Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kahlina out after back surgery
Charlotte FC starting goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina has undergone successful back surgery under six weeks before the 2023 MLS season begins. While no official recovery timeline was provided, head coach Christian Lattanzio gave a hopeful outlook in his first press conference of preseason camp.
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I love exercises in futility. That’s why I’m more than happy to try and put together Power Rankings of MLS teams before we even actually know what those teams officially look like. I figure it can at least maybe give folks a sense of where teams stand as of now. Or a sense of how wrong I am about literally everything. Either way, that’s entertainment, right?
East today, West tomorrow.
They’ll be the favorites in MLS this year. Yes, even over LAFC. LAFC are working on replacing key pieces in their starting lineup and Philadelphia are working on replacing their backup striker, a homegrown midfielder that they sold for $4 million annnnndd that’s it. That’s all of it. And they already replaced that midfielder with Andrés Perea from Orlando City.
So, yeah, they’re running it back with a team that came as close as you possibly can to winning both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup. CCL may derail things a little when it comes to chasing another Shield, but they’re going to be the team to beat in the East.
Brenner is still here for now. And that means, for now, Cincy are primed to be one of the league’s best. At least when it comes to their best XI. They’re lacking depth right now and could probably use another starting-caliber center back, but you can’t count out a team that has Brenner, Brandon Vazquez and Lucho Acosta leading the way in front of a midfield that should be improved in its second year with DP Obinna Nbwodo and new U22 signing Marco Angulo.
Essentially, the same group that made the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year has stayed intact and added key pieces. It feels like the floor is the highest it’s ever been in Cincy.
I… I know that doesn’t sound high, but trust me, it’s real high.
Speaking of high floors, Walker Zimmerman and Hany Mukhtar are perhaps the best floor-raising duo in MLS. The ceiling… well, they’re in third here, not first. At the very least, they’ve sent Aké Loba somewhere else, but they still don’t have the DP striker they need, and they can’t add one unless Loba gets bought during his loan. Until Mukhtar gets some help, Nashville are just going to keep being Nashville. For better or worse.
Probably worse most likely, but we’ll go ahead and put them at three. Mostly because we know exactly who they should be. Although it’s probably fair to ask about the regression hammer hovering above them heading into 2023.
I don’t think I’m overrating Wilfried Nancy here. He took Montréal to the brink of winning the Shield last year, and it kind of feels like this Crew roster is just as good. Cucho Hernández should thrive in his second year, and Lucas Zelarayan will be put in position to change matches. Nancy is one of the best in the league and should get all the things out of this team that Caleb Porter struggled to get out at the end. If that happens, this is a dangerous group. Not a perfect group yet, but a dangerous one.
What an offseason! It’s been an offseason of so many things! And honestly, I have no idea how good those things have actually been, but it feels like they deserve a ton of credit for all the things that have happened.
The midfield should be good, maybe even great. DP winger Martín Ojeda joins a front three that wasn’t perfect but still produced at a decent rate. And the back line should be fine enough while being protected by Pedro Gallese in goal. Who knows how all of those pieces will actually fit together, but a fun offseason so far at least means they’ll be a little more interesting this year.
I’m anticipating a lot here. Which is a hand-wavey way of saying that I’m banking on a lot of things that haven’t been figured out to be figured out. I just find it hard to believe that Bob Bradley won’t get much, much more out of this team this year.
They’ll be operating with Lorenzo Insigne, Mark-Anthony Kaye and Federico Bernardeschi for a full season, and Matt Hedges is one of the signings of the offseason. They just might sort out their defense enough to make this work the way we all thought it might last year.
They’ll probably press a lot and make the playoffs, and we’ll all have forgotten that Aaron Long isn’t there anymore by August because that’s just how this works.
No Messi yet, but they should still be pretty decent. They could use another major attacking piece though, and they really should probably sort out whatever is happening with DP Rodolfo Pizarro. Right now this feels like a good team that could jump up a level with a couple of big signings. Maybe new midfielder Nicolás Stefanelli will be one of those signings and maybe, just maybe, Josef Martínez can be the other. For now, I’m not convinced. It won’t take much to change that though. Honestly, just add a DP winger and I can talk myself into this.
I know, I know. I’ve spent the entire offseason gawking at all the changes they’ve undergone. But, you know what? I looked at their current roster, and, now that Victor Wanyama is back, it actually doesn’t look unrecognizable. They might be losing Kei Kamara in the very near future, and maybe Joaquín Torres too. But for now, they may have upgraded at right back by adding Aaron Herrera, and the rest of the group is largely unchanged.
Not having Djordje Mihailovic will be huge though, and there’s absolutely no telling how this group will handle a total tactical shift now that Hernan Losada has taken over for Wilfried Nancy. I’m still low on this team, but I’m not slamming the panic button quite as hard anymore.
I’m stoked about getting to watch a full year of goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic and U22 attacker Dylan Borrero. I’m less excited about watching New England try and figure out how to work Carles Gil, Giacomo Vrioni and Gustavo Bou into the same starting XI.
GIl and Petrovic raise New England’s floor, but, as of now, it’s hard to see all the pieces fitting together in a way that sees the Revs significantly build on last season.
It feels like Charlotte are primed to join the growing collection of expansion teams that take a major leap forward in year two. But a lot of it seems to be very dependent on how new DP striker Enzo Copetti changes the team, and I’m just not prepared to commit to that change being for the better yet.
I generally like the roster. I generally like what Christian Lattanzio put together last year. But like Austin last year, I just need a little more proof of concept before I really buy in.
Let’s circle back when the full roster is in place.
Let’s circle back when the full roster is in place.
I have absolutely no idea what this team is going to be, and I’m genuinely frightened to make any predictions. Could be great. Could be terrible again. Could be one of the best one-shot, all-or-nothing roster builds in history. Could be terrible again. I really don’t know and please stop asking me.
They just lost the one player you could clearly point to as a reason for hope this year. Jhon Durán is gone, and, right now, it’s really hard to feel like the Fire are going to find a way to come good.
- Take a look at the top 10 most expensive outbound transfers in MLS history.
- Jonathan Sigal explained what Jhon Durán brings Aston Villa and what his transfer means for MLS.
- Riqui Puig believes the LA Galaxy "have a big chance" to win MLS Cup in 2023.
- Joe Lowery picked out 10 MLS players who should be in January USMNT camp.
Good luck out there. Make sure people see you at your best.
