Striking while it's hot

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Today’s Fútbol Friday is sponsored by the Charlotte Master Chorale. Moving from driving rhythmic intensity to soaring lyricism, the Charlotte Master Chorale presents Kyle Pederson’s A Vision Unfolding. Experience a dynamic blend of choral music and spoken word on Nov. 21.

When Idan Toklomati scored 11 goals in a span of 14 games for Charlotte FC last summer, he was just emerging from the shadow of outgoing striker Patrick Agyemang. He was a relatively unknown quantity making the most of his first big starting opportunity in Major League Soccer.

The 22-year-old Israeli striker is back at it again. He has scored 11 goals in his past 13 games, including tallies in each of Charlotte’s past five games. Toklomati’s header seven minutes in Wednesday night set the tone for a playoff-clinching 4-0 win over Montreal.

That put him at 15 goals on the season, three past Karol Swiderski’s previous club record of 12 goals set in 2023.

So what’s different this time? The feat might actually be more impressive. Toklomati is doing it against MLS defenders who know all about him now, and with little rest, since Archie Goodwin is out for the season following foot surgery. And this time, Toklomati has racked up these goal totals after picking himself up from a relatively pedestrian first half of the season. Toklomati, the fulcrum of Dean Smith’s offense, had just five goals in his first 18 games.

Toklomati said Smith challenged him.

“He told me ‘Are you a striker? Don’t forget that you need to give me numbers,’” Toklomati relayed in a Q and A session with Charlotte FC media relations. “I told myself, ‘You need to be more in the box and be ready for every ball to bounce next to you and just score more goals.’”

That’s exactly what happened in Toronto on Aug. 20. Liel Abada stumbled on the ball driving into the 6-yard box and fell into the goalkeeper. Toklomati was behind him to collect the ball and fire a shot into the top corner for his first goal coming out of the World Cup break. Charlotte FC gave up a late goal to settle for a 3-3 tie that night but had unlocked Toklomati.

“Confidence is a big part of my game,” Toklomati said. “When I feel like I have the confidence to play and do my things, that’s the best for me.”

Toklomati also points to his improvement in hold-up play, which is his ability to shield the ball from defenders with his back to the goal, while teammates cut into space around him to be available for passes.

“Before I came here, I struggled a lot with the hold up play,” Toklomati said. “I used to be way skinnier and less strong, so I struggled with holding the ball with a bigger center back than me. Now, I feel like my hold up play been really good recently, and that’s what makes me comfortable.”

He’s also learned in two seasons under Smith that he doesn’t have to have the ball at his feet a ton to be successful. He just needs to be in the right places to receive the ball. Dynamic teammates like Allan Saint-Maximin and Pep Biel are going to get it to him.

Smith called Toklomati a “beast in the air” after he knocked down a header across the mouth of the goal to score against red-hot Philadelphia. Captain Ashley Westwood said ever since Toklomati got back from the international break with the Israeli national team in early October, “his work rate has gone through the roof,” Westwood said. “He looks hungry.”

Ever since the World Cup break, winger Liel Abada has been making up for lost time, reinventing himself after more than a year of struggling within Charlotte’s offense. Wednesday night took it to an extreme.

Abada came off the bench to score three goals — a hat trick — in a span of 18 minutes to give Charlotte FC a 4-0 cushion against Montreal. His was the third fastest hat trick in MLS history for a player entering a game, either as a starter or off the bench, and was named MLS Player of the Matchday.

“In the last one and a half years, I didn't play very good, and it was a hard situation for me,” said Abada, who is in the final season of his designated player contract. “But I try to keep strong, work hard every day in training and try to learn every day. After the World Cup break, I had a really good opportunity that the Gaffer gave me and I built up my confidence. I built up my quality because I want to help to the team.”

Abada got that bigger opportunity after the departure of Kerwin Vargas to Brazil. He’s been battling 19-year-old Rodolfo Aloko to keep that spot in recent weeks but after Aloko struggled on Wednesday, Abada was prepared to enter the game and make an impact.

Being a free agent in professional soccer doesn’t sound nearly as glamorous as it does in sports like Major League Baseball and the NFL, where players — in their prime, anyway — get courted by multiple teams while dollar signs climb.

For the Frenchman Abdoulaye Doucouré, 33, whose contract had run out with his Saudi Arabian club after nearly a 10-year run in the English Premier League, the phone didn’t ring with anything compelling “for four or five months,” he said.

“I'm so happy just to come back training, playing,” said Doucouré this week in his first interaction with local media. “It was not about money or whatever. I just wanted to play, and I'm so, so happy to be here. And I can't wait to help the team hopefully to go as far as possible in the playoffs.”

The man, who commanded a £20 million transfer fee in 2020 to go from Watford to Everton, had two days to make the decision.

“I needed a football club,” he said. “I needed to come back to play football to take my pleasure back. I’m very happy to have found Charlotte FC.”

Charlotte FC had an international slot and a need after Goodwin’s foot surgery. With the transfer window closed, the free agent market was the best way to fill it.

Doucouré is an attack-minded midfielder who spent a majority of his Premier League tenure with Everton. He scored 35 goals in 166 appearances, including a game-winning goal three years ago against Bournemouth that prevented Everton from getting relegated for the first time in 71 years.

The player teammates call “Doucs” made his presence felt off the bench Wednesday night, completing 13 passes in just six minutes. The challenge now is to build up his fitness, Smith said.

Doucouré is only under control for the remainder of the season, which means he has two more games to finish out the regular season and whatever the playoffs might bring. But after a few weeks of practice and watching Charlotte FC play, with his wife and 10-month-old baby here too, he’s ready for bigger things.

“I want to give everything,” he said. “I want to give a good image for me, for the fans, and hopefully to see if I can stay here at the club.”

MLS announced the dates for its upcoming short season, which will run from February to May of 2027 as a transition to the new summer-to-spring calendar, which aligns with most of global soccer. Charlotte FC will open at home against CF Montreal on Sunday, Feb. 21.  

Each MLS team will face its 14 conference opponents once, playing seven matches at home and seven on the road. Two of the big matchups coming to Charlotte will be against Nashville, this year’s Supporters' Shield winner as the regular season champion, and the Chicago Fire. Charlotte will travel to Atlanta United and Inter Miami.

The top eight teams from each conference will advance to a single-elimination tournament, culminating with the MLS Cup final Memorial Day weekend.

Click here for Charlotte FC’s full schedule.

When/Where: Saturday (Oct. 31), 1 p.m. Bank of America Stadium.

How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe here.

How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.

Notable

Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fifth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!