Atlanta United vs DC United Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta Saturday, Sept. 18, 3:30 PM Univision, TUDN MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United home page here. ATLUTD.com preview here. DCU home page here. Player Availability Atlanta OUT: Emerson Hyndman (torn ACL) OUT: Franco Ibarra (lower body) OUT: Ronald Hernandez (heath & safety protocol) OUT: Amar Sejdic (muscle) DCU OUT: Brendan Hines-Ike (hip) OUT: Adrian Perez (foot) OUT: Chris Odoi-Atsem (quad) QUESTIONABLE: Nigel Robertha (groin) QUESTIONABLE: Paul Arriola (hamstring) QUESTIONABLE: Bill Hamid (hamstring) QUESTIONABLE: Donovan Pines (foot)
So, time for the playoff push to get serious. Time to show Atlanta can beat more of those teams with whim they're battling for a post-season berth. DCU strolls into town a little up the standings and having pulled 7 out of 9 points since Atlanta pipped them in DC. After having tried to hit reset for the past 4 seasons DC has put together an overall decent side, if not one that's a threat to win the title. They like to press, they like to spread the field, and they'll play with fair abandon if at full strength. For both sides today it will be about keeping up momentum despite having played Wednesday. Will both teams try to go full strength from minute 1? CAN both teams go full strength from minute 1?
And we have our answer. Atlanta starts with Araujo on the bench, DCU with A team on the pitch. Hoping our ever-improving defense can shut down Kamara.
HT: 1-0 Atlanta gets the leads courtesy of a beautiful Barco free kick from outside the box. Hit the upper corner on his near side. Hamid had no chance. DCU getting some pressure down their left side. Parades has been threatening and causing Lennon and Campbell some issues. Atlanta a little weaker in attack compared to past two matches, both due to Araujo's absence and DCU playing a more aggressive defense. Atlanta's shot total reflects this at just 7 for the half, with only 2 on frame. Guzan with a great reaction save in the final minute, reaching his right paw out to keep a close range header from equalizing the match. Atlanta needs to tighten up the passing. Too many falling short in the middle of the pitch.
FT: 3-2 Martinez and Bello complete the scoring, with Bello's goal coming off some FANTASTIC work by Moreno to get into the box and through w defenders. Araujo came on in the 2nd and immediately put in w runs that were simply a level above anyone else on the field, and when he and Barco are on the pitch at the same time it's pretty electric. DC's first came from a snap-shot off a deflection that no one would have saved. That made it 2-1 at about the 75' mark. Their second came in extra time. Not a comprehensive win but a win. Luiz urged the crowd on and the whole team for on the stage to chant with the supporters after the match. One exception to that - Josef walked off the pitch but was with the trainers after the match. Hopefully just cramps, but we'll see. He came within the width of the post for goal #100 when his last shot hit the woodwork. Great feed from Luiz freed him and he rounded Hamid, just couldn't quite seal the deal.
Makes you think if Heinze has to be historically the worst coach ever in the league? Certainly, the worst ever for Atlanta.
You weren't around for Chivas USA, were you? Or the MetroStars. We tied a lot of games under Heinze, which is better than losing them. Definitely he wasn't good enough, but he was better than the worst ever for sure. Frikken' Moreno, man! He took that ball all by himself past the entire DC defense, and through the middle of them (not around like Araujo last game). And I still thought there was no chance at a goal, because nobody went with him. He was all alone in the offensive third. And then outta nowhere Bello shows up for the tap-in. And the Ezequiel Barco Free Kick Emporium is open for business for the third game in a row! And Martinez really should have had at least two, maybe three today. But one was enough. Defense could have stepped up quicker on DC's first goal, but I'm not sure what we could have done on their second except not let DC have the ball at all. Great win for the lads, and we are now officially above the line even accounting for other teams' games-in-hand!
13 match tenure, more losses than wins and draws combined (2-4-7)? And denying water to players? For sure the worst since the league's had since we've been in it.
Man, who else in the last five seasons has tried to kill the players thru overtraining AND didn't let them hydrate? Made it less than half a season before being sacked? Valentino won more games in fewer tries.
I have Heinze's record as 4 wins, 5 losses, and 8 draws across all competitions. That's one point per game (I know some of them were tournament games and no points were awarded). Not a great record. Not counting tournament games, he got .76ppg. 2020 Cincinnati FC (Jaap Stam) went 4-15-4 in the regular season for .7ppg. Stam is -- somehow -- still the coach in Cincy. 2018 Quakes (Mikael Stahre) went 4-21-9 in the regular season for .62ppg. Stahre's record was .71ppg when he was fired right before the end of the season; his record was 4-16-8. I really don't think Heinze would have lost his next 11 games in a row to match Stahre's mark. I get that denying players water breaks is a big issue, but realistically nobody actually suffered an injury from that. He benched Josef, but only for one game and he was still sort of gimpy then anyway. I'm not defending Heinze and I'm glad he's gone. I'm just saying that there are other suitors for the "Worst Coach EVAR!!111one!!!" award, even just since 2017. (For the record, I went back and looked, and my gut feeling that Chivas and MetroStars were indeed the Worst EVAR!!! was correct: the '99 MetroStars had 15 points for the entire season, and '05 Chivas had 18. There were DC United and Tampa Bay Mutiny years that were also approximately the same level of bad.)
Let's hope he remains forever the worst coach Atlanta ever knows. Nothing against him personally, mind you.
I really hope he goes on to be a world-class coach somewhere. He needs some more time as an assistant, though, I think. This weekend's game is a six-pointer. Philly is one point behind us with a game in hand. We really need at least one point from this Saturday. We then get a mid-week game against a Miami team with a full week of rest. Should get the home team bump for that one and get the win. Then the long trip to Canada to face a Montreal team that will probably be coming off two losses to Columbus and New England. If we don't look jet-lagged, that should be a win as well. I'm thinking we need at least six points from the next three games. I'd prefer to take three of those from Philadelphia since they have a game in hand.