New England Revolution vs. Atlanta United FC Gillette Stadium — Foxborough, MA April 13 - 7:30 PM ET Fox Sports Southeast MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United page here. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - Atlanta United, that team you love but have probably happily set aside for the past two weeks, actually has a game this weekend! Maybe the boys believe again! Maybe the rest and extra time together has helped them see the light! Maybe MLS simlpy needed an even number of teams for Saturday's match ups! Whatever the reason, the Five Stripes are back in business! <Wayne>Game on!</Wayne> Saturday United travels to suburban Boston to take on the New England Revs. Any attendance boost the Revs may have hoped from hosting the defending MLS Cup champs has likely faded given the Stripes' lethargic form through 4 games, but it's safe to assume New England will see this, then, as a chance to kick Atlanta while they're down and secure points for their own welfare. The Revs are again struggling, having claimed just 4 points from 6 games. In their defense their losses have all come against teams in playoff position. (For what that's worth.) Their issue is similar to Atlanta's in that the Revs can't score, mustering just 5 goals thus far. Coach Freidel is apparently still struggling to find talent. Or use the talent he's got. Or prove able to stifle an opponent. Or win over fans. The revs do still have players like Juan Agudelo and newcomer Carles Gil, and they do have 1 more win than Atlanta, so no sense taking them for granted. For Atlanta the first note is concerning the roster. 4 players - Bello, Ambrose, Vasquez, and Kratz - are definitively out for this Saturday. Escobar is running but is questionable to start. Pity Martinez, meanwhile, may feature but his practice was limited these past two weeks while getting married. (Mazel tov, Gonzalo!) The AJC's Doug Roberson expects the team to stick with 4 at the back but with both Ambrose and Bello injured does that put Shea and Parkhurst into wingback roles or does it move Larentowicz into the D line? While the defensive injuries will force FdB's hands on that end of the line up Atlanta's biggest issue remains up front. Compared to last season Atlanta's offensive prowess has all but vanished: The team that led the league with 70 goals (more than 2 per game) has thus far mustered just 2 goals in 4 games! Total shots are down, shots on goal are way down... They've barely looked like the swift offensive side we knew last season. At least for the playoffs it was paired with a very stingy defense! Bottom line is that Atlanta needs to get their high priced ball handlers to produce more quality shot opportunities. They need to figure out how Barco, Tito, Gressel, etc. can better support Martinez so that last year's record breaking scorer can get back on track. Better still, they need to find a way for those guys to be better threats themselves. Early forecast suggests the coming rain will hit Boston Sunday, so no deluge for the Stripes this time. The weaker opponent helps. The rest and extra practice helps even more. Stripes win 2-1.
Can't set 'em aside. Won't set 'em aside. Proud to have a club and I'll be proud even if we don't win a game. I'll go with 1-2, Revs. It bugs me to watch a TV game played on that striped rug, and I can't help but think it affects the way opponents play there in some way. I've been wrong before, tho.
Atlanta lineup showing a 4-2-3-1, more in line with what pundits and fans have suggested. So can't blame anything tonight FdB being to stubborn. Also, no Pity Martinez OR Eziquiel Barco. So basically an attempt to play counter attacking ball like they did in the playoffs.
HT: NER 0-1 ATL Atlanta knew they needed to be more productive on offense and they're executing today. 8 shots in the half, 3 on goal, plus at least 3 other threatening opportunities. Players look fresh for a change and it's bearing fruit.
Barco is looking lively. FdB made right move there. (Hope Remedi recovers soon, BTW) Glad Gressel has seemingly looked fair after his little knock. Need to clean up the long passes, tho. Had by my count 7 unforced giveaways.
FT: NER 0-2 ATL Probably should been more but am most satisfied with the overall performance. Aggressive, dedicated... More like the team from last season. On to the next.
Martinez didn't score but got into good positions and created threats that affected the NER defensive shape. His goals will come. Barco the super sub today, looking very much like Almiron in changing the pace of the game. he does that more regularly and we'll get excited about his signing again. Villalba and Gressel looking like last year's edition. Tito a great assist and some quality chances, Gressel with several great lead passes and a couple shots himself. Tonight their work with Martinez was nearly perfect. Defense held strong but still needs some polish in the longer passes from the back. Overall a great performance. 3 points duly earned, the team form looked a lot like what we remember, and surely the lads will be enthused to keep this going. Faith restored.
That could easily have been 5-1. Good show, especially on the road. The boys took their foot off the gas late, but I'll happily take 3 points on the road. Barco finally looked pretty useful most of the game. Brek had a good game, I thought. Robinson, as usual, looked world class.
Bless you brother. I can't believe we didn't score more last night. I thought even Brek Shea (is that a shampoo scented with lilac) looked good.
Big win. And Barco was more than useful. Josef can't complain about last nights service. His goals will come.
I admit to some concerns here. If Remedi doesn't get hurt, it's a while longer before Barco comes on. We were dominating play, but it was him who scored. And New England sucks.
There shouldn't have been such calls to begin with, I say, but there remained to be seen how closely the team could resemble the machine we saw last year? Could Frank and players learn to work as a team? Or better still, as a contending team? Last night proved they could, suggesting the early struggles were more due to fatigue and everyone learning each other.
Glad to hear. When I run into non soccer friends they all echo the question they hear on sports radio... "When are we going to get rid of Frank de Boer?". To which I have to reply "WTF are you talking about? We are 4 games into the season". I watched the game again, while Josef didn't score I was very pleased at his performance. He held the ball when needed and then laid off some really nice passes to teammates that should have scored. His goals will come, but I like what I saw. Parky looked good a RB. Miles Robinson is a rock. Joe Biden agrees with Yoss, Brek's shampoo is scented with lavender.