Atlanta United FC vs Orlando City SC Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta 5/12/19, 2:30 PM Fox MLSsoccer.com preview page here. AJC.com United page here. Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there, and nothing says Mother's Day like Five Stripes soccer! Vamos mamas! It's the last year the title Kings of the South (for what it's worth) is decided between these two teams. To date the Lions have a mere 2 draws and 4 losses against King Peach so the traveling fans will be desperately hoping their early form with new DP Nani will find a way to improve that record. Methinks that's unlikely. Atlanta has now won 4 of their last 5 and that 1 loss was the FCD match that they controlled save for two inch perfect counters by the opponents. Frank de Boer said if the team played like that they'd win 28 of 30 and thus far Atlanta is taking him up on that challenge. Mind you Colorado and reserve heavy sides from SKC and Toronto are arguably not the best of measuring sticks but Atlanta also made sure to win those comfortably. This has allowed Atlanta to recover their confidence and to a degree their killer instinct up top. They're far from perfect but they're playing with form that is much better, more coordinated across aspects of the game, and showing a more comprehensive game plan than we saw versus, say, FC Cincy. Tito will start while Barco begins his quest for U20 World Cup glory in Poland and apart from that there are no new concerns regarding injuries or suspensions. Justin Meram joins the side and may make the bench but early press reports suggest it might be next week before he's trusted for making a debut. Plus, as Roberson in the AJC points out the team defensively hasn't had to burn the candle at both ends so they should be rested enough to ride out their first-choice XI once more. The idea is probably to ensure that the team is indeed turning that corner and is raring to go with each match. Orlando comes in with 3 losses and a draw in their last 6 matches and they're struggling offensively. Take away their 4 goal explosion versus Colorado and the Lions are averaging 1 goal per game. (Atlanta's average isn't much better right now but the teams are on different trajectories in that regard.) Keeper Brian Rowe is among the league leaders in saves right now (20 more than Guzan) but that's also because he's facing a lot more shots on target, as Orlando's midfield and center backs can't take a game by the throat and make it their own. They've failed to find a balance between what works for Nani on the wing and Dom Dwyer as a central striker, and the result is that when they release from pressure they struggle to maintain possession and sustain an assault on goal. Kljestan is showing his age and defensively they've yet to start the same lineup more than 3 times this season, I believe. Bottom line, Orlando's implied in their early form that they're a more potent side than last season but not yet challenging for post-season contention. Does this mean Atlanta should win easily? No, and we don't want the Stripes to hold anything back. Get the win at home, keep the momentum building on the pitch and in the stands, and be ruthlessly mechanical in taking each match to each opponent. Treat Orlando like they're capable of winning and then show them why you're the better side. Atlanta wins 3-1, mom's are happy and we all get cheap burritos on Monday.
AUFC 2-1 Mousetown. FWIW, they barely post on Facebook anymore. They're now a club without a fanbase that communicates on media where their hopes and aspirations can be ridiculed by opposing fans.
Orlando City fans post the MLSSoccer.com boards and they talk a lot of smack for a team that isn't very good. I'd like to see us spank our "rivals" 4-0 today. I still remember last year's match down in Orlando when the fans threw rubbish on the pitch when a late dive wasn't rewarded with a PK. There was talk of the club doing something about that shameful fan behavior, but I don't think anything came of it.
Atl played well but only thing preventing a tie or loss was a few great saves. Shutting teams out but just can't count on one goal.
Two goals actually, that offside call on Tito Villalba on Gressel's goal was too close to be made. The rule says offside is supposed to be 'clear and obvious' to overturn the call on the field. I imagine if Dwyer's point blank shot that was saved by Guzan had gone in that the linesman's flag might have gone up and we'd have another VAR. Anyway, that's the way the ball bounces, tough breaks for both teams.
Some thoughts: So glad Pity got the monkey off his back and found the back of the net. He has been so close so many times and once he scored he looked so happy and his celebration where he washed away his bad luck was great. We got the clean sheet, but there was way to many mental lapses and sloppy give a ways in the back. Normally steady Remedi had a couple a the mistakes at the game's open and backline at the end of the game nearly gave me a heart attack. Guzan was man of the match with 3 or 4 key saves, but even he had some questionable plays that could have ended in disaster. He saved a corner by knocking the ball back into play and there was that play when he came out of the box but failed to simply head the ball out and his clearance was partially blocked. Finally he had that inexplicable short goal kick to Escobar (or LGP?) when we were trying to close out the match. Come on Brad, simply boot the ball down field at that stage of the game. Other than the mental lapses, which we need to correct, we dominated for 70 minutes, still I imagine Orlando City fans feel a bit unlucky. We looked gas at the end, and FdB is going to have to rotate some players for Wednesday's match. It will be interesting to see what he does. MBS was rocking, but I was disappointed to hear a few fans around me booing when Brek Shea came on. Also, I don't understand why people don't get to their seats on time or stay in them for an entire half? I sit near an aisle and there is a constant stream of people going up and down the steps obstructing the view. What is wrong with some people? Hopefully we can break the league record for consecutive clean sheets Wednesday night. Hup, Atlanta, Hup!
