There’s at least one team that’s successful in Charlotte, NC

The one and only Willie P. Stile, the voice of Charlotte FC in the playoffs. Hey, at least somebody in Charlotte knows how to win games.

Enough of them anyway. So, Will Palasha joins us. FC against Red Bulls. Oh, we have to get a result this time, right?

Somebody's got to win this one. Two draws during the season, right? Not to mention the fact that this team, with its propensity for draws, had two of them against Red Bulls, and obviously looking at the way that they went through the League's Cup, having to get two draws in the same format. So, it is a scenario that I think actually sets up well for Charlotte FC. Alright, first of all, you guys closed the season out. Three wins and a draw in your last four.

Big part of the reason why you guys are in the playoffs, and that's very cool. But I want to talk real quick about the last game. So, what was the experience like, Messi at Bank of America Stadium? I don't think anybody expected him to play because of all the international stuff, but he was there.

What was it like? Yeah, the thing I kept telling people was I wouldn't be shocked if he played, but I'd be shocked if he started. And I got the notification on it about, again, as we usually do, about 40 minutes before kick time.

And we're looking at it and saying, okay, you know, you really don't have a lot of time to prepare for that. And we'd kind of gotten the frame of mind that he was going to kind of dictate whether or not he wanted to play. And not only did he start, he played the entire way. And so, that just added stake of it, I think, was very exciting for the folks who were there. It basically was the combination of our first ever match with the stakes, obviously, of a decision day match.

And it was very tense. I would say that Charlotte FC maybe had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, seeing all the pink shirts in the stands. And I also think, too, the scenario that developed, this team, I think, knows what it needs to do when urgency really hits. And I think that's the part that makes me kind of feel a little bit bullish about them going into the game tomorrow, maybe into the playoffs proper, because it is a scenario where, you know, it's almost more difficult to kind of go through and stay motivated during a long 34-game season.

But when you condense it down to either a cup tournament or a playoff, it creates a different mindset and it creates a more tangible carrot that's out there for you. Did it seem like he was 100% engaged? I mean, if he played the 90 minutes, I mean, he had to be. So, because, you know, he had done very well internationally and played for Argentina during their international break. And they're in World Cup qualifying, not that that was going to be an issue for Argentina anyway.

But what was, I mean, what was the approach? Were they physical with him? I think he was definitely a lot more threatening in the first matchup we saw him during the League Cup round of eight. I also do think that Charlotte FC did better not to just flank him as a man, but also flank the rest. They were almost too messy focused the first time we saw them, and it allowed the other teammates of his to really flourish, like the Sergio Busquets, like the Jordi Alba. I feel like Charlotte FC played, they've usually up to this point been more of a zonal marking team. But they actually, I think, were more man marking than I think we were even used to seeing ourselves. And I think that led to him kind of maybe being thrown off his game a little bit.

I know playing Tuesday night in Peru, playing 90 minutes in that contest, maybe could be feeling the ill effects of that. And I also think, again, this really was a game that I think Miami had to struggle to find motivation for. Even though they had all those guys in there, I think you get to the hour mark and you find yourself still with nothing on the scoreboard. You know, how motivated can you be unless you're doing about something from the dead ball? Which, again, they had plenty of opportunities from the dead ball, including the sharp angle set piece that I still don't know how Christian Colina saved that. I think they were also very flattered in that score line by the fact that Colina had to save them on three very big occasions, especially late. Well, I mean, obviously goalkeeping has been good, so there's no reason to pursue Aaron Ramsdale in January.

Just kidding. For those people who are familiar with the Premier League. At Willie P. Style on Twitter is joining us, the play-by-play voice of Charlotte FC. One quick thing about that, and then I want to ask you about the way Charlotte FC has gotten into this wildcard round and what it might pretend for the future. Somebody hit me up on Twitter about, well, where was Inter Miami and the standings when Messi got here?

Where are they now? Clearly he didn't matter. How would you sum up what Messi has meant? With SOTIC-2 for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, you could show off your skin again.

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Call 1-888-SOTYKTU to learn more. To enter, to MLS, to the American professional soccer movement here over the last, what, four months. Well, I think it's definitely put a lot more attention on the league.

I think that was always kind of the baseline expectation. I think there's a next step of that that I think we're all waiting to see, and that is, will it be a boon for other teams that are outside of Miami? There's already the chatter about them picking up his former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez, which again, great for Miami. But my worry is that it almost becomes too Miami-focused and Messi-focused that we're ignoring the other 28 teams in the league.

And I don't think that's something everybody else wants to see. I think you want to have a scenario where you have other people who want to come and play in this league for other teams against Messi and show them what it means to kind of earn a paycheck in this league and show the quality of this league. Because even as good as Messi was in the League's Cup, they ran out of steam down the stretch and were only really able to improve themselves one spot from where they were before Messi.

So I think we also maybe overestimated just how much of a mountain that was to climb for them. I think people kind of assume once they got Messi, oh, well, he'll just vault them seven spots. You know, the other teams pay players, too. So that's, I think, the other part of this. And at the end of the day, he's also only one player.

He's probably the greatest player of all time. But the amount of impact that one player can have on a match I think can be neutralized if you don't build around them. And while they did do that with Busquets and Jordi Alba, and you've seen other players like Benjamin Kramaski, who could definitely feature for the U.S. men's international side here in the coming years, other players that are very much part of that nucleus of Miami, they're still a flawed team and I think one that might have a thin margin for error and also just a thin line between quality and also flaws, if you will. Yeah, and when he was not available to them, they lost. They looked different. They looked a lot different. They lost when he was not there.

