CFC still coming together

Leading up to last week's season opener, the Chattanooga Football Club had players with as few as one practice with the squad before taking on Jacksonville United.

Chattanooga FC won 2-0 despite not having had much time playing together, something that was remedied a bit this week with three practices.

Manager Brian Crossman said CFC added three more players this week - they had to finish school before coming to Chattanooga - and is still waiting for a couple of players to join the team. He said it might take a little more time for the team chemistry to develop.

"It varied from one to six practices [with the team] last week," he said. "We've added three new players this week, so they're still settling in. ... I'm sure everybody else is going through this to some degree."

Chattanooga FC plays its first road game tonight when it faces the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves. This will be the Silverbacks' season opener.

The Silverbacks previously played in the National Premier Soccer League under the name Atlanta FC and now are the development team for the professional Silverbacks, who play in the North American Soccer League.

Crossman said he liked a lot of what he saw from his team in its opener. After a slow start, CFC put a lot of pressure on Jacksonville offensively, while the defense didn't allow many scoring chances.

"It took too long to settle in, in my opinion, but it's reasonable to expect that," he said. "Once we settled in we were trying to do the right things. They didn't get many chances, and I was pleased with that."

Chattanooga FC will be back at Finley Stadium next Saturday when it hosts the first-year Knoxville Force.

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