Atlanta United vs. FC Cincinnati Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta March 10 - 6:00 PM ET ESPN MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United home page here. (Preview not yet posted) So, for those of you who have yet to abandon ship - Glad you're still with us! Hopefully Atlanta can turn things around with a mere 33 games left in the MLS season! Fingers crossed. Yes, the Five Stripes have struggled out of the gate, (I blame the new kit) but it doesn't take much perspective to recognize that the losses have all come on the road , against tough or better opponents, and dealing with some lousy weather, refs, and fields. The team played 3 games in 6 days, traveling about 3,000 miles in the process. All this within the first month of Pity obtaining a team jersey! We all would love to see them have pulled out better results but some of us were pragmatic coming into this stretch and knew DCU would be tough this season, especially at their new home with it's 90% win rate, and few expected Atlanta to beat Monterrey over two legs. Even if we did expect Atlanta wins those matches are now behind us. Time to start anew, and what better chance to recapture team form than by welcoming the MLS newbies. FCC comes in avowedly following a Minnesota United approach in building their team. A cast of seasoned MLS veterans like Fanendo Adi, Kendall Waston, and former Atlanta player Greg Garza populate their squad as they looked to complement their strong USL side and youth with veterans who could help ensure they don't come in as bottom feeders. This looked promising at the start of their first-ever MLS match last week in Seattle when they took the lead and looked intent on taking the game to the Sounders, only to fall 4-1. It's early and tough to guage where this team will sit, but what does stand out is that their starting attack is decidedly lacking compared to the past two sides Atlanta just played. As for Atlanta the issue is clear - They absolutely need to restore their offensive potency. Josef has barely seen the ball the past two games while the orbital cast struggles to find their team approach to feeding their main striker. Pity and Barco are taking shots but from too far out, and they're passes in the final third have lacked the cutting edge and accuracy of Almiron or Gressel. Until someone else can prove a threat to opposing defenses Josef won't find the space he needs to be more creative. Defensively the Stripes have played well as a team only to be undone by individual errors. They can get away with that against the likes of Colorado or Orlando last year, but not so much DCU or RBNY. How much of this is due to the new lineup we can't say but one would imagine that if the offense got going that would relieve some pressure on the defense. Most importantly, Atlanta will finally get to host a bona fide home game in 2019. A clean indoor setting, a quality pitch, and a raucous crowd. 3-0, good guys. And there was much rejoicing.
We won't be available for Sunday's match, but it nice to see Franco Escobar back in training.... https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-united-escobar-returns-training/xRTFJhtLqHlph6xczMQPdP/ Hup! Atlanta, Hup!
This isn't an away game versus a difficult opponent or location. Aside from a moment of brilliance, Cincy did not look good in Seattle. Don't expect much different here. If the starters play, it'll be very one-sided. If the starters are rested for Wednesday and we see the B team, then it'll be interesting.
As both Sunday and Wednesday are home matches, and seeing as the team needs to round into form quickly, I'm not resting too many starters. It may only be FCC but it's time to get this machine up and running at full strength.
I get that the team needs match fitness, and more game time with the new system, but they looked tired by the end of the game Wednesday. That can't happen in the return leg if they want to pull off the comeback.
You either rest the starters this weekend, or you risk getting blown out at home by Monterrey. Plus, the starters can clearly only go about 70 minutes before they're tired and worthless.
Not sure if this is a sign but at least Moe's must think the offense won't be quite as good as last year - They're back to offering $1 off per goal scored after home games!
Does anyone understand how the team plays? They look lost. It looks like a totally different team than last year and one man (Almiron) shouldn't make that much of a difference. FdB was supposed to be a direct replacement to Tata in tactics, wasn't he?
It's not just Almiron that's changed- it's Parky and Big Red being a year older, and Shea and Robinson being in a lineup they wouldn't have been in last season. I don't expect any manager to just come in and pick up the previous guy's clipboard, so to speak. Maybe FDB should have done just that*, but it's still early to say so. Thanks. I was hoping to be wrong. I think I may be hoping to be wrong a lot these next few weeks...
