Preview: DC United at Charlotte FC
DC goes to Charlotte with a five game winless streak but without a new coach
DC United kicked off the post-Lesesne interregnum Saturday with a 1-2 loss away to the LA Galaxy. Losing to the team with the worst record in the league is never good, even if the Galaxy’s form has improved substantially as of late, but interim manager Kevin Flanagan tried to find a silver lining in the fact DC played better late in the match after Christian Benteke was subbed on.
The Lineup
It’s not clear whether Benteke can start. Flanagan just said they were “evaluating” him. Obviously Dominique Badji will start if Benteke can’t.
The bigger problem is the fullback spots, as both Aaron Herrera and David Schnegg are suspended for yellow card accumulation. Neither has been playing their best, but like a fullback-flavored It’s a Wonderful Life, we’re all about to see what life is like without them. The good news is that, unlike last season, DC has actual backups to put in. I’m going to assume that’s what happens. Flanagan mentioned the possibility of three at the back as well in the pregame press conference, but you probably don’t tip your hand to the opposition on something specific like that unless you’re not going to do it?
Backup goalkeeper: Kim Joon Hong
Backup defenders: Brandon Servania, Matti Peltola, Rida Zouhir, Garrison Tubbs
Backup attackers: Christian Benteke, Randall Leal, Jared Stroud
The Opposition: Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC started out the season hot and seemed like they might be actual contenders this year, but as summer approached they cooled off considerably. Since their loss to DC in the US Open Cup, they’ve had three wins, four losses, and one draw.
They now sit at 9th in the Eastern Conference and so represent the playoff line that DC United is theoretically pursuing at 29 points, so 10 points ahead of DC.
Their offensive production has been good with 36 goals, twice the number scored by DC United (18). Their defense has been pretty bad, though of course not as bad as DC’s (36 goals allowed compared to DC United’s 41). I don’t pay as much attention to expected goals at this stage in the season but for what it’s worth their defense has been especially bad in expected goals terms, worse than DC’s by that metric.
Pep Biel is the star of the offense with 7 goals and 10 assists on the season. He came on as a sub in the Open Cup game and did all right, but he’s in really good form at the moment with two goals and three assists just in the last three games.
Wilfried Zaha, the big addition going into this season, is having a respectable year with 5 goals and 3 assists. He’s the only player besides Biel with more than two assists, so that’s not bad, though he doesn’t seem worth the huge loan fee they paid.
Patrick Agyemang scored their first goal against DC in the Open Cup match and has 6 goals and 1 assist in the regular season. Although his production has slipped from last season, he’s still a decent MLS forward…but he’s in the process of being sold to Derby County in the Championship and so almost certainly won’t play.
Liel Abada was brought in last year to be the DP forward only to be disappointing last season, but initially seemed to have turned things around this year. He’s got 5 goals and 1 assist, but he hasn’t scored since May and looks like he might have lost his job to 20-year-old Israeli Idan Toklomati, a prospect last year to signed to Charlotte’s MLS Next Pro side who seems to have come good. Toklomati has 3 goals in the last four games.
Kristijan Kahlina won Goalkeeper of the Year in 2024 with a dominating shotstopping performance (more than 10 goals prevented), but he’s been below average this season. It’s another example of the volatility of the shotstopping statistic, something that makes me wonder how accurate it really is.
As far as other notable players, former DC United academy player Eryk Williamson continues to be spot starter and so could start in midfield. US National Team centerback Tim Ream is back from the Gold Cup and played a few minutes in their last game as a substitute. He seems likely to start, though it might be at left back.
What I’m Looking For
Really what I’m looking for is news of DC United sealing the deal for their new coach. With all respect to interim coach Kevin Flanagan, the team is just treading water until then. All season, DC United has done poorly against teams like Charlotte with good offenses and bad defenses, and with hardly any practice time since Lesesne’s firing it doesn’t seem likely Flanagan can do anything to change that.
The fullback situation this game presents a little puzzle, but at this point in the season we know what to expect from Dodson and Antley, so I guess the most interesting thing is whether Peglow, Pirani, and Benteke can continue to build on the limited success they’ve had when on the field together.