— You’re more liable to see Dave Sarachan at a sidewalk café than a brewery, more likely to find him nursing a cortado than a Corona. And don’t suggest meeting the new North Carolina FC manager at some suburban Starbucks. “I really enjoy cities a little bit more,” Sarachan says, sitting inside a storefront window at Sir Walter Coffee in downtown Raleigh. “Ironically enough, we’re going to buy a house in Cary and live in the suburbs. But when I’m around cities, I enjoy the urban setting. And I’m a little snobbish about the coffee. I’d rather come to a place that has real coffee.”

With Sarachan tending the touchline, the 2019 North Carolina FC, which opens play this Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park against two-time USL champs Louisville City FC, is a new brew: fresh, robust and not very rich. It’s a young squad whose average age is just 24 years, comprising ten returning players and eleven newcomers. Six players are on loan from other teams inside and outside the U.S., while five were playing college soccer five months ago.

This time last year, Sarachan was managing the U.S. men’s national team during his year-long tenure as their interim head coach. This weekend, he becomes the fourth manager in North Carolina FC history, where the player resources are far more modest than his previous gig and the competition for talented contributors is more acute in the ever-expanding United Soccer League.

“We’ve pieced together a roster, somewhat creatively,” Sarachan says. “You start finding ways to get quality players within a budget. All of a sudden, we’ve pretty much got our roster … I know a lot of players who I could have gone after, but I’ve tempered that. I’ve realized, OK, here’s what I gotta work with.”

That said, the full-bodied NCFC mixes mainstays with the new blood and new voices that the team has needed for several seasons. Wet weather derailed two preseason scrimmages, so even Sarachan remains unsure of what his squad will become within the twenty-team USL Eastern Conference. But hope lies dormant in the unknown.

“With youth, you have energy,” Sarachan says. “I believe we’ll have them organized where they’re prepared to compete. There will be some mistakes … but I always want to encourage our team to play without fear. Obviously, we have to be solid defensively, but I don’t want to be a team that just defends. I want to be a team that’s willing to take chances, and we have a few guys who can unlock defenders. I hope the fans will see a team that’s competent in that part of the field.”

Forwards

Notable returnees: Donovan Ewolo; Marios Lomis

Notable additions: Robert Kristo

Notable departures: Daniel Rios

North Carolina FC sported a 4-2-3-1 for most of the preseason, a formation Sarachan contends is prompted partly by choice and partly by personnel. “I’ve always built a system around the players. I rarely play three in the back, so my system almost always has four (defenders). We’re still working through our best group and what that looks like, but I’d say right now a 4-2-3-1 has been the system.”

“In a perfect world, sure, I think if you had two strikers and the right people behind that group, that can be more of a threat to score,” Sarachan continues. “But if you look around the world, take any twenty European teams, you’d be hard pressed to find more than a handful who play with more than two strikers. The modern game has so much interchange now, because the wide players now are asked to be tucked in and get involved. The central midfielders can have the freedom to come up and help the target (striker) … I wouldn’t rule out playing with two forwards in our group, but right now we’ve been working with one.”

Last year, Daniel Rios became the first NCFC player since 2011 to net twenty goals in a season. Rios left for Nashville SC, hoping to latch onto their 2020 migration to Major League Soccer, and replacing his scoring will be one of Sarachan’s most daunting and essential tasks. Returnees Donovan Ewolo and Marios Lomis scored twelve goals between them last year, but it remains to be seen if either can emerge as an alpha-striker.

Still, when asked which players have most stood during the preseason, Lomis is the first name Sarachan mentions. “He’s been very consistent. Sometimes he doesn’t pass the eye test because he doesn’t look like he’s that athletic or speedy. But he’s been quite dangerous as a forward for us at our trainings.”

Robert Kristo arrives after three years in Germany. Although Kristo’s minutes were limited during preseason scrimmages, his skills intrigue Sarachan.

“He’s an interesting guy,” Sarachan says. “He’s a center forward who can hold up play … He has soft feet for a big guy, and because he’s so big he’s not the quickest player, but he can set up a defender in a way where he can get a turn and a shot. And he’s very good in the air. I think Kristo can score double-digits goals for us this year. I’m not sure he’ll start game one for us, but he has a unique skill set.”

Midfielders

Notable returnees: Austin da Luz; Steven Miller; Dre Fortune; Victor Igbekoyi; Graham Smith

Notable additions: Ben Speas; Yamikani Chester; Duval Wapiwo; Austin Panchot; Tommy McCabe

Notable departures: Kyle Bekker; Tiyi Shipalane; Zach Steinberger; Marcel Kandziora

The club’s perennial strong suit, going back its RailHawks days, is its midfield. This year appears to be no different, despite the departure of Kyle Bekker, a second-team all-league player who boasted the third-most assists in USL last year. His replacement is Ben Speas, on loan from Indy Eleven, who played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and scored the winning goal in the 2011 College Cup final. The attacking middie brings MLS experience and was the team’s most reliable performer throughout the preseason. Speas will also assume Bekker’s role as the designated dead ball specialist.

