Atlanta United vs Nashville SC Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta Saturday, Apr. 18, 7:30 PM Apple TV MLS Match Preview AJC's United coverage ATLUTD.com Soccer with Doug Substack Gold home page Player Availability No suspensions. Injury lists here. Miggy out ~ 2 weeks. Team Form ATL (1-1-5) CHT 1-3 ATL (USOC) CHI 1-0 ATL ATL 1-3 CLB ATL 0-0 DCU NSC (5-1-1) CAM 0-1 NSC (CCC) CLT 1-2 NSC CHI 1-0 NSC NSC 5-0 ORL ~ The East-leading folks from Nash City come to Atlanta Saturday, continuing their extended road tour after notching a big win at the Estadio Azteca on Wednesday. Bolstered by a shellacking of Orlando a few weeks back, the Gold have the best goal differential in the conference thanks to the continued form of Sam Surridge, who has more goals (7) than all of Atlanta (6). Him, along with Hany Mukhtar (2 goals) and Christian Espinoza (2), demonstrate what it's like when an MLS team sees their DP selections deliver. With Miggy out, it will be interesting to see how Tata and the boys respond, given how often some of us have implied Almiron should come off the bench. Regardless, it's feeling like a match where Atlanta's best hope is that Nashville decides to rest key players after going all-in for the Champions Cup. Let's hope we ready.
I'm out of town for this one, but hopefully I'll get to watch it streaming. I'll have plenty of beer on hand just in case I do get to watch it. I'll need the beer, I think.
If Atlanta pulls this off and wins this game and the next, looking competent while they're at it, it's gonna ask a lot of questions on what to do when Miggy is healthy.
Jason Longshore just said Cooper could be a future USMNT player. Which, I'd love to see it, but maybe pump your breaks a little.
I think Tata should require Latte to make a set number of runs at goal per game, say 5 per half. Even if they are fruitless, at least maybe make the fullbacks have to guard against it.
FT: 0-2 We arrived to the stadium late yesterday, and I'd be lying if part of that wasn't a lack of urgency on our part since we expected Atlanta to get shellacked, I was curious to see if the side would look different without Miggy, however, and for a spell they did. First off, kudos to Hoyos for 2 (3?) very fine saves. Still nervy on his overall decision making and distribution, but his shot-stopping skills are looking better. Maybe it's because the Stripes' defense keeps giving him practice. ... Considering the level at which Nashville was playing, if you'd told me before that it would only end up 0-2 I likely would have been pleased, especially if one of those was a garbage time goal as Atlanta chased an equalizer. Just me being honest, but the fact that the hung around with the east leaders for 90' was a highlight for this low-bar of a season. The tone of the match was set very early when Najar fouled Galarza but didn't receive a warning, let alone a card. From there it was Russian roulette as to what did or didn't constitute a whistle, and it made the game ugly and disrupted the flow. From the supporters' end it sure looked like Lath was fouled in the build up to NSC's first goal, and on multiple occasions for either side we were all getting upset with the "this is a foul but that wasn't?!" nonsense. Again, not blaming the ref for the loss, but they definitely affected the match play. For Atlanta, I think we all accept the song will remain the same until the personnel change, literally or figuratively. Atlanta is fair at possession but s*** when it comes to being productive. Only 12 shots, just 4 of which were on target and all of those were weak. Muyumba continues to pause or go backward instead of advancing the ball, Sanchez keeps doubling up in defense at the wrong times, Lath drops in to help when he needs to stay up and provide a release, and no one on the team seems gung ho to make a diagonal run. Last year Atlanta was shut out 13 times in league play over 34 matches. Through 8 so far this season they've been shut out 5 times. The math speaks for itself. Until proven otherwise, the Lath and Almiron deals are huge albatrosses hanging around Atlanta's neck, destined to go down among the worst signings in MLS history. I wish it weren't so, but...
I saw something on scarves and spikes along the lines I was wondering if it would have been better for Atlanta United to be relegated (assuming contracts have relegation clauses built into them.) Probably not, but maybe it would make it easier to rebuild.