Calamity in Charlotte: Is Mikey Varas to Blame?
- Dmitry Anisimov
- 50 minutes ago
- 5 min read
SDFC are through eight weeks of their first MLS season and while some things remain unclear, there is one thing that is proven: Mikey Varas is a good coach. Sure, fans have every right to question moves made by the folks in charge, in this case – Varas, but debating on whether he is a good coach seems to be slightly premature. After all, he is not the one making the plays on the field. You know, the plays that led to being down to ten men while trailing Charlotte FC two goals to nil at half? As always, let’s get into it!
The Elephant in the Room: Starting Lineup
As mentioned in previous articles, you just never know what lineup Mikey Varas is going to start with. On one hand, maybe that is a good problem to have – it means that the team has multiple players who are more than capable of holding their own in various positions. This time, however, it proved to be costly.
Anibal Godoy and Luca de la Torre, who have been a crucial piece of the midfield were asked to sit while Alvarado got the start and Valakari moved to his natural position where Luca thrives. Godoy has been praised for bringing passion and energy to the squad when he’s on the pitch and Luca remains one of the best ball-distributors that the team has. It is easy to see why fans were left scratching their heads.
Tomas Angel slotted into the center forward position as he has shown great form coming on as a sub in the previous few matches. It was expected that he was going to see starting minutes to try and get San Diego on the score sheet.
Perhaps, the most confusing move of all was in the back line. After giving up three goals in the previous game to Colorado, Mikey Varas made a decision he felt would slow Charlotte in their attack by shifting McDuo (McVey and McNair) to the left and inserting Andres Reyes on the inside of Loffelsend. The long-awaited debut for the Colombian went about as bad as anyone could have imagined. More on that later, but right now let’s look at what exactly went wrong.
Bad Defending Brings Severe Consequences
San Diego conceded six goals in their last two games. That is more than given up in the last six games, total. Clearly – something is wrong here. Mikey Varas takes pride in his team’s defense as the Chrome and Azul only allowed five goals in six matches, which is a big reason San Diego was sitting near the top of the table until the recent two game away stint. After a dismal defensive display in Colorado, lessons apparently were not learned.
In the 10th minute, star midfielder Pep Biel seemingly muscled his way through the weak challenge by Tverskov and was somehow able to slot a pass into the box while McNair and Reyes both failed to get in front of the Spaniard. Abada got on the end of the through ball without anyone picking up his run through the middle of the box and was able to slot the ball through to open the scoring.
What can San Diego do better defensively to not allow this to keep happening? It is imperative that the team continues to view tape and practice picking up trailing runs as well as making tougher challenges. A Defensive player can lose a challenge by lacking in qualities of field awareness, speed, and toughness, as seen on the play that led to the first goal. It is an understandable mistake and surely can be improved. On the contrary, a difficult error to forget is a mental mistake that not only causes a team to go down an extra goal but an extra player, as well.
A Disastrous Debut
In the 37th minute, a mental mistake was made. This time, Reyes – already on a yellow card, was beaten over the top with a through-ball into Patrick Agyemang. Reyes was clearly a step behind and tried to do all he can to bring down the Charlotte striker. As both players were fighting for the ball, they got tangled up with each holding the other. Agyemang was able to stay on his feet until he was inside the penalty box and Reyes slid into his feet, seemingly getting ball first but bringing down Agyemang in the process.
Referee Filip Dujic quickly whistled for the penalty and brought out a straight red card but had to check VAR to review Reyes’s challenge. After a brief check, he determined that the challenge did not warrant a straight red, but it did deserve a yellow. Hence, the second yellow card resulted in the same outcome and Reyes was sent off. Agyemang converted his PK as SDFC saw themselves down to ten men with a two-nil deficit going into halftime.
Surely, this was not the long-awaited debut Reyes has hoped for. The Colombian defender is strongly considered one of the top options on the San Diego backline and has been part of the starting eleven plan since inception. The decision to start him in an away game versus a strong team like Charlotte before giving him sub minutes to get acclimated to game-speed remains questionable. The game proved that Reyes was a step behind on many plays, earning his first yellow just half an hour into the match and a second ten minutes later.
Right Place, Right Time
The second half substitutions brought a bit more energy into the San Diego side that struggled to get anything going in the first half. Godoy and de la Torre brought intensity and creativity to the midfield. Alex Mighten and Hamady Diop brought speed and urgency into the attacking third while newcomer Milan Iloski got some much-needed minutes but once again failed to impress. Charlotte got on the score sheet one more time in the 57th minute when Privett headed the free kick pass from Westwood into the back of the net and that was all she wrote.
When asked what were some key factors that led into the decision to switch up the starting eleven, Mikey Varas said “It was intentional” and that he has full confidence in the players who started the game. “One of our goals early in the season has been to make our squad as big as possible”, said Varas. An entire season in the MLS is long and teams need to give bench players minutes because ultimately guys will go down with injuries or need rest. Perhaps, there is a time and a place for that. Away at Charlotte, who now sit atop of the Eastern Conference standings and has one of the best home atmosphere advantages, proved to be the wrong time to deviate from what won San Diego games in the first place.
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