THE BENZ IS OURS! On Sunday, Atlanta United will play its first match in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. This will be a huge story line for multiple reasons, which I'll outline later. The Five Stripes will host Dallas, a team many pegged as an MLS Cup contender at the start of the season, but is on a seven-game winless streak. FCD will surely want to breakthrough with a win, and a new environment for Atlanta may put both teams on more neutral footing. Dallas won the Supporters Shield last year with 60 points and only 40 goals conceded. They currently have 34 points and have conceded 35 goals through 26 matches. This is a big drop-off for a squad many thought to be the class of MLS and with a coach some wanted to manage the US national team. Atlanta's offense has gone amiss since July. After a four-goal output against San Jose before the Gold Cup, United has scored five goals in five games. On top of that, Atlanta is on a four-game winless streak. If Atlanta is going to defeat Dallas on Sunday, the team will need to score more than one goal. Here are a couple of things to look for as we play the first match in MBS: Field size: the size of the field at Mercedes-Benz is about five yards wider than at Bobby Dodd. Field surface: going from grass to turf, United will have to adjust to the new surface. That said, Atlanta has already played five matches on turf, with a 1-3-1 (WDL) record and 10 goals scored. Stadium atmosphere: obviously, Bobby Dodd was an intimate, retro venue with fans right on top of the action. Now, a mega stadium is being sized down for soccer and a roof is over top. How will the size of the stadium, the proximity of the fans, the curtained-off upper deck, roof, and other features affect the fan atmosphere and game on the pitch? The moment: Atlanta lost its opening match 1-2 to NY Red Bulls but the team was buzzing for about 55 minutes. Will the team be able to capture the moment and take all three points or will it fizzle at the end? From MLS: Atlanta United Suspended: None Suspended next yellow card: MF Jeff Larentowicz International duty: None Injury Report: OUT — GK Alec Kann (left quad injury); QUESTIONABLE — FW Kenwyne Jones (knee inflammation), DF Mark Bloom (lower back injury) FC Dallas Suspended: MF Jacori Hayes (red card suspension) Suspended next yellow card: None International duty: None On Loan: DF Walker Hume (Orange County), DF Anibal Chala (LDU Quito), FW Adonijah Reid (Ottawa Fury) Injury Report: None Referees Referee: Mark Geiger Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson (bench side), Brian Poeschel (far side) Fourth Official: Mark Kadlecik Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Robert Sibiga
For what it's worth: - Miguel Almiron featured in both of Paraguay's World Cup qualifiers over the international break, including the entire match of Tuesday's crucial 2-1 loss to Uruguay. No doubt he'll be jet lagged even if only a little. - Josef Martinez came on as an 82' sub in Venezuela's draw with Argentina. He was subbed off in the 55' of their earlier draw with Colombia. - Guzan minded the net in the USA's 1-1 draw with Honduras and looked fair doing it. The goal conceded wasn't his fault and he had a couple good saves. Not sure if any FCD players featured in WCQs over the break but as alluded the team is currently struggling much like Atlanta. Last week they let a lead slip and drew 2-2 with Red Bull's New York franchise. Los toros rojos have been playing well of late but a month ago that would've been pegged as a win for Dallas. With the chase for top spot in the west now heating up they'll be desperate to stay at least in the top two and earn that playoff bye. Dallas likes a possession game, as well, so this will be one of the few times Atlanta sees a mirror of themselves on the pitch. If FCD recovers their early season form it could be a very tough affair for the home crowd. If AUFC scores first then the pressure will be on to actually HOLD the lead, if not build upon the same. I'm keyed up and can't wait to rock the Benz! Let's go United!!
Congratulations on your successful inaugural season and your beautiful new home. As Sporting Park was a breakthrough in soccer park design and fan experience, the Benz should be the benchmark for MLS teams to follow. Good luck on Sunday
What was the deal with the var on the penalty early? Only saw highlights and it looked like a very strange decision to overturn the PK.
That was an absolutely magical experience today. My hometown has a soccer club and it has a home. A true home. I thought the capacity for soccer was listed at 42,500, but 45,319 tickets were purchased to watch this new stadium open for Atlanta's soccer club. On top of that, the squad started this stressful run of matches with three points and a dominant performance almost start to finish. For the most part, ATL looked in control of the match and the tempo of play. It's good to get the win now, because it allows Tata to "rest" some guys on Wednesday and begin the roster rotation that will undoubtedly be needed throughout this month. It's also great that Josef deposited into his goal account. We will need him to be in form. My MOTM was Tito. Two assists and a lot of great play on the right and he worked well with both Miguel and Anton. THAT. WAS. AWESOME.
It was a good day. Sun shone a bit brighter, birds sang a bit louder, two games up on everybody in the East, as many as four on some... we're going to be fine.
