FC Cincinnati vs Atlanta United TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH Saturday, Feb. 21, 4:45 PM Apple TV, FOX MLS Match Preview AJC's United coverage ATLUTD.com FCC Home page Player Availability Dominik Chong Qui out with a sprained MCL. No other injuries or suspensions noted 2025 Records FCC: 20-5-9 (2nd in East) ATL: 5-13-16 (14th in East) ~ Have you tried turning it off and back on again? Hey kids! Time to get your vocal chords in shape for yelling at the ref, er, I mean cheering on the Five Stripes once more! While we were all pleasantly distracted by American football, the Hawks trading away Trae Young, and the Braves getting - * checks names * - some players, United were busy with personnel moves, too. Welcome back, Tata Martino! Please save us from ourselves! In all seriousness, the club has arguably gotten the best option (back) as manager, and though the roster is mostly the same and we've yet to see an official game, reports are the players are heeding instruction and committed to executing a game plan. More importantly, this time the game plan might actually work, too! Tata has emphasized spacing and execution in his limited time with this squad, one that is regrettably much more raw than his first stint at the helm. But what that means in terms of ability might also be counterbalanced by role players doing their job and the team playing proper defense. It hasn't been lost on Tata that the team REALLY sucked at the back last year and many of those same players have returned, so we'll see if a variety of positioning schemes and guidance in communication can remedy United's team defending. All that youth, and no more Brad Guzan to chat 'em up. They'll learn a lot about their early progress right away traveling to face FCC, one of last year's better sides and a contender for honors again this year. Cincy have Evander and Kevin Denkey in attack, plus Matt Miazga and Miles Robinson at the back, providing quite the bookeneds to their lineup. On the bright side, Cincy will be returning from a midweek Champions Cup match in the Dominican Republic vs. mighty Universidad Organización y Método, so it's possible the Lions may be a little ragged. Or better tuned. We'll see. It's an early kickoff on national television, so let's hope the Stripes hold their own. Vamos Atlanta!
It's finally game week! We get Champions' League action most of the week as an appetizer, then actual real no-kidding MLS games on Saturday! Here's hoping Cincinnati (who likely won't play their A-lineup against a Dominican team) drinks the tap water in the DR and has a vicious stomach bug on Saturday.
Your first starting XI for the season: Lathe, Almiron Saba, Alzate, Jacob, Sanchez Baez, Berrocal, Minaj, Hernandez Hoyos Alexy is on the bench. So is Matt Edwards, who I hope gets to play a lot this year.
Apparently Cooper Sanchz is Atlanta's youngest MLS starter in club history. Turns 18 in about a month.
27' and Ramirez gets booked for his 2nd chop on Miggy. Sanchez and Jacob a bit rusty with their passes, but doing well otherwise.
38' and Atlanta gets that rarest of chances: the indirect free kick in the box. But it's in the deep corner and not conducive to a good shot
HT: 0-0 Compared to last year, and given the circumstances, Atlanta looked more composed and offered up fewer "WTF?!" moments. Now is where I hope Tata really makes a difference, using his acumen to see the team doesn't drop off in the 2nd half, if not actually improve.
I saw a couple of bad turn overs, but we were able to recover instead of leaving the goalkeeper in an impossible position. Now, let's survive the first fifteen minutes of the second half.
Nothing noted in the press that I saw ahead of the match. So take your pick: Match fitness, particular matchup, simply giving the kid a chance... We'll see what they say after.