Best performance I've seen from AU. Granted it was against 10 men, but as I recall we lost to NYRB when we played nearly the entire game a man up.
Thoughts... Guzan - NR - was he even tested tonight? Gressel - 9 - I’ve been saying it. He belongs as a RB or RM only. In that spot, he cannot be tamed. Robinson - 7 - not much to do. I thought he gave away a penalty but he was lucky to not get the call which was an awesome save. LGP - 7 - was an offensive weapon for us. It seemed like he played more LB than Parkhurst. Parkhurst - 7 - not much to do tonight. Nagbe - 8.5 - okay, maybe it’s just because Atlanta is my team. But he’s the best American midfielder aside from Tyler Adams. He’s on a whole other level and has been playing very well. Emo - 8 - he started out kind of slow but he really grew into the game. I’m telling y’all, I think we might have a steal here. Lletget 2.0 Pereira - 7 - He demonstrated he’s still raw, but he’s young and should be in the picture. Josef - 10 - this is HIS team. He has really stepped up his leadership. Vasquez - 7 - I’m really glad he got the goal, but he was weak today, IMO. He’s got to get better on the ball and have a little more killer instinct in front of goal. Remedi - 7 - Came in and did what he was supposed to do. I’m glad that it seems like we have some midfield help now to give him some rest. Mo - 7.5 - I’m giving him a .5 bump because it was his debut and it was that kind of night. I was impressed from what I saw. I don’t know if he’s a starter yet but with all our injuries, it’s nice to know we have something in reserve. Pity - 6.5 - okay, I’m not just picking on Pity because I did think he worked harder than he normally does, but he still seems so out of sync from this team. Coincidence that we win 5-0 when the team doesn’t move around him? I think not. DeBoer - 9 - FdB gets all the credit tonight. He rotated the roster that’s depleted with injuries, but he put Gressel back on the right where he belongs. He also put Pity on the bench...where he belongs.
Not sure what happened with the red card. It happened on the opposite side of the field from my seat. Apparently there was some contact between the player and the ref. The 92.9 guys said it was pretty soft on the post game show. The fact that United only had 5 subs listed, and one of them was a guy who hasn't been on the team for 12 hours (and got in the game!) says it all. The squad is hurting. Still, it's good to see a 5-0 win. Here's hoping United keeps it going against DC this weekend.
To me, the red was justified. He clearly was posturing to the ref. Does that happen and players get away with it? Sure. But, it’s one of of those things, If I’m Wilmer Cabrera, I’m chewing out Elis in the locker room.
Elis kicked the ball at the linesman after he disagreed with a call. Yellow card. Then he got into the ref's grill and bumped him arguing the call. Red Card. It was probably a harsh punishment, but stupid is as stupid does.
Tough to gauge the value of these matches based on such an early red, but it was heartening to the see the Stripes so resolutely take advantage of the situation. Much better show compared to the debacle in Harrison. Bag the points, avoid injury, move forward.