Core and Continuity
In keeping with the trend where every season has been an improvement on the last, Charlotte FC boasted their best-ever MLS campaign in 2025. Buttressed by a league-best home record, which more than justified the Bank’s ‘Fortress’ moniker (and a dope jersey), The Crown registered a record points haul that translated into a 4th-place finish.
The top-4 finish didn’t come as too much of a surprise to MLS talking heads, even in an unforgiving Eastern Conference. After all, Dean Smith’s first season in 2024 had laid the markers for a successful subsequent campaign: namely, implementing a pragmatic approach that prioritized defensive solidity, and ensuring that a visit to the Queen City became an unpleasant experience for any opponent (you played a part in that, too, supporter, so pat yourself on the back).
Crucially, 2024’s core group of players remained intact, as well. That allowed the front office to set its sights on bolstering an attack that only ranked 21st in MLS. Wilfred Zaha’s arrival and Pep Biel’s extension, in particular, combined with Patrick Agyemang’s establishment as the starting striker, convinced the expert prognosticators that even if Charlotte’s defenses proved less sturdy, the team had the firepower to compensate.
Reductively, that more-or-less turned out to be the case, despite a shuffling of protagonists.
With Adilson Malanda the only starter to depart during the offseason, Charlotte will once again benefit from having most of their core back for a third successive season. Much of the recruitment has focused on accessorizing and strengthening a squad in need only of tinkering rather than wholesale retooling.
That should, in theory, guarantee continuity to Dean Smith’s project. And continuity, in combination with the previously mentioned year-over-year improvements, means expectations are high that The Crown will again compete for home-field advantage in the East.
Strengthening the Core
Of course, there is that quite significant Malanda-shaped hole to plug.
And it is significant.
The Frenchman was counted among the league’s elite center-backs, and it may well be a travesty that he was not once included as an MLS Defender of the Year finalist. Understandably, a like-for-like replacement was always going to be challenging. That a young player of his quality was plucked from relative Ligue 2 (France’s 2nd division) obscurity and dropped into MLS will prove an exception and not the rule.
However, in Henry Kessler, the Club has signed a caliber of defender that will help assuage the pain of a fan favorite’s departure.
In terms of profile, the U.S. international is not too dissimilar from the man he’s tasked with replacing. The former New England Revs Shield winner is a ball-playing center-back, but isn’t shy about mixing it up in a rough-and-tumble kind of game. And as Dean Smith highlighted in a recent interview, Kessler can dominate in both boxes.
That being said, one shouldn’t dismiss Andrew Privett’s claim to a starting role alongside Tim Ream in the heart of the back line. As well as being entrusted with wearing the armband, Privett was one of the standouts in The Crown’s first Coachella Valley Invitational preseason fixture against the San Jose Earthquakes, where he displayed all the qualities that made him a mainstay in the XI when Charlotte posted the Eastern Conference’s best defensive record in 2024.
Morrison Agyemang, who lined up alongside Privett, also stood out. The Ghanaian is still a Crown Legacy player, but if his performance is anything to go by, he has all the arguments to make an eventual jump to the first team and provide cover at the center-back position.
The back line has been further reinforced by David Schnegg. Of all the positions, it was at full-back that Charlotte were arguably the thinnest at last season. Injuries to Nathan Byrne and Soleyman Doumbia forced Smith into some defensive reshuffling, which just so happened to coincide with a poor run of results.
Acquired via waivers, Shnegg arrives as an understudy to Harry Toffolo, but the Austrian clearly has the pedigree to be a starter in MLS. The left-back represented Austrian Bundesliga outfit Sturm Graz in European competition, and was a nailed-on starter at DC United last season, playing close to 3,000 minutes across all competitions, underscoring his durability. That could turn out to be a pivotal attribute in the congested summer months.
If fortifying the defense was Smith’s first season priority, and sharpening the attack the primacy of his sophomore year in charge, then the signing of Luca de la Torre may signal something of an evolution to Charlotte’s midfield blueprint. Since becoming head coach, Smith has had a plethora of midfield player profiles available to him, but no one with de la Torre’s skillset.
For all the outstanding contributions made by Ashley Westwood, Brandt Bronico, Djibril Diani, and others, there’s been the sense that The Crown would benefit from a midfielder who can progress the ball and break lines on the dribble. That is one of de la Torre’s standout attributes and a reason why the San Diego native has been a frequent U.S. Men’s National Team call-up under Mauricio Pochettino.
Whether in pockets or tight spaces, and with the ball on his preferred right foot or the left, de la Torre’s instinct is to play the ball forward and add verticality to the game. His brief cameo against San Jose already illustrated his ability to facilitate transitions from defense into attack and collapse defenses by bursting through them on the dribble, subsequently opening up spaces for the likes of Zaha, Biel, and Idan Toklomati (who’ll now be deservedly wearing number 9).
It should be noted that adding a player to a starting lineup for his offensive qualities invariably affects the balance of play. As such, de la Torre’s integration will probably trigger changes to Charlotte’s defensive structure. Even minor tweaks have knock-on effects. How Smith addresses them is yet to be determined. Still, that doesn’t at all mean that de la Torre is a defensive liability. He may not be a hard-nosed tackler, but he does cover a lot of ground, which, among other things, is valuable in pressing against the ball and harassing ball carriers.
2026 Outlook
Beyond coaching stability, limited squad turnover and well-targeted, constrained player acquisition are the trademarks of any successful team, whether in MLS or elsewhere. At Charlotte FC, that formula has been put into practice over the last two seasons and the results are there for everyone to see.
Making predictions about teams in a league where parity reigns supreme is a bit of a fool's errand. However, the past informs the future, and as Dean Smith’s tenure runs into a third season, the steady continuity of his and General Manager Zoran Krneta’s project should inspire confidence with Major League Soccer’s 31st season around the corner.
THE PARTY IS BACK
The Crown returns to action on March 7th at 7:30 p.m. against Austin FC. The first fans to arrive will receive the limited-edition party shirt presented by Ally.