How was the sound? It seemed louder on TV than BD, but with more... reverb, like the network mics weren't up close and personal. I've been lol'ing at Facebook haters for a few weeks now. Always posting about the grass in their 25K max broom closets. "******** yo' grass. Come to the Falcons' lavish stadium, play on the Falcons' turf and get your ass beat in front of more people than you see at home over two matches... WDGAF what y'all think about turf OR having your own "home"
Also curious about the sound. Sometimes it seemed dead. Other times (like "Atlanta. United.") seemed pretty loud. Louder than Bobby Dodd? Or did the sound die as it does in the Cowboys' Jethrodome?
This, it was only loud during very certain cheers. Bobby Dodd has a much better atmosphere in my opinion though MBS is a better place to watch a game as a consumer (better food, better prices, better access, etc). Unfortunately I value a good atmosphere over the consumer experience because I can get the consumer experience at home in front of a TV.
Re: MBS Overall - Once you take into account all the design elements that are required of modern sports venues, like end-zone suites that dilute the common fans' experience, it's safe to say this is arguably as fine a stadium as Atlanta and the club could've received. It's a shame that some sections have compromised viewing angles but hopefully those won't be so bothersome to turn people off. Meanwhile the halo board and how they used it were amazing! Just, wow! Only two things that got to me: 1) Need to improve ventilation when the roof is closed so as to dilute the pyrotechnics smoke, and 2) I feel they'll someday need to add more toilets for the men's rooms. Maybe the pace of use will differ for Falcon's games and the line was moving fairly well, but at half time yesterday the line for the room near section 103 was 30 outside the door. Re: Sound at MBS - Domed stadiums will always have a "feast or famine" affect on the noise levels because while it will trap and reverberate most internal noises it's also keeping outside noise out. So at moments when the collective crowd is taking a breather there's less background noise filtering into the venue a la outdoor venues like Bobby Dodd. This effect can be amplified depending on the materials used, as well. - I think the shift in reverb is due to the shape of the venue compared to Bobby Dodd. It's both larger in the internal bowl and has a more uniform shape, meaning the echos (to me in the supporters end) came later but cleaner. Meant that on some chants by the time the full stadium got involved the chant tended to speed up. In time I think we'll get better at adapting. Re: The result - Great effort by the lads and I hope this is step 1 to making MBS a fortress! I'm quite fearful of the coming fixture congestion but maybe, maybe the sheer energy and momentum from the setting will carry them through. If they pull 12-15 points from this home stand that would be excellent. - It seemed they LOVED the ability to move the ball cleanly on the turf. Crisp passing was the order of the day and I loved watching it. Asad played wonderfully and his hustle led to 2 of the goals. Garza and Pirez also had outstanding matches. Those stretches in the 2nd half where the boys settled down and just retained possession did wonders for wearing FCD down. Still vulnerable on some plays and on occasion we had folks chasing the play way out of possession - Twice Walkes was bombing forward and then too tired to recover and Tito spent a lot of time on the left for a right sided player. But everyone worked their butt off and the faults were minor. Loved seeing the attack always having options. Just great, great, great stuff.
I agree I was also a bit disappointed in the overall sound and atmosphere. Other than a few cheers that the whole crowd got involved the sound was mostly subdued. Hell the loudest it got was when a group of fans watching the Falcons game around one of the bars out on the concourse cheered when I'm assuming the Falcons scored some points. One of the recent interviews mentioned they still had the option of installing some sort of sound reflection plates somewhere on the roof or somewhere up there but they were waiting until hosting a few events. Tweaking sound seems to be an option and it can take some professional sound engineers some serious time to figure that out but hopefully they will and it may possibly improve. I hated 95% of Bobby Dodd experience, but based on 1 game at MBS so far the sound and electricity in the air from the crowd was certainly better at BD for some reason and that really is one of the most important components for me and probably a lot of people. Martinez was about 1 ft offside. AR kept his flag down as he wasn't 100% sure as you should never put it up unless you are 100% sure. Before VAR, this would have stayed a PK and a yellow. VAR reviewed the play before the restart (PK) and informed the referee there was an offside during the APP (attacking phase of play) which negated what came after the offside (PK and yellow). If the yellow had been for a reckless challenge (or red for SFP) it would have stood but since it was for UB (breaking up a promising attack - tactical or professional foul in layman's terms) it was also rescinded. Good spot by the VAR. I could actually see he was off as my seats were almost perfectly in line with 2LD at the time. Unfortunate for ATL but this is what VAR is for - to help get the big game changing decisions correct.
MBS has nothing on Bobby Dodd. The supporters section is so far from the field. You literally cannot see the goal in front of you one bit. Save for the crowd celebrating, I had no idea whether Martinez or Garza scored. Color me disappointed.