Rochester has not been kind to Charlotte in the last 6 months. The 2016 season came to an end there in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and on Saturday night, the Rhinos followed that up with a 4–0 thumping of the Jacks.

What Happened On Saturday?

Charlotte never looked like they settled into this game despite having 58% of the possession and completing more total passes. Rochester put them under pressure early and often and made even the easiest passes look difficult. Once again, the Independence couldn’t create chances in the final third as they had only 1 shot on target and only a handful of others that were even close.

Seriously… we need some photographers…

Wal Fall capitalized first for Rochester after winning a foul just outside of the box in the 27th minute. He curled a beautiful free kick around the Independence wall causing an onslaught of Twitter puns.

Charlotte’s defense held strong for the remainder of the half, and I even mentioned to the guys in our Independence writers office how well they were doing to keep Rochester from getting a second or third goal.

That did not last long as the Rhinos scored twice inside the first 10 minutes of the second half essentially sealing the result.

Charlotte made plenty of tweaks as attack-minded subs Casey Townsend, Jorge Herrera and David Estrada came on to try and spark the Independence, but nothing went their way on the night. Late in the game Luke Waechter gave away a controversial penalty (bit of a soft call in my opinion) and the Rhinos took advantage to make it 4–0 for the hosts.

I won’t be the first to tell you that this was an extremely disappointing way to build upon a solid road win in Saint Louis last week. Charlotte was outplayed from whistle to whistle and had a few bad bounces go against them to boot. It happens sometimes, but they need to bounce back and will have plenty of time to prepare for their next game on Thursday, May 11th.

What went wrong in April?

Charlotte sits on 5 points after 5 games, which is good for last place in the Eastern Conference. To be fair, most teams in the league have played 6 or 7 games at this point in the season, so Charlotte has a game or two in hand to make a jump up the standings. They are only 3 points out of a playoff spot at the moment, so don’t panic about that.

:(

That’s not to say that there isn’t anything to be worried about though because there are definite concerns.

Lack of Consistency in Defense

Charlotte has conceded a goal in every game and has conceded first in four out of five games. The defense has been inconsistent as Duckett and Kalungi have both missed games due to injury, and the team has been forced to use three different back line combinations so far. This lack of cohesion has manifested itself on the field as most of the goals can be attributed to individual errors and miscommunications.

I would think this would improve with the addition of Kalungi back into the starting 11 but we will have to wait and see. Sometimes statistics can be misleading, especially early in the season, but conceding 1.8 goals per game can’t continue.

Execution in the Final Third

It’s no secret that the Independence have struggled to score goals. One look at the graphic below will tell you that they haven’t created solid chances. Not having Enzo Martinez for the first 2 and a half games has contributed, as has not having a true striker on the roster.

USL.com has a fantastic statistics breakdown!

Casey Townsend hasn’t shown me anything that makes me think he is the answer long term either. Jorge Herrera has been effective at times when he has started up top but due to his age and declining stamina I don’t like the idea of starting him and having to sub him off after 60 minutes every game. Yann Ekra provided a good assist against Saint Louis but is much more suited for a midfield role. Enzo Martinez had 2 wonderful goals against Saint Louis but was often isolated up top as the game went on and Saint Louis dominated the possession.

Enzo may still be the best option to start in that position, but taking him out of the role that saw him be so successful last year doesn’t seem ideal. I am curious to see if Jaime Siaj will get a shot to win the job, but until we see him on the field at this level it’s hard to say what he will bring (his stats from Pfeiffer are eye-popping, and he impressed our editor last year with the Eagles too).

How can they turn it around?

This might sound like a dumb question, and I feel a little stupid even writing this answer because it’s obvious: concede less and score more.

But let’s look at some of the ways they can get there.

Charlotte has gone through their fair share of adversity as they have faced tough competition (3 of their first 5 opponents currently sit top 5 in the standings). They have also dealt with injuries and are still effectively “homeless” until June 17th. This kind of a slow start wasn’t exactly expected, but can definitely be understood.

I believe that we have yet to see the Independence’s best 11 on the field due to injuries, suspensions and early season experimentation. Expect that experimentation to continue for the next few weeks as Mike Jeffries looks to solidify who he thinks will give them the best chance to earn points as the season gets into full swing.

Personally, I would like to see more of David Estrada as I think he offers a bit more creativity than David Spies, who I think is better suited as a substitute. I wouldn’t mind seeing Yann Ekra or Callum Ross drop deeper next to Jun Marques Davidson and provide some extra defensive cover while they figure things out in the back. This will push Lewis Hilton further up into a more attacking role which I think he can thrive in, assuming Enzo is going to be playing more as a forward.

All of that being said, I am but a humble fan and aspiring analyst who probably has little idea what he’s talking about! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