Charlotte FC’s loss shows how much the team needs Wilfried Zaha in New York
Charlotte FC players and coaches and fans knew Wilfried Zaha’s absence would loom large in Tuesday’s match.
But no one could’ve guessed how much they’d miss him.
Charlotte FC fell to New York City FC, 1-0, in a match that was equal parts frustrating and affirming for the home team. The frustrations stemmed from the first half, a period that homed the 34th-minute goal which featured some questionable defensive communication and effort.
And the affirmations? They came later. Not just in the second half, in which Charlotte FC played much better. But also after the game, when it sunk in the team will have their unquestioned star back when they travel to a must-win contest in the Yankee Stadium outfield at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
“He was always going to be missed,” captain Ashley Westwood told reporters postgame. “A player of Wilf’s caliber, he was going to be a huge miss. Thankfully he’s back for the away game, and hopefully he’s ready, and he turns up, and he shows what he can do.”
Life without Zaha, the team’s self-assured star, was a certainty coming into the week. The former Crystal Palace star received a second yellow card in extra time in the regular-season finale — he saw a “red mist” after being attacked all game, as head coach Dean Smith put it — sealing his fate to a suite in Bank of America Stadium instead of on the pitch, or even on the bench.
But it was always going to be tough to qualify life without Zaha on this particular moment — Game 1 of the first playoff series this franchise has hosted in its four-season history — until the game actually occurred. And then when it did, and resulted in a loss, his was the name that kept cropping up.
And it was due to more than his season’s 10 goals and 10 assists.
“Technically, I thought we were really poor in the first half,” Smith said postgame. “We gave the ball away too often. We broke down with our touch at times in the final third. We misplaced passes, gave the ball away too much, too cheaply. If you do that against any team, you’re going to struggle a little bit. We found it hard in that first half.
“So yeah, Wilf was always going to be missed because of the quality that he gives us. Shouldn’t have gotten him for the first yellow card (in the regular-season finale) when we need him for these big games. But it is what it is. And the opportunities were there for people. The problem is we just didn’t step up.”
Smith, to his credit, pointed to several shortcomings that led to the team’s failure to come away with a win in the MLS playoff opener. He pointed to his wingers not even testing their opponents with their speed. He wondered aloud who was at fault for the lone goal. At halftime, specifically, he challenged his players, saying this “had nothing to do with tactics” — and that instead it was about “technical ability and pressure.”
Still, Zaha would’ve been an undeniable help with both of those departments. In the words of Westwood, it gives this team “another dimension.”
“I think it’s what he does to other teams as well,” Westwood said. “He attracts three or four men. So that gives Kerwin (Vargas) the opportunity to come in. That gives Liel (Abada) the opportunity. So Wilf’s presence attracts people. So hopefully we can go and use that.”
Charlotte FC’s first performance — its first-half performance, really — might’ve proven Zaha’s worth to his team. Something else did, too.
“I’m sure he’s disappointed watching tonight,” Westwood said. “It’s not nice your team lose. So, yeah, we’ll be glad to have Wilf back.
“And a fully fed Wilf, with a bit of rest, is a problem.”
