Chattanooga FC - Mid-season Report
Thoughts on the first half of CFC's 2025 campaign.
We’re just over halfway through Chattanooga Football Club’s regular season MLS Next Pro campaign. A new Head Coach with a swathe of new players are the defining characteristics of this side. The club is second in the Eastern Conference and seemingly on-track for a playoff berth. This, after a disappointing end to 2024 which saw them miss out on post-season soccer, despite being bitterly close.
With 15 league games and two cup ties played, now is a good opportunity to evaluate how the season has gone so far, what players have impressed, what the data can tell us, and what the next four months might look like.
As always, I welcome you to comment below sharing where you agree or disagree with my report, as well as provide your own thoughts on how the season has gone so far.
Summary
The League
Pos: 2nd | Won: 8 | Drawn: 4 | Lost: 3 | Shootout wins: 2 | Goals for: 24 | Goals against: 20
Chattanooga started their MLS Next Pro league season brightly with a 2-1 win at Inter Miami back in March. They ended that month unbeaten after a home win over Huntsville and an away draw (and shootout win) in Atlanta. The club finished the month on 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 shootout win, 5 goals scored and 3 conceded. Keegan Ancelin would be the star of the early games, scoring two goals and having a hand in another. That final game in Atlanta would be bittersweet as club captain and talisman Alex McGrath would pick up an injury in the game and miss the remainder of the season.
April saw the team win three of its first four games against Orlando, at Carolina Core, and Crown Legacy. The month would witness the real emergence of Daniel Mangarov and Peter Plougmand (after his late arrival) who had a hand in five goals between them. Farid Sar-Sar took over the captain’s armband from the injured McGrath, as CFC’s season started to really pick up. Its first blip was in Columbus where they fell to a poor 3-0 loss at the league’s worst club, handing the Crew II its first win of the season.
The club rebounded from an away loss with a home draw (somewhat a trend). May was another unbeaten month, as after a home tie with Philadelphia, they would pick up a string of wins against Toronto, Huntsville, and New England. Plougmand and Mangarov were really cooking by now, contributing four goals between them.
Finally, June was CFC’s worst month so far, resulting in one win, one draw, and two road losses. After losing in Orlando, they had a superb comeback draw with Miami at home, before a heavy 5-2 loss away at the Red Bulls and a scoreless home draw with Cincinnati.
At the time of writing this article, the club sits in second, four points behind the Red Bulls who’ve been the Conference’s best side. CFC’s position isn’t too strong, as they’re only two points ahead of Philadelphia Union II, who have two games in-hand.
The Cup
Finish: Second Round | Won: 1 | Drawn: 1 | Lost: 0 | Shootout wins: 0
It’s fair to say that Chattanooga FC’s Open Cup run was short, but memorable.
Paired with Corpus Christi of USL League Two in the First Round, CFC somewhat labored to a 1-0 win thanks to Markus Naglestad’s extra-time strike. This set up a Second Round bout with the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC from nearby East Ridge.
Described as one of the biggest Open Cup draws in years and certainly the biggest between two lower league sides, the build up to the fixture ferried in a carnival of podcasts, interviews, features, and online debate. The poorly refereed game itself was electric, ending in a 1-1 tie and a PK shootout advance for the Red Wolves. But while the result didn’t favor them, the event was undoubtedly a massive success in a commercial sense for CFC. 12,131 paying fans were in Finley Stadium that evening, providing the home side with a huge cash boost, and one that they don’t have to share with their visitors.
All-in-all a below average Cup run, I think. A slow start against a semi-pro side and a home tie (with PK loss) to a fellow third tier club doesn’t look great from a footballing sense. Elsewhere though, as well as the financial rewards from hosting the game, the probably 10-to-1 show of blue-to-red support in the stands proved, if anything, that this is ‘Chattanooga’s team’.
Individual Highlights
I’ll be honest. Tate Robertson would be eligible for a number of the accolades listed below, such has been the completeness of his impact this year. But I’ve tried to be diverse and consider the contributions across the entire team. I do think it’s telling that my four accolades below have all been clinched by new signings. This really reflects well on the club’s recruitment under Sebastian Giraldo and Chris Nugent.
