I thought Atlanta was fortunate to come out with a point. The Martinez goal was great, maybe the best of the season. I'm a bit concerned about the Almiron injury. Guzan was immense in goal. Maybe his best outing in an Atlanta shirt. That field, coupled with NYCFC's press showed a pretty major issue. The defensive midfield tends to get backed up into the back line, leaving no short pass available to get out of the zone. Long passes just aren't connecting with those pushed forward. I hope that this will be easy to fix, but I suspect it won't be -- tendencies are tough to change mid-season. Good road point, but NYC probably deserved 3.
Sorry I didn't get to a matchday thread ahead of time. Thanks for picking up the slack. I agree, it's a good road point, especially given how the team played. NYCFC was without a player or two due to WC call ups but they're still solid and Yankee Stadium is just an awful place to play as a visitor. BTW, was the pitch always that problematic or was there something special going on behind all the players slipping? Those tight confines and the poor turf contributed to Atlanta's struggles with the transition game. (Granted, that's NYC's idea - Play the high press and feature a load of speedy midfielders expecting other teams to choke in the Yankee field bottleneck, and then they end up playing most of the game in the opponent's half.) Guzan was indeed huge, and I agree that may have been his best match for Atlanta. Keep that form and he'll be the USMNT #1, I feel. Better still his communications with the defense appeared to be on key as he was helping players pick up assignments and reads down the stretch. Parkhurst was good but did have the one meek giveaway in the first half that led to Guzan's highlight save. LGP, meanwhile... Oy. He's serviceable but I truly hope the team finds a way to upgrade there next season. Given Parky's age and the idea Larentowicz will either be gone or also older it will be imperative that we have another central defender who can be positionally sound and not get into card trouble. On the defensive front Escobar was also less than ideal in picking up runs in the 2nd half. As for Miguel, yeah the injury scare is the other main takeaway from this game. The good news is he played through a spell and "walked off," so hopefully it's not too serious. I was taken aback by the sub choice, though - I'm a fan of Romario but wasn't sure adding another striker instead of a more midfield minded player like Kratz. I think that contributed in part to the struggles to retain possession in the second half, because it was clear Williams and Martinez are not used to playing together. (A situation made worse by the absence of the primary play maker.) Overall I was pleased with the gritty point. Those are the games that often mark the difference in the final standings, especially when versus other conference contenders in their own house. Lastly - Insert usual griping about refereeing inconsistency here.
I'd just be echoing the others in stating that we were second best on Saturday and very lucky to come away with a point but in the bigger picture I'm starting to get concerned. Against the better teams in the league (SKC, NYRB, NYCFC) we have not looked good at all managing only 2 points out of 4 matches. Our schedule is not doing us many favors and we'll be facing Columbus, Orlando, and Dallas in 3 of our next 4 matches. C'bus and Dallas on the road. Granted Orlando sucks but it's a rivalry game and this stretch will go a long way to showing who we are and what we can be this season.
I've not seen a confirmation yet, just yesterday's AJC article with Martino thinking the injury was minor. Hopefully the club will reach out via social media today with more news.
MLS site is stating that it's still very much in the balance: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...s-almiron-doubt-wednesday-due-shoulder-injury