USL PRO Feature
Sunday, March 9, 2014
After two seasons of narrowly missing the USL PRO Playoffs, the 2013 season brought big changes to the Charlotte Eagles.
How big? Well, only two members of the side’s final starting 11 of the 2012 season took to the field for the club’s opening game the following spring. Goalkeeper Eric Reed had an entirely new back four to work with, while Juan Guzman was the only player to retain his place.
You might think that a change that drastic would cause a team to lose chemistry, and part of its identity. According to defender Matt Gold, however, the changes served to allow the club to begin a new chapter.
“I think whenever you have a very new group, it creates a unique environment where guys don’t feel like they have to fit into something that was already there,” Gold said. “Everyone feels more comfortable; at least that was the case for me. It was a very easy place to transition into.”
By contrast to the slow start the Eagles had made in the previous two years, which cost them at the end of the season, Charlotte’s new-look lineup opened 2013 with a seven-game undefeated streak. Throughout the season, the Eagles were one of the toughest sides to play against in USL PRO, with only regular-season champions Richmond and Orlando suffering fewer defeats that their five.
The Eagles’ toughness, particularly on the road where they recorded a 3-2-7 record, proved a handful in the USL PRO Playoffs as well. Charlotte recorded upsets of Harrisburg and Richmond on its way to the championship game, where it twice held the lead against Orlando City before falling 7-4 in a final very few who saw it will forget.
“It was just a roller coaster,” Gold said. “I don’t even know how some of those goals went in. I think [Adrian Heath] put it best at the end of the game when he said we were up by three goals and we weren’t sure it was going to be enough. It was just one of those games; to be honest I’ve probably only been in one or two games like that in my life. I don’t even know how to describe it, it was just one thing after the next, completely unexpected.”
Now for Gold and his returning teammates, the challenge is how to build on their success. For players like Gold, Drew Yates and Stephen Okai, more will be expected as they add both veteran experience in the form of former Chicago Fire player Wells Thompson and youngsters like JJ Greer and David Geno.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about here and there in the offseason, and it’s something we’re aware of that there will be a different expectation for some of us who were maybe first-year players last year and will step into more leadership roles on the field and off the field this year with the ministry and coaching that we do as well,” Gold said. “I think that’s why a lot of guys go there - they go there knowing that’s a big part of what they do - and I think guys like me and Drew Yates and Brock Duckworth and even Ben Newnam, who’s a younger guy, and some of the other guys who have been there longer, that’s something we get excited about.”
Players like Thompson, Greer and Geno arrive in Charlotte because of some departures from the squad, most notably Fejiro Okiomah, who formed a strong center back tandem with Gold last season. Okiomah is now in MLS with Chivas USA, one of a number of former USL PRO players to join the Goats this offseason, and Gold is excited to see a player he has known for a while get his chance on the big stage.
“I go way back with his family, because I used to play youth soccer with his older brothers, and he was the younger kid running around on the sidelines, and then we ended up playing alongside each other four or five years later,” Gold said. “He’s never been one to doubt his ability, I think he has a really unique blend of confidence, but coachablity. He listens very well, and he picks up things quickly, he learns well, but at the same time he doesn’t have the nervousness that a rookie or a young player might have stepping into a starting position. The mental part of it aside, he’s just a physical specimen, an athletic freak, so I think putting those two things together will provide well for him down the road.”
As for Gold, he’s looking forward to providing more leadership for the Eagles this season, and for the team to build a progressive style of play that will allow it to control the tempo of more games. With a good number of pieces returning, especially in comparison to last season, the Eagles should remain a dangerous side in 2014.
“We don’t want to be a team that plays on the counter and kicks the ball long up the field, we want to be a possession-oriented team, and for me I think the biggest thing is creating a good vibe and a good culture early on in the season,” Gold said. “Whenever you get a lot of new guys in, the quicker you can trust each other, the quicker you can be successful.”
“The coaches do a great job of keeping us accountable, making sure we’re working hard at training, so to be honest I like to try and focus on the relationships when we step off the field, because I feel like if you’re working hard the stuff on the field will take care of itself.”