an impact in Charlotte’s attack, and it will be missed. The good news for Charlotte is that he’s likely to miss just one game on the MLS regular season schedule. Much of his three-to-four weeks away will fall during Leagues Cup, the tournament set to start between teams from MLS and Liga MX [Mexican League].
The trip to Paris is an especially poignant one for Abada, who will be representing Israel in its first Olympic appearance in soccer since 1976 in Montreal. And he does it at a time when Israel is at war in the Middle East. A group of Palestinian sports clubs had petitioned FIFA to suspend Israel from international soccer, but FIFA delayed making a decision until after the Olympics.
“For me, it’s a dream,” Abada said. “I’ve been waiting to play in the Olympics. And it’s something big and historic for Israel, especially in this time.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (10-8-6) vs Austin FC (8-10-6)
When/Where: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Q2 Stadium, Austin, Texas
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 enters this game having just picked up a win, a loss and a draw against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference — a 2-1 loss at home to Miami, a 3-1 win in Cincinnati and a 1-1 draw in Columbus. Taking four points in a five-day span in Ohio brings CLT FC to Texas on a high.
Center back Andrew Privett took a blow to the knee Wednesday in Columbus and left the game, but follow-up exams have revealed no structural damage.
Charlotte is now 4-6-2 on the road this season — matching its road win total of the entire 2023 season.
Charlotte has faced Austin just once, losing 1-0 on June 30, 2022, in Charlotte.
Austin will be without attacking midfielder Sebastian Driussi, who was ejected from Austin’s loss to FC Dallas on Wednesday for “violent conduct” during a scuffle.
Austin FC has lost three of its past four games. Saturday could see the debut of two new players in designated player winger Osman Bukari and defender Mikkel Desler.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her third 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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