Charlotte FC vs. New York Red Bulls Match Preview | August 24, 2024

back up and going with major league soccer this weekend New York Red Bulls down in Charlotte uh will appreciate you hopping on giving us a couple minutes um both of these teams right in similar spots it's been almost a month 20 something days in between games 24 25 days I'm sure both ready to see if they can ramp up uh what will be an important nine games and overall if you look at the Eastern Conference standings and schedule this game has a ton of meeting for both of these teams it's very much a six-pointer and I think the the thing that you mentioned you know the value of rest versus rust I think is kind of the big thing you look at with both teams because uh Red Bulls played their last game one day before Charlotte FC did so you're talking about a 24 25 day layoff and even Dean Smith said while it it might have been nice to go for a trophy they needed that rest to kind of break up the season he's almost kind of treated this like a second preseason and for players who have come in as incomings like Tim ree it is a preseason for him so I think it at least is a good reset for the season but but I'm with you I think we're both kind of itching to see what this means for both sides in a very hotly contested race in the Eastern Conference I think you know the top six teams in the East I think have differentiated themselves from the rest of the pack I mean you've got obviously Miami and the two Ohio teams and us with the two New York teams I think it's it's very interesting and I think these six will all be kind of jockeying for position in a hotly contested stretch run on when you think of it you mentioned the name Tim ream someone Red Bull and uh their fan base very familiar with going back several years ago that's a guy important signing right still has so much to offer so much to give whether it's at the club level or even on the international level as well what what are the expectations you think for him to come in and almost plug and play a little bit I would think right well I think the expectation is for him to play uh I don't think you bring in a guy like that and obviously you know anybody who listens or watches this knows his quality not just from his time at Red Bulls but as you mentioned his time internationally and I found that interesting he said to us earlier last week that you know there's no reason to think that he can't still contribute internationally too which I think is uh an incredible thing to think about uh when you think about the 2026 World Cup but the basis onine expectation here is he brings leadership he brings I think some competence to a backline that quite frankly had a lot of it early on in the season I think there had been some slippage over the course of the weeks that leaded up to the leagues cup and then during the leagues cup there were some goals conceded that I feel like were very uncharacteristic that doesn't necessarily fall 100% at the line of Andrew privet I know there was some individual errors on his end and a couple of others from you know the collective and just some mm marking issues that Dean Smith felt like these next couple of weeks or these last couple of weeks I should say were big to kind of go off of but uh when you bring in somebody who's a US men's international something that Dean Smith has said that he wants to see more of in this league I think you definitely go ahead and do it and and I think he's going to bring for what is a very young Club a sense of credibility and somebody who knows how to see out games and obviously uh be a stalwart at the back and also one of the things that Dean likes about him is that he is a left footed Center back he's always wanted somebody who has that profile as a left footed Center back to kind of give you that balance on both sides and I'm very curious to see how it fits your Al FC's game model seems like it was a long time ago when these teams first played at the beginning part of the regular seon season give me a sense of what is different with this Charlotte team now from when Red Bull played them months ago well obviously the big insertion has been Carol sidki back in after he uh finished his loan term in Italy I think the one thing that we're very intrigued by when it comes to the front line is the fact that two of charlott FC's designated players get to play on the field together for the first time with leel abata coming back from the Olympics and sidki coming back uh really having only played three games since his return he played the final game before the leagues cup break against Austin got himself a penalty spot goal uh played off the bench in the first leagues Cup game in Philadelphia and then started against uh what was a very very tough Cru of su side got himself a penalty spot goal there as well in the shootout but I think the real big thing is is trying to see where that chemistry has grown over the course of the last three and a half weeks he's had the ability to train fully with the team for really the first time since the pre-season and I think to getting that symbiotic relationship with abata and whoever they place in that number 10 role I think is a big Intrigue because Charlotte FC did sign a number 10 during the summer transfer window in pep BL I don't believe he'll be able to be ready to go on Saturday just because of the international transfer certificate having uh still being put through the process and the VIS is still being put through the process but he should be a very big contributor for charotte see down the stretch I'm curious to see whether or not they go back to Brand brono in that role at the 10 kind of being a uh a pseudo 10 but also being somebody who can really help at the top of the press or they're bringing somebody off the bench like a Nica petkovic or a Ben Bender who brings a little bit more of an offensive uh way of doing things and a little bit more creativity there they obviously love what they have with Ashley Westwood in the defensive Midfield and both Giani and brono have done well playing those spots alongside of him but I think it creates a lot of intrigue going into at least how this next game or two will go because person who's in that spot knows he's playing for a position that will eventually potentially go to a designated player and they want to make sure that they impress Dean Smith as much as they possibly can to get a bench roll in replacing Beal when he's able to make himself available and what's been one of the better home atmospheres in Major League Soccer Red Bull with down in the Queen City take on Charlotte will'll appreciate you giving us a couple of minutes here and look forward to seeing you over the course of the next couple days in person thanks Doc appreciate you