Allan Saint-Maximin

I think he's a big, big factor for Charlotte to see week in, week out.

Now he's got Alan Saint-Maximin with him, so it changes things up a little bit and gives him a little bit more, um, just n- uh, le- I, I'd say a little less pressure to have to, you know, d- con- make everything happen week in and week out.

Um, we've actually seen that recently, whereas Alan Saint-Maximin I feel like has done a lot of the, the work in the final third.

But I think in, in that game particularly, uh, and throughout most of this season and most of his time here is Pep Biel stepping up and making the difference.

Similar to how Evander does for you guys at FC Cincinnati.

I mean, Denke and Evander, you know, started off the scoring, then Toklamady and Biel in the second half, two minutes between them.

Uh, and since then, honestly it feels like you guys have been on a roll.

I mean, uh, I'm, I'm looking at you, you brought up, uh, Saint-Maximin, uh, the only real change that you guys have made.

Charlotte scores, and then late in the game.

Tiani to Schnegg, Schnegg towards Saint-Maximin,

Devin Bugaj could rob it away and now Schnegg has some opportunities in the middle here and it finds Toklamati and it's easily deposited into the back of the net and that is more than problematic for Montreal that might be fatal this evening Why is Graham Roche all the way out there? Filling in, he should be in the middle of the park, waiting for that ball to get into the danger areas.

Sinchuk, drifting an early cross inside, Morales went for it, and couldn't get the direction he needed, and that is likely that.

Slightly sooner for Charlotte, Joe? Uh, 11 points in the last five games.

Alan Saint-Maximin looks like a great fit for Dean Smith.

Yeah, I, I think so.

I mean, I, I think Charlotte are gonna be exactly where Charlotte are now for as far in the future as I can see.

Like, in that, in that region.

We wanna be consistent." And I think Charlotte have built a pretty consistent spot.

I do think Saint-Maximin looks really good.

He's, he's just a bundle of fun, if nothing else.

but like they have done for many seasons now they have signed promising players from abroad from outside the top five leagues and they have taken the chance to relaunch the career of some players i can I think first on Thorgan Hazard, who has joined this summer.

They did the same thing with Alain Saint-Maximin last season, with Florian Thauvin too, who is today the captain of Lens.

They are a club constantly growing in the French landscape of football.

They are doing an excellent job.

This pressure was so great to see.

pressure was good it was either pressure or if it's not high pressure then it's like sit back in a low block you see a lot that's it get it to Saint-Maximin now there's a smoke behind him he's leaving defenders oh at this finish That finish there, as a winger, me playing on the right wing, I've done this a couple times.

Your little chop, you buy your space, and then the execution is perfect.

Leo Abada is a big story for me, because he was signed when I was still there.

I think that's the foundation.

You've got two attacking fullbacks that love to get forward.

And then you've got Saint-Maximin and Schnegg on the left side.

And that is like a perfect marriage.

A eso estaban acostumbrados los americanistas.

San Maximán, allá

a últimos tiempos, que

no hizo nada.

And I feel like that's why there's so many Pep Biel jerseys every time you're at Bank of America Stadium, because he is becoming the player that this club needs.

Alain Saint-Maximin, I think, is still going to drop Jaws at some point, but I don't think he is as paramount as Pep Biel in terms of...

I think Alan Sam Maximan will rely on Pep Biel in some ways to make him look good in the same capacity.

Did you say he's going to drop drawers or jaws?

But for me, he's not very dominant in and around his six-yard box.

He doesn't come for that many crosses or he... picks and comes when he goes.

Someone like Alain Saint-Maximin, if he can put balls into dangerous areas, I know against Toronto it felt like all he wanted to do was score.

Some of the shots he was coming in, cutting in and shooting, I was like, but put it into the danger zone.

Yeah.

I think that there's a lot to be compared to Allan Saint-Maximin.

I often use a comparison-

Mm

So I think it's a number of different factors, uh, and, uh, that lead back to just poor decision-making, um, or just delayed decision-making on the part of the league that put that in the situation.

So I think in that context, I was actually surprised, you know, that we saw, um, you know, Allan Saint-Maximin, as much as you, you know, some people may wanna see, think he's a highlight merchant.

Or, uh, you know, the fact that you've got Alexis Sanchez coming out of his grave-

[laughs]

Please contribute to the offense.

We need that connection, especially with a new designated player like Saint-Maximin.

Schnegg connected better with Zaha, too, though.

When Toffolo and Zaha were on the pitch, that connection was challenged, to say the least.

And then you say, as good as I think Will Cleary has been, it's a lot to ask of him to say, hey, we want you to come up and down the pitch the whole match, covering for the space where... where Pepiel should be if he's playing as a winger, you know? And, and so I, I definitely prefer Pepiel being more central because if nothing else, because it allows us to play with dedicated wingers and the Rodolfo Aloko Alonso Maximan wing pairing that we get here, I think is, is the best wing pairing we have available to us right now.

I know that, Aloka can be inconsistent, but so can Leo Labada, and so can Tiger Smalls.

Every other winger we have that's not named Saint-Maximin is awfully inconsistent, and we haven't even seen enough of Saint-Maximin to say he is consistent.

But I'd rather, again, I'd rather ride out the rough matches for Rodolfo Aloka, and this kind of was one, against DC United.