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When Charlotte FC acquired Enzo Copetti from the Argentine Primera División squad Racing Club, many thought that the team had found their primary striker. Instead, his first season with the Crown left more questions than answers, after he played in 27 matches and scored just six goals.
The lack of production led to questions about whether or not he would transfer in the next window, but one of the things new manager Dean Smith made sure he did this offseason was to put those rumors to rest. “We can put that to bed straight away. He is a Charlotte FC player and will stay that way this season,” Smith stated a couple of weeks ago. “We’re not looking to offload him. He’s an integral part of the squad.”
Keeping Copetti is made more important than it originally was by the transfers of fellow designated players Karol Świderski and Kamil Jóźwiak in the first transfer window of the year, leaving the second-year Argentine as the only player of that type on the roster. With both Świderski and Jóźwiak gone, the Crown will need to rely on him heavily as a goal scorer and will also need him to be a leadership presence in the locker room for a squad that will be pretty young heading into the season.
So the question is, can this be the breakout season for Copetti in the MLS that many thought last year would be? Charlotte FC radio voice Will Palaszczuk joined the Mac & Bone Show on Wednesday and made his case for why he thinks that will be the case. “I think he’s primed for a breakout season. I feel like this style of play suits Enzo incredibly well. I think you’re seeing a renewed attitude out of him. I think you’re seeing that he’s taken to the new coaching staff. He really wants to be here and they’ve really tried to shape their offense around him. There have been a couple of goals that he scored in the preseason that I don’t think he would have scored last year because just didn’t get that kind of service. I understand that a lot of times it’s come against questionable opposition and sometimes there’s teenagers on the field in preseason on the offensive, but I do feel like Enzo is going to find himself in more dangerous spaces. One of the things we do know about Enzo is that when he gets the ball in space, he very rarely makes mistake on it. So I feel like this could be a 15-plus-goal season for Enzo.”
Make sure to check out Palaszczuk’s full comments on Charlotte FC’s upcoming season below and tune in on Saturday night starting at 7:00 PM however you listen to WFNZ to hear him and Jessica Charman with the call of the squad’s first match of the season with NYCFC from Bank of America Stadium.
