Ha! This is my first year following MLS at more than a cursory level, so I'll likely learn soon enough. Those accumulation rules as now written really are confusing as hell. It's made me even less likely than I already was to try and make some sense of TAM and the salary cap and whatnot. Very likely not worth the headache when I'll probably interpret it wrong, anyway.
Some nice reading about the Benz https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...anta-united-mercedes-benz-stadium-made-soccer Couple things I pulled out of the article that I found interesting. The canopy to cover the upper deck is segmented so it doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition for upper bowl seating. If they wanted to only open sideline seating on one side for a game they can. The lower bowl is adjustable in the corners. Seats that may be available for the Falcons can be retracted for United matches to allow more room for the pitch. That's pretty hot.
Montreal's win knocks us below the playoff line. Granted, we have less games played, but we have zero room for error. The East, aside from Chicago Fire, who seem to have fizzled, has been on Fire.
I think there's actually a fair amount of room for error, it just looks like there isn't. We have four games in hand on Columbus, who's tied with Montreal at just a point ahead of us, and there are no remaining head-to-head games with them. We have two games in hand on Montreal, too, but we should easily jump Columbus and there will be very little they can do about it, as long as we stay in decent form.
You're right, and it doesn't even look like there isn't. The points column doesn't mean as much as some might think because teams aren't balanced in games played. We have at least two games in hand on everyone ahead of us (three on Chicago and Toronto, four on Columbus) and two on everyone below us except New England. We're in a great place so long as we handle business in those games. I see us making the playoffs without too much fuss at this point, and I think anything below East #1 is a realistic goal with Chicago's current form. I'll take a #3 or #4 to avoid playing that one must-win game on the road. If we can reach the conference semis, I think we have a good chance to advance in a two-legged tie against anyone.
I'll actually go this far: Though the chances are not very high for either, I think the chances of us getting to No. 2 and securing a bye to the conference semifinals are actually higher than the chances of us missing the playoffs.
Well, three out of four ain't bad. RBNY lost, Chicago lost, and Columbus drew, closing the gap even more. Would have been a perfect weekend if the Revs had been able to hold their lead. I almost laugh every time I think of it. They've won six matches all year and two were against us. Go figure. When the bolded happened to me in ML, I usually bought their best player and sold him to another club. We bought Boswell. Might still work.
EVERYONE PANIC! We haven't played a match in two weeks and other teams passed us in the standings! What are we to do?!?!?
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/mls/ Interesting little statistical site in the link above. Shows that we have an 89% chance of making the post season and a 16% chance of earning a bye. They follow that up by figuring we have a 5% chance of winning it all! Honestly we are in great position to do some damage and have our post season destiny in our own hands. Once the team gets back from Philly this weekend we'll only have two road games remaining.
Oh, it's going to be tough, especially because Montreal found themselves. But my sarcasm comes from people (not necessarily on this forum) who thing that we're in real trouble. MTL has played 3 matches since we last played and earned 9 points. Yes, that's good for them, but if we had not laid dormant for more than two match weeks, we'd be above them (IMO). Basically, the point is, we've got this. Let's just please please please go out and beat DCU this week. Please.
An article from London's The Guardian: 46,000 fans a game: Atlanta United's strange success far from soccer's heartland
I'm glad to see that Atlanta has proven so many wrong and proven what we knew all along... the south is a hotbed for soccer.
That looks awesome. Can't wait for Sunday. I'm glad to see the trolling continue from MLS: So Geiger refs the first ever game in Atlanta, and then he gets to ref the first game at the Benz. Well done MLS.
Danke. It was fun to watch and take in. I'm loving every freaking minute of this! Every. Freaking. Sold-out. Screaming. Minute!
Loved the game, and the new stadium. But for some reason it didn't sound quite as loud as Bobby Dodd from where I sit. Did anyone else have that experience? It could just be where we're sitting.
I think it definitely was a bit feast or famine. I think BDS seemed louder because it was a compact environment, whereas MBS is more open, That said, the goals and crowd chants were MUCH louder. Basically, we all need to do better at making noise throughout the match.
Enjoyed this one tremendously, mainly because it was over soon enough to calm my fears. Trying not to get ahead of the season, but this is just great. One thing that concerns me is the way we seem to get our points v. how Toronto does. They've got about 5 more goals than we do and allowed about five fewer, but they have 18 wins. When we get points, we tend to beat the shit out of people or we draw. I haven't looked at their scores, but I'd bet they win more games by a goal than we have.
This is true. Either we are going to absolutely murder teams or we are going to draw or lose by a goal.
I'll trade that for the larger field which perfectly suits our style of play. For the record, I haven't been able to go to a game at MBS yet, but it doesn't come across as any less rowdy over the TV. It is true that the stands were half-full when the New England and Los Angeles games started, but that's midweek 7 p.m. games in Atlanta for you.