Atlanta United vs Nashville SC Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta Saturday, Sept. 14, 7:30 PM Apple TV MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United coverage AUFC home page NSC home page Player Availability Reports here. Past Results Atlanta (8-7-12) CLT 0-1 ATL LAG 2-0 ATL ATL 0-0 Santos (LC) NSC (6-8-13) ORL 3-0 NSC NSC 0-2 ATX NER 1-1 NSC (LC) ~ The Stripes play a home match for the first time in a month. Two months if we're talking league play. Hoping I remember my way to the Benz. Apart from Ronaldo Hernandez the Stripes should be healthy, and hopefully energized after their good display in Charlotte. Allegedly sold out tonight, so maybe a night reminiscent of old days? Vamos Atlanta!
Can't really put my finger on why, but yeah, they've struggled. Meanwhile, Rios gets the nod up front today.. Fortune still in the first XI. Guessing in practice he comes good with Silva and Miranchuk. If he scores again tonight, I won't complain.
I would pull Lennon at halftime. He's been atrocious today. Left attackers open on both goals, has given the ball away a couple of times. And now Nashville's up 2-0 in the 39th. Correction: Muktar was offside. Still 1-0, and still not a good look from Lennon.
Atlanta has been garbage in the first half. Only a single shot on goal, despite a few good chances to shoot. Defense has been getting straight whipped. Nashville looks vulnerable, but I'm not sure Atlanta has the teeth to take advantage of it. 0.19 xG. Valentino interviewed for the head coaching job this week, apparently. As much as I love him, Atlanta needs a big name coach to right this ship.
HT: 1-0 Atlanta sleepwalking through the match so far. Nashville came out blazing and bossed the first several minutes, duly earning their goal. They've also done really well abusing Atlanta's midfield. The Silva - Amador connection wasn't working early, with a lot of people pointing fingers wondering who to cover. Atlanta has had some decent attacks, but nothing threatening. The final pass is lacking, and the crosses have been off. A lot of flashes of individual moves but struggling to put it all together. Still another half to play, tho.
Muktar's diving finally pays off with a goal in the 76th minute. 2-0 Nashville. Williams, Amador, and Gregerson just totally baffled on defense tonight. Atlanta is just unwatchable at this point.
FT: 2-0 Everything the team was at Charlotte, they were not tonight. Poor passing. No finishing. No cohesion in defense. In a word... * sigh*
We need to get Brek Shea back on the payroll. I don't care if we hire him to pick up plastic cups after the match and he turns them into eco-friendly hoodies. We were just a better team when he was in Atlanta.
The Five Stripe Final guys made a comment last night that I've been thinking for a while. This entire squad needs to go. There is something about the culture of the squad that is wrong, and no new player that comes in has been able to fix it. They eventually get "infected", and come down to the rest of the squad's level. It's been around so long that affects everyone, and it's getting to the point that only everyone leaving (maybe even Miranchuk, it could be too late) could finally reset that locker room and get it back to working order. There's been too many young players that don't develop (hell, was Almada any better when he was sold than when he arrived?), and too many older players that quickly decline, for this to just be happening. Something is very wrong with this squad, and it's a culture thing. Too many pundits, inside and outside of Atlanta, continuously say this squad has talent. If that's the case, and these are the results, then something else has to be the issue. 5 years of constantly under-performing and disappointment has destroyed this group of players. It is time to let them all go and start fresh. Or at least, as much as you can within MLS rules, and hope to god it's enough.
I don't know that'd I'd clean out completely, as that alone wouldn't guarantee the new side is better, let alone could gel effectively. Over my decades watching pro sports I'm not sure there's a formula for such successful "overnight" rebuilds, otherwise it would be more common. Inter Miami comes close, for MLS clubs, but they're operating on special (read: league aided) circumstances. But I agree, a lot of names do need to be turned over. Most critically, Atlanta needs an offensive target who will work well with Miranchuk and Saba if those two are to be happy and effective.