Stats below are for MLS Next Pro only.
Best Player
Tate Robertson
Position: Defender, Wing-back
Height: 5-10
Date Of Birth: May 31, 1997
GP: 17 | G: 4 | A: 7 | Mins: 1,329
While there’s a few performers who’ve really made CFC tick in 2025 (Jakupović, Garvanian, Sar-Sar, Mangarov, Plougmand) it’s the Springfield, Ohio native who has had the most influence and impact. Returned to Chattanooga after two years in Lexington, he’s been excellent and appears to keep improving with each passing matchweek. No other player appears to be more important to this team right now.
Such has been his impact, it’s hard to find an area of CFC’s game plan in which he’s not important. Making the team click and progressive with the ball, he leads his side in key passes (35 - more than double the next best) and crosses (23 - also more than double the next best) and takes the majority of set pieces. As an attacking threat he’s key to this side. Four goals and a league leading seven assists are the result of 14 shot attempts, six on target (third most in the team).
Honorable mentions: Daniel Mangarov, Eldin Jakupović, Farid Sar-Sar, and Peter Plougmand.
Best Young Player (under 25)
Daniel Mangarov
Position: Midfielder, Winger
Height: 5-7
Date Of Birth: March 10, 2002
GP: 15 | G: 4 | A: 2 | Mins: 1,100
Mangarov, another new signing, came to CFC this year after a decorated youth career where he was a standout at Atlanta United's Academy, while also being named to U-15 and U-17 U.S. youth national team rosters. With Chattanooga being his first professional career stop, he’d spent the previous three years with the University of Virginia Cavaliers.
The 23-year-old started the season blisteringly, and was something of a surprise package. Deployed mainly on the wing in an advanced attacking flank, he’s contributed two assists and four goals for CFC in his first season. And while he may have been quieter since the spring months, he still leads his side in scoring attempts (24) and shots on target (12). He’s also drawn a club leading 26 fouls, contributing importantly to CFC’s set piece play.
Mangarov was initially signed in January on a one-year contract with a club option for a further year. I strongly assume this option will be activated.
Honorable mentions: Nathan Koehler and Keegan Ancelin.
Best New Signing
Eldin Jakupović
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 6-3
Date Of Birth: October 2, 1984
GP: 15 | Clean sheets: 5 | Conceded: 20 | Saves: 62 | Mins: 1,350
It’s hard to describe just how big a signing this was for CFC, or any third-tier team in the US. Although in the winter of his playing career, the 40-year-old Jakupović brought experience from the highest level, having played in the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League among others, as well as internationally with Switzerland. No other signing at Finley Stadium was ever so high caliber.
While one might have been forgiven to suspect Jakupović to be comfortably seeing out the last of his playing days in the Scenic City, his visible (and audible) levels of passion and commitment, and his high standards have been on show since his arrival.
To put some numbers on the board demonstrating his impact, Jakupović boasts a joint league-leading five clean sheets and a league-leading 62 saves so far in 2025. Last week, he was among four goalkeepers chosen for the MLS NEXT Pro Goalie Wars at MLS All-Star Skills Challenge to be held in Texas next month.
His impact has been such that understudies Michael Barrueta and J.P. Philpot haven’t seen first team action but will no doubt be benefiting from working with the experienced Jakupović in daily training.
Honorable mentions: Too many to name.
Surprise Package
Nathan Koehler
Position: Central defender
Height: 6-3
Date Of Birth: November 2, 2002
GP: 14 | G: 1 | A: 0 | Mins: 1,134
Signed late, Koehler joined CFC from Prescot Cables, in the English Northern Premier League. It was hard to gage exactly what his level would be coming from such obscure origins. During the early rounds of MLS Next Pro and US Open Cup action, Chris Nugent was using a back four, with Farid Sar-Sar partnering a rotating option of Ethan Dudley and Logan Brown, seemingly to good effect. It was hard to see where Koehler would fit in this system, and I was prepared to see him mainly warm the bench this season. The injury to McGrath seemed to firm up a change in approach from Nugent, who had already switched to a back three. Koehler came in at just the right time, making his first start at Atlanta United 2 (the same game in which McGrath would get injured) on 30 March.
