The MLS regular season has entered the final third of the season, and teams are making their last bets for playoff spots. According to the rules of the season, the first to seventh places in the Eastern Conference qualifies for the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the eighth and ninth places enter the wild card game to compete for the final playoff spot. New York City and Charlotte happened to be tenth and eleventh.
New York City, which finished third in the East last season, has plummeted this season for no other reason — the team's paper strength has been greatly damaged by multiple turn-out deals, and last season's offensive trident has all left, and the forward line is tantamount to tearing down the rebuild. One of the most eye-catching Argentine strikers Castellanos was directly "aided" by City Group to Girona in the second division last July, as was the Peruvian centre-back Callens. The simultaneous departure of Brazilian center Herbel and 36-year-old Argentine forward Morales completely shakes New York City's entire attacking system.
Not afraid to tear down, just afraid not to rebuild. Judging from the operation of City Group, it seems that this season is giving up on New York City. The team did not make corresponding reinforcements in the face of severe blood loss from the attacking line. This also directly led to New York City's lack of impact in the league, scoring only 22 goals in 21 games, ranking in the bottom five in the major leagues. The 38-year-old coach has coached Manchester City Women for seven years, but is a rookie in the men's field, and taking over New York City midway last season was his first independent coach of a professional men's team.
Rival Charlotte is a new team that made her first MLS appearance last season. The introduction of mature European players is the founding philosophy of the team. The first privileged player in the team's history (salary is not capped by the salary cap) is Poland international Svidelski, a 26-year-old centre-forward who has improved significantly since adjusting to the MLS, while midfielder Westwood, who joined from Burnley in January, has captained the team, and the team signed Westwood defender Alfield this summer, apparently in order to build up his immediate strength.
Charlotte is coached by the 51-year-old Latanzio, an Italian who played for City Football Group for more than five years, serving as an assistant coach in Manchester City's youth system and then with New York City, and coached Nice with Patrick Vieira. Latanzio is very familiar with New York City and is ruthless in his playoff rivals.
The agency opened the home team New York City -0.5 goals in the Asian index, and in summary, this match is bullish on Charlotte unbeaten.