Almiron and Picault are on the injury list today. Can we call up 6'5" Kovac from ATL2 to replace Fafa? No roster post yet, despite being late afternoon already.
Signing in late. Been an interesting pair of days for yours truly: Minor surgery yesterday, and my beloved Gunners clinching the Premiership today via Citeh's draw. I want to jump and yell and drink, but I can barely sit up! Alas. Dare I hope for another "W" today?
Hibbert Hernandez, Gregersen, Amador Baez, Fortune, Reilly, Galarza, Edwards Miranchuk, Lath Or something like that.
Listening in via 92.9, and at the moment the different lineup and formation appears to be costing the Stripes, as it's already 1-0 Orlando in the 8'.
We gave up an early goal last time. I think it's part of our strategy. We concede early, they take their foot off the gas, and we come back strong.
3-0 as Atlanta has more misadventures in their passing to the keeper. At this point, write off the match and save your good players/ playing for the weekend.
Alright, I'm gonna save myself some typing and will simply chime in once this is over. Will keep listening while I focus on more Arsenal stuff. If the Stripes provide a miraculous comeback, I wouldn't want to jinx it, anyway.
Yeah, turned out I was busy and wasn't able to play attention to the game. Looks like I didnt miss much. There goes the one chance to win something.
FT: 4-1 Atlanta had 16 shots, including 4 on frame, but the biggest crime was allowing 10 Orlando shots on goal. Oof. Will be curious to hear the story behind the lineup and how Tata thought the formation change was supposed to work. Probably just as well that the side has fewer distractions going forward. Let's just get through the weekend, do a minor roster move or two over the break, and begin building for '27.
It was interesting that we used a new formation (3 at the back) on a short rest. Also, a lot of rotation as well. That seems partly to blame.
The issue appears to be the combination of the two. If you know you're in a busy stretch and forced to rotate, you pick and choose where to slot in different players in a way that keeps the machine intact. 1-2 new names per match, trying to keep everyone else's roles and rhythm intact. (Especially when the machine has demonstrated limited capacity!) Going to a back 3/5 set up while also subbing in so many new faces, however, left Atlanta's midfield completely overwhelmed and had seemingly everyone trying to figure out who to cover, how to track runners, when to press, and so on. Both the radio crew and Doug, as well as the highlights, implied Orlando had oceans of space to make runs and passes.So, basically, an already fragile Atlanta defense was set aside for a completely untried model against a known high scoring team playing at home. Folly. At this point I'm really hoping Tata hasn't also jumped the shark a la Miggy.
Tata is doing better with this lump of clay than either of the previous coaches were doing. But it's mostly just mud. One more game until the summer window, and that against a struggling Columbus. I'll be happy if we score a goal. Well, maybe "happy" is the wrong word. Encouraged. Not-in-complete-despair.
I mostly listened on the radio last year, but I perceive improvement in passing in the middle instead of always progressing down the sides. I like that he has also shown some flexibility in playing the younger guys and subbing earlier. I think this is on the front office. (See Brooks Lennon a five year starter, under 30 right back hasn't signed with anybody else this year.) I would really like to have seen him run this team with Thiare.