Embrace the Pressure
There’s no light way to put it, the stakes are at an all-time high in Charlotte’s match against Toronto. The pressure is on as a loss could be fatal for either team’s playoff aspirations
While obviously important to recognize the magnitude of the match, hyper focusing on the stakes can be more damaging than helpful. Fear can begin to creep in, which can lead to second guessing and timid play – not the way you want to perform at home.
“I think there was also an element of wanting to please the crowd in the first half. Sometimes, you think you do that by being conservative, but you’re not. You have to go out and play free. I think the crowd can sense that.”
Instead of getting caught up in the stakes of the match, the team needs to embrace that pressure and play freely. They won’t have to do it alone as the team will have 30,000 plus fans to lean on.
The Real Charlotte FC
"This whole game was bad for every player,” said CLTFC winger Kamil Jóźwiak regarding the previous 0 - 4 loss to Toronto. “This is a good chance for us to play a rematch against them and show them that that result was not correct. We have to win this game."
It was a rough night for Charlotte when these two sides last met, to say the least. They conceded four goals in the first half and left Toronto limping with not many positives to take with them. However, the squad feels that it was a fluke and that they are a better side than the one that was exposed in Toronto. This will be an opportunity for the team to show their real selves and perhaps hit Toronto with something they aren't expecting.
Feed Swiderski
Good things happen when Karol Świderski scores goals. Since the beginning of July, Charlotte are 3 – 1 when he scores but 1 – 4 when he doesn’t. However, a striker can’t do it all by himself. So how can the team increase the likelihood of Świderksi scoring?
By keeping the box-to-box midfielders higher up the field right in behind Swiderski to draw defenders away from him. They can also be options to do quick one-two passes to free up Świderski if it’s congested in the middle. It was through these means that Charlotte were able to create several scoring opportunities for themselves against New York City FC.
Świderski has proven that he doesn’t need many chances to score, so just providing two or three good scoring opportunities could make all the difference for the outcome of the match.
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