Charlotte FC coach’s advice: Avoid the rough stuff vs. New York Red Bulls
Soccer? Yes.
Rough stuff? No.
That’s the advice from Charlotte FC coach Christian Lattanzio in advance of his team’s MLS East wild-card playoff match Wednesday night against the New York Red Bulls.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
It’s the first playoff match for the second-year Charlotte franchise, and Lattanzio wants his team to concentrate on playing its game — not New York’s.
“It’s very important to play in our style,” Lattanzio told reporters Tuesday. “We want to push the tempo.”
Charlotte’s two matches this season against the Red Bulls have been rather physical.
In a March 25 meeting in Charlotte, seven players (four from Charlotte) got yellow cards, and there were 37 fouls whistled in a 1-1 tie.
It was much the same on June 21 in New York, in a 2-2 deadlock. Eight players (five from Charlotte) got yellow cards, with 27 fouls called.
Then again, you could expect as much. The Red Bulls led the league in fouls this year, with 497 — about 25 more than the next-highest team.
“Every game is a fight,” Lattanzio said. “We want to play our style. They want to play their style. So we struggle, to see which style is played.”
New York, which was 11-13-10 during the regular season and finished eighth in the East, plays a lower-scoring type of game than Charlotte. The Red Bulls scored 36 goals and gave up 39.
Charlotte, which finished ninth with a 10-11-13 mark, scored 45 and surrendered 52.
That is consistent with the style that Lattanzio wants.
“We want to play aggressive football,” he said. “It’s still a work in progress, but I have a group of players who share my philosophy – to stay active.”
Charlotte FC captain and midfielder Ashley Westwood, a former Premier League regular, said the Queen City team’s late surge to the playoffs was the result of team chemistry.
“There were ups and downs,” Westwood said. “It’s the character of the boys that got us through. This club is in a good place.”
“Weeks ago, we got written off by a lot of people,” Westwood added. “We never lost belief.
Every manager, after every game, told us we’re one of the best teams they’ve faced.”
MLS playoff rules and bracket, how to watch
▪ Because Charlotte ranked No. 3 in tied matches this season, it might be helpful to review the MLS rules. In a wild-card playoff match, there is no overtime period. If the match is tied, the teams go directly to a penalty kick shootout.
▪ Also, the winner of Wednesday’s match advances to face East top seed Cincinnati in a best-of-three series. The second match in that series would be played in Charlotte.
Wednesday’s match will be televised by Apple TV on the MLS Season Pass. It will be carried on radio by WFNZ-FM (92.7).
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