Since then, he hasn’t looked back and has started all 13 games in that time. He’s forged a strong defensive partnership with Farid Sar-Sar, remaining in Nugent’s favor when a back four is used, as well as a back three. He appears ahead of Dudley and Brown currently in the coach’s plans and is likely one of the first names on the team sheet. He’s had an impressive eight scoring attempts, all with his head and scored his first goal for the club away at Huntsville when CFC won 2-1 on May 17.
Honorable mention: Daniel Mangarov
I’d like to see more of/from
Jesus Ibarra
Position: Forward, Winger
Height: 6-1
Date Of Birth: November 10, 1997
GP: 10 | G: 1 | A: 1 | Mins: 453
27-year-old Jesus Ibarra was arguably CFC’s best player in 2024. Last season he made 17 appearances (starting 13) and logged over 1,100 minutes. He scored seven goals, making him the team's joint-second top goalscorer of the season, and contributed three assists. He also scored the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Goal of the Year in the club's 3-0 win over FC Cincinnati 2 on March 23rd at Finley Stadium.
Now, I can’t speak to injuries or other availability issues that may have affected him this season, suffice to say we’ve seen less of Ibarra on gameday and less from him when he is on the field. A hugely talented forward, in his third season with CFC, he has the ability to really open up teams, spread defenses, and chip in with wonder goals. While one goal and one assist in 10 isn’t a terrible return so far in 2025, I think it’s below what Ibarra can offer. Wing-forward is a very competitive position at the club this season, given the emergence of Mangarov, the fact that Keegan Ancelin can play wide, the return of Jalen James, and the steady reliability of Kwak Minjae, so it’s no wonder that Ibarra might have less of an impact. But I think he’s the most talented of the lot, on his day, and I hope to see more of him in starting 11s and more from him when he takes the field.
Expectations for remainder of the season
Chris Nugent’s side has made a habit of finding different ways of winning different types of games. He’s been tactically savvy, and his approach to every game is different, making CFC unpredictable to play against. And while June’s form may worry some fans who fear a repeat of last year’s mid-season collapse, I think this year’s CFC is a different animal. Not only that ability to find ways of winning and unpredictable set up in each game, but also the consistency. 2024’s CFC would lose home games, something I don’t see this team doing just yet. 2024’s CFC also made losing a habit, often losing games in pairs or threes. Again, this side doesn’t yet look like doing so, and always responds well to defeat, if a little slowly.
Chattanooga has 13 games left this season. Importantly more than half (7) are at home in Finley Stadium. There are some tricky away trips there though too, most of all at Philadelphia Union II (3rd in the table) which may determine second place for this Conference. They’re all winnable games though, especially at home. The club is currently averaging 2 points per game, the third best in the conference, which is ultimately where I expect it’ll finish. A home play-off spot should be the target and beyond that anything is possible.
Remaining fixtures
5 Jul - Chicago Fire II (Home)
13 Jul - Philadelphia Union II (Away)
19 Jul - Inter Miami II (Home)
26 Jul - Crown Legacy (Home)
2 Aug - Toronto II (Home)
9 Aug - Orlando City B (Away)
16 Aug - Carolina Core (Away)
23 Aug - Huntsville City (Home)
12 Sep - Crown Legacy (Away)
21 Sep - Carolina Core (Home)
24 Sep - Atlanta United 2 (Away)
28 Sep - New York City II (Away)
5 Oct - Atlanta United 2 (Home)
Can you comment on fan attendance at games, relative to previous seasons? A number of coastal cities have noticed the ICE raids (and declaration that stadiums are public grounds for their human hunting) have had a chilling effect on fan attendance --have you noticed that in Tennessee? Thanks!