Ridiculous call. The replay had to be slowed down to a hundredth of a second to show that....maybe....Villalba's toe was ahead of the last defender.
Glad they got the win but the team showed some fatigue. Not as much creative running in the final third and some moments of lapse marking in defense. You could see where it could've turned in either direction depending on the bounce of the ball. Pity continued to show improved form. His hustle on defense is picking up and his reads with Julia and Josef were strong, even if the passes didn't always fall. Miles had arguably his weakest game. Still solid but he got caught up field a few times. That and some creative work from the Orlando midfield forced Guzan into playing his best game this season. Not a shut down defensive display but still a shutout, so take that and run with it. (Makes up for dominating FCD but still losing, I guess.) Most importantly the team is keeping form and building confidence. Let's see if they can take 6 pts from these next 3 on the road, and if they do it's probably safe to say that Atlanta is back.
Offense isn't there yet, but you can tell they're starting to figure out the system. A lot more positive passes and runs off the ball. He hasn't scored a lot of goals, but I've been impressed with Josef. He's being asked to do a lot more supporting work than before, and he's done well. Looks like more of a complete player instead of just a great scorer. Will be interested to see what FdB's rotation policy is on Wednesday. Ad mentioned, you could tell by the end of the game the team was gassed. There was much less movement of the ball on offense, and the offense looked much less dangerous as a result. We'll see if FdB is more willing to rotate players than Tata was.
Well the AJC is reporting that neither Nagbe or Parkhust are traveling with the team to Vancouver because FdB said they need rest, so expect to see Shea at LB. Not sure who will replace Nagbe, newcomer Justin Meron? Jeff Larentowicz?
I think Miran is more of a winger. My guess is Big Red, although I'd be fine with Gressel playing in the middle, but he could use some rest too.
Yeah, Gressel looked ragged when he came out Sunday. Perhaps Jeff for Nagbe and Meram for Gressel? Then you have Nagbe, Gressel, and Parkhurst all fresh for the next two legs of this road trip.
By the way, what MLS scheduling genius has us crisscrossing the country from ATL to Vancouver to NY to Salt Lake all in one week? Brutal.
Gressel and Villalba got robbed. You're right, though, about Guzan's play being on one hand amazing and on the other hand really bad. Luckily, his "bad" play is just mental and can be fixed (I wouldn't be surprised if FdB limits him to long distribution only, unless there's zero pressure). His instinct and shot-stopping are the "good" part. We finally got a Pity Martinez goal, and my crew was late to the game and missed it (I brought the 5-year-old and it was Mothers' Day). That being said, the kids did get to dance and sing on the Gressel not-a-goal, so it's still a win for Team Dad. Also, did you see Parkhurst with the give-and-go in the box? It ultimately got stifled, but he looked like a legit winger/midfielder more than once on Sunday. There's a very good reason this dude's been in the league since 2005. I think 6 points from these next three games is optimistic. I'd call 4 points a success. The travel and limited rest are awful. That being said, I think our best chance for 3 points comes at Vancouver. If we get the victory there, then a 5-7 point road trip becomes much more likely. Meram getting the garbage time run-out at home tells me he'll start in Vancouver. I'd prefer to start him on the left, though, and put Villalba on the right. Larentowicz and Shea undoubtedly start, as well. That means Gressel, Nagbe, and Parkhurst get rested. All the rest of the regular starters will also play, if FdB's history is anything to go by. Escobar and Robinson also looked lead-legged at the end of the Orlando match, so it'll be interesting to see how FdB deals with that. Does Pogba get some minutes/starts?
I am curious why you'd move Tito to the right since he has been playing on the left? I believe Meram can play either on either the left or the right. De Boer is on record saying there won't be a large scale rotation so it will be interesting to see his starting line up. Also Kratz has been training with the team again, so I wonder if he'd be an option to sub in and give Villalba some rest if the score allows? And is Carleton available or is he in de Boer's dog house?
Meram, as I understand it, is a natural left winger. Tito has been playing on the left only because Gressel is so much better on the right than the left. I've watched Villalba play both wings with aplomb. I haven't paid attention to Meram prior to his arrival in Atlanta, so he might be a both-side guy, as well. But I've been led to believe by other arm-chair tacticians that he's a left-side guy primarily. Presumably, you'd want your better defender on Shea's side, since teams tend to pick on his perceived shortcomings. Also, Shea is a better attacker than Escobar, so you might want your better attacker on Escobar's side. Alternate strategy: load up on offense on one side to take advantage of a weaker point in the opponent's defense, and trust that you get enough defense out of that side to get by.
This. It's not that hard to coordinate road trips in more efficient fashion, but to go back and forth twice in this manner is asinine. And on top of the equally asinine 8 games in 4 weeks BS. I get it that they're trying to compress the schedule and appreciate that overall, but this type of thing shouldn't happen.
Interestingly enough Meram debuted on the rt for Atlanta Sunday. Granted it was only for a few minutes. I'll politely disagree. Shea has a better cross and tends to make better wide runs but I think Escobar makes better reads with his short passes and complements his forward better. At the least I'll call it a push and say neither will be an All-star at their position this year.