“You can tell Ben’s played a lot of soccer,” Sarachan observes. “He understands where to be. He needs time to play with this group and understand some of their qualities. But Ben sees things early—he’s a facilitator and passer. I’d like to see Ben be a little bit more threatening going forward at times. In his career, I don’t think he’s been someone who has been a threat to score goals, but we’re going to ask him to do a little bit more.”

Also gone Tiyi Shipalane, after seven consecutive seasons in Cary. His heir-apparent is Yamikani Chester, a raw, rangy winger who is an accomplished and popular young performer in his native Malawi.

“He’s going to be a good player for us,” Sarachan says. “He’s got physical qualities and more of an understanding than I gave him credit for early on. I’m still deciding what’s his best position for us. He’s a danger in wide spots, whether on the left or right. He’s skillful, pacey, and tactically aware.”

The rest of the midfield blends returnees and greenhorns. Whereas Kupono Low was once known as “Mr. RailHawk,” Austin da Luz might rightly be “Mr. Dead Whale.” Now entering his eighth season with the club, da Luz helms a central midfield that includes veteran Victor Igbekoyi, Graham Smith, and Dre Fortune.

“I’d like to see more out of Victor as far as an experienced presence in the middle (of the midfield),” Sarchan says. “He’s a quiet guy. But I think there’s more there than he’s shown me in preseason. I like the fact that he’s an older guy who still should have the ability to lead out of that position.”

Steven Miller, beginning his fifth season in Carolina, has played most of the preseason at right wing, and Sarachan says he doesn’t plan to play Miller at fullback like past years. Meanwhile, the newcomers include Tommy McCabe, the second-round MLS SuperDraft pick on loan from FC Cincinnati, Indiana University product Austin Panchot, and 19-year-old Cameroonian loanee Duval Wapiwo.

Sarachan says McCabe has been impressive early on. “He’s shown a steady presence. Good brain, understands the game. He’s not super quick, but has good feet. He’s shown pretty well since we’ve had him. He’s a guy who is pushing to be in the first XI.”

Defenders

Notable returnees: Aarón Guillén; D.J. Taylor

Notable additions: Manny Perez; Sam Brotherton; Timmy Mehl; Alex Comsia

Notable departures: Connor Tobin; Michael Harrington; Peabo Doue; Wuilito Fernandes

At his introductory press conference in January, Sarachan said his first priority was adding more depth at center back. That mission was made more imperative after the departure of co-captain Connor Tobin, who spent five years anchoring North Carolina FC’s back line.

According to Sarachan, that effort remains “a work in progress.”

“We have depth of bodies now, with Sam Brotherton, Alex Comsia, and Timmy Mehl,” Sarachan explains. “And Aarón Guillén is back. But I still feel we need to strengthen it because we have two guys who are young, Comsia and Mehl, who have shown some good moments but also some shaky moments.”

Indeed, it’s telling when one of the most experienced defenders, D.J. Taylor, is only 21 years old. Guillén is the back line leader, most effective at center back but also capable of playing full back. New Zealand native Sam Brotherton is only 22 years old, but he spent the last two years in the Sunderland system after playing college soccer at the University of Wisconsin.

“I didn’t know Sam when he was at Wisconsin, but my son coached at Wisconsin just after Sam was there,” Sarachan says. “I also had a connection with John Trask, their coach. So, in conversations with his agent, we reached out to Sam because he was looking for a change.”

The other three rostered defenders—Manny Perez, Mehl, and Comsia—were all playing college soccer last fall. The most ballyhooed is Perez, a Garner, N.C. native and former ACC Freshman of the Year who left N.C. State after his sophomore season to sign with Celtic F.C. of the Scottish Premiership. Celtic then loaned Perez to North Carolina FC for the 2019 season. Although a winger in college, Perez has featured at right back in the U.S. youth national setup. According to Sarachan, his place in the NCFC formation remains undetermined.

“Manny’s raw in terms of his tactical understanding, but he’s got real tools and physical qualities to be a handful,” Sarachan says. “So I’ve used him as a right back but also as an outside midfielder, where he’s got the pace to really beat guys and the willingness to try.”

Sarachan says the team is also working to acquire another center back, “someone who is young but has some experience.”

Goalkeepers

Notable returnees: Alex Tambakis

Notable additions: Darrin MacLeod

Notable departures: Austin Guerrero

The most seemingly straightforward position in the North Carolina FC starting XI is goalkeeper. Alex Tambakis, last year’s first-team keeper, returns for his second season in Carolina. His backup is Darrin MacLeod, who spent the last two seasons in limited duty with Swope Park Rangers, a casualty of the Sporting Kansas City-owned team’s desire to provide competitive minutes to its parent MLS club’s reserve goalkeepers.

“Darren felt like he could compete to start here,” Sarachan says. “I’m not saying he’s there yet, but he feels that.”

So, there’s competition even at goalkeeper?

“There’s always competition,” Sarachan states, sipping his cortado.