Charlotte FC fires head coach Christian Lattanzio
Charlotte FC fired head coach Christian Lattanzio, the team announced Wednesday.
The team is also parting ways with assistant Andy Quy. This comes after the young franchise advanced to its first MLS playoffs this past season.
“We undertook an offseason evaluation of our organization and we’re confident this move is in the best interest of the club for 2024 and beyond,” team president Joe LaBue said in a statement. “Our club will continue to be ambitious and strive to progress both on and off the pitch.”
Lattanzio, 52, took over in May 2022 for Miguel Angel Ramirez, who was fired 14 games into Charlotte FC’s inaugural season. He signed a two-year extension last October, a product of the team wanting “consistency” at the role.
“A thorough and comprehensive search for the club’s next head coach will begin immediately,” Zoran Krneta, Charlotte FC’s sporting director, said in a statement. “Out of respect to all prospective candidates, we will not have further comment at this time.”
Charlotte FC, even in its short stint as a franchise, provided a lift in a city that is going through a difficult time in its major pro sports history. The Carolina Panthers, the NFL franchise based in Charlotte, are 1-7 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2017. The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets are 2-4 to begin the year and haven’t delivered a postseason home game since 2016.
”We would like to thank Christian and Andy for their time at the club,” David Tepper, owner of Charlotte FC as well as the Carolina Panthers, said in a statement. “They helped guide us through the last 18 months, and we are all appreciative of their contributions to Charlotte FC.”
Start of Christian Lattanio’s tenure
Lattanzio was an assistant of Charlotte FC’s inaugural coaching staff. The native of Rome, Italy, has impressive coaching connections. Among the highlights of his resume: He’d worked closely with former Crystal Palace (Premier League) coach Patrick Vieira from 2013 to 2020, and he’d also worked under Fabio Capello — a Champions League winner and two-time La Liga champion — when he was with the English National Team.
Lattanzio took over as interim head coach after Ramirez was fired early in Charlotte’s inaugural season, and he immediately won over his players. A lot of that was a product of his steady, understated, player-development nature. The most public example of this came soon after Ramirez was removed and Lattanzio inherited the interim role, when then-team captain Christian Fuchs told reporters that there were “fractures” between the players and the Ramirez-led coaching staff — and that there was “relief” at the dawn of Lattanzio’s leadership.
Lattanzio’s consistency shined at certain times. His leadership was lauded during the preseason tragedy that saw the unexpected death of team leader and defender Anton Walkes, who died in a boating accident in South Florida in January. It was also applauded during the end of each of the past two seasons — which both featured admirable, resurgent playoff pushes, the most recent of which turned into the team winning three of its final four regular-season contests and making its first postseason appearance.
“I am very, very happy,” Lattanzio said after the team’s historic win against the Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami last month, which put Charlotte FC in the MLS playoffs. “To me, it was an incredible moment. I’m very proud of our boys and very happy for our season.”
Tough second season with Charlotte FC
That’s not to say Charlotte FC’s second season was idyllic on the field. It was far from it. The team was loudly optimistic of its championship contending chances in 2023, but it looked rudderless early. Charlotte lost its first three contests, and after the third — a 3-0 loss to rival Atlanta United FC in Bank of America Stadium — Lattanzio went as far as apologizing to the team’s fan base.
The team righted the ship shortly thereafter but still had its fair share of midseason ruts — of sure-fire wins that turned into draws thanks to second-half breakdowns. The team went nine matches without a win from late May to late July, and then saw another six-match winless streak from late-August to early October.
In the midst of his team’s early struggles, Lattanzio provided a glimpse into who he was and who he hoped the team would become.
“I know that the results show differently,” he said in March, “and I know that I also come from a country that’s very much like the U.S. — where the result is the end of everything, or the beginning of everything. It is everything, in a way.
“But I believe that in my job, and in my coaching staff’s job, we have to look at how the team is progressing, how the team is playing, how the team is creating an identity that will ultimately give us satisfaction.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 9:38 AM.