And they didn't win all the matches with him, but when he was not there, they looked like a lot of the team that was in last place at the time. Alright, we see it in all other sports. You have to battle to get in and you are hardened by it and you go forward. Now the Red Bulls are in basically the same position as Charlotte FC and the match is up there. What gives you hope that this is not going to be a one-game deal? To put this in a term that you and I can both appreciate, it has a 73 Mets feel to it.

You get in on the last day of the season and you feel like you're hot. This is a scenario where Charlotte FC, with four games to go, needed to win all four games to control its own destiny. The draw last Wednesday definitely threw a wrench in that and the fact that they needed help on Saturday but also needed an outright win, I think just again provided them with the opportunity of, okay, we really can't worry about school board watching until we take care of our own business. And the fact that you have a wild card game against a team like Red Bulls that also won their way in makes it very intriguing for a neutral. I also feel like the two teams have played some important matches against each other. They played once in the US Open Cup a year ago with New York Red Bulls winning. Charlotte FC got its first ever win for LaTanzio a couple of weeks after that last year. The fact that you've had familiarity breed contempt, I shudder to call it a rivalry because at the end of the day, what is a rivalry?

All these games are important in a 34-round season. But I think it is from the standpoint maybe something of a burgeoning rivalry because of the fact that not only have we seen this team a lot, but the matches are very physical. Red Bulls are one of the most red-carded teams in MLS. Charlotte's right behind them.

They are very, very physical. They've got the one guy who's had more yellow cards rather than anybody else in MLS, in Andres Reyes. He also conceded an own goal against Charlotte earlier this season. So they don't play what I would call a beautiful brand of soccer in Harrison, New Jersey. And they're not ashamed to admit that. I think Charlotte FC probably puts more beauty on their side. But again, does that beauty have the final product? And I think the fact that Charlotte presses a lot more than they did even in that match and as they have lately, I think creates for a nice contrast in styles.

And I think you might see a little bit of that intensity come early and often between these two sides when we see them tomorrow night. I'm familiar with Harrison, New Jersey. Not a lot beautiful in Harrison, New Jersey. It's one of those things you pass.

Having family in New York, sometimes I'll fly into Newark Airport and you take the NJ Transit into the city. You pass by Red Bull Arena and it's not what I would call the same kind of starlet hamlet Uptown Charlotte is or Raleigh or Durham. There's not a lot of beauty there. Well look, it's a place. And again, very familiar with Harrison. And I'll say this too.

I'll say this too. Their fan base has gotten to the playoffs 14 years in a row with the Red Bulls. So there's a bit of apathy there. They're not exactly thrilled with the spot that they're in.

They had to fire their head coach mid-year. So it's not like they're walking into a snake pit. They're not walking into the Americana. It's a scenario where I feel like I would call it, I wouldn't say a friendly road atmosphere because there are going to be partisan fans there. But it's far from the most imposing atmosphere that they'll walk into tomorrow night. And I know a lot of people also from the Charlotte perspective plan on traveling up there.

So they'll try to create an atmosphere for themselves as well. One final question for Will Palaszczuk who is the voice of Charlotte FC on the radio. We're not going to get to the Hornets. I know you've got to be excited for the start of the season. Just see LaMelo Ball get on the court, right?

We want to see that and see him have a good healthy season if that's even possible. But I do want to ask you about David Tepper. Has he been into it, especially in this run-up?

I think so. I mean you see him at games. I feel like the soccer fan is different than the Panther fan in that there's still the thankfulness that we have the team, which is a different type of atmosphere that I'm sure that he would get if he was approached by Panther fans. We saw Dave out at the unveiling of their new team facility a couple of weeks ago and talking about how he wants to build the community in East Charlotte around this new building that's going to have not just the first team but the academy, the reserve team and also the business part of the team in that area and build some more jobs and build more of a soccer community in that area. I think, again, it's a scenario where I understand there's a lot that comes in from a conversation aspect about what impact that he does do on the football side and whether or not he's in there watching scouting film and dictating policy, et cetera and so on. Everything that I've been able to witness, at least from the soccer aspect, which is all I can speak to, he lets the soccer people handle the soccer business. He obviously has an input, and I think he has every right to have that input, but he empowers both Joe LeBeau, the president, and Zoran Kurneta, the sporting director, to make their decisions. One of the things he actually told me independently when I asked him, right when they got their first coach, how much of a spender are you going to be in this league, he said there's not always necessarily a correlation from big spenders and success for the top five spending teams in Major League Soccer aren't making the playoffs this year.

So from that aspect, it's more about spending smartly, getting value out of your designated players, not just getting good ones, but getting ones that stay, produce, and most importantly, leave your team not feeling like they wasted their money on you. So from that aspect, I do feel like he's maybe, from a lot of people's perspective, taking a more measured approach with this property. I just hope he's enjoying it, because once you enjoy it, once it's in your blood, I think it doesn't leave. It's just an incredible thing. I've had plenty of conversations. We actually ran into him after one of the road games, and he would talk to us a lot about everything. He's dialed in. He's into it. He's asking a lot of the right questions, so it's not something that he just has and is an absentee with. He's very much into it. He knows everything that's going on when it comes to it.

Will Palaszczuk, tomorrow it's at Red Bulls, Charlotte FC at Red Bulls. Go get him and tear up the mean streets of Harrison, New Jersey. There are no mean streets, and don't tear it up, but I just wanted to say that. Thank you, Adam. Always a pleasure to be on with you.