Shea shouldn't be playing. He is USL level at best. And like you said Parkhurst and Larry are older, they should have done something to replace them with younger players. Don't get me wrong they are still serviceable but it's time to start looking for replacements. I sound like a broken record already but......I hate this salary cap crap BS. Teams can't really do much and players who should not be playing first division at all, are still playing because they "fit in" the budget. But since we can't do anything about it, FdB should do something different. Good for us is that next week we play Philly who have lost two in a row and look even worst than us. I am already over thinking things, probably over exaggerating, but if (big IF) FdB does go before summer ATL should do everything they can to bring in Gallardo from River. Keep that SA connection going.
Robinson, for me, has been great. I would say he has been better than both Parkhurst AND LGP. But that's just the opinion of a neutral.
This is the first time I've been concerned. The problem isn't the defense. The defense was passable tonight. The problem is every time Atlanta gets the ball close to the opponents box, they have zero ideas what to do next. None. Everybody stands around, they take forever to figure out what they should do, then they cross into the box where Josef tries to get to the ball surrounded by 4 guys. Aside from the goal (which was a bad giveaway from Cincy), despite Atlanta having close to 70% of possession, the next best handful of chances were all for Cincinnati. That shouldn't happen. Not with the quality up front Atlanta has. Not against a team like FC Cincinnati. It's a new coach. I'm trying to be patient. But it's one thing if the players make bad runs and bad passes because they're not on the same page. It's another if the team just stands there because they have no idea how the system is supposed to work. That is all on the coach. And the players looked exhausted by the end of the game. Again. Atlanta played their starters and gained nothing. I'd have been fine with a 2-0 loss if you rested everyone for Wednesday and played the B team. Play your starters though, and you have to get a result against a team like Cincinnati. I've been all in on CCL, but I'm out now. No starter should play on Wednesday. They have no chance of getting a result, and all you're going to do is keep your players tired for the game next weekend.
Frank de Boer on criticisms and how it may be weighing on him: They were a little bit spoiled with the results last season. Everybody expected and that also normal. But everybody also saw what happened with Toronto when they played champions league last season. 1/2 #ATLUTD— Eric Quintana (@EricQuintanaTF) March 11, 2019 TFC made it to the finals of CCL and lost on penalties. They also eliminated America and Tigres.
Will offer more thoughts tomorrow but here's what stands out - 10 shots. Just 10 shots and only 4 on target at home against a team not expected to make the postseason. Can't do that and expect to win often.
I'll uy that- I was listing there things that are part of what's different now about the team. I certainly have no problem with Miles so far.
Every game makes me more convinced that whatever happens when Escobar is healthy, Robinson will be staying in the starting 11.
Not sure where you got that from. He hasn't been lighting it up or anything, but he certainly doesn't give the ball away freely or ball watch or anything egregious. And he's much more athletic than Ambrose. "Serviceable," but started the MLS Cup Final 3 months ago and won it. Parkhurst is a little slow for a three-man back line, but he's the best positional defender on the team. Both Parkhurst and Larentowicz are also prime possession players, which perfectly fits with deBoer's tactical philosophy. Larentowicz is NOT a defender, though. He's a defensive midfielder that can fill in on the back line in a pinch. I know most Atlanta fans are relatively new to the league, but you've got to understand that the salary cap is the only reason we have a league at all. I started with this league in '94, and after the first year survival was very much in doubt. There was a time -- and not very long ago -- when Major League Lacrosse and the WNBA were major competitors. While Seattle, Atlanta, Kansas City, and several others could afford to significantly raise the salary cap, teams like Chicago, Dallas, Columbus, etc. would fold almost immediately. That would be bad for the league. I agree, the cap structure needs to be simplified, and the overall ability to spend needs to be raised. But going full Major League Baseball and dropping the cap entirely would be disastrous. Also, even if we look terrible between now and summer, I wholeheartedly disagree with firing a coach halfway into his first season. At least give him two home games before we start calling for his head.
Great post... and someone needs to explain the MLS caps and consequences once in a while. Nothing is as simple as it seems. Thank you SabreKhan.