Atlanta United got back to work Saturday night against a busy New England Revolution in front of a massive crowd of 67,727 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The vibes and atmosphere were fully hyped, and it didn’t take long to get everyone on their feet for the 2024 season with a fire national anthem and a tifo that was all Atlanta – a nod to the Fox Theatre.
Patience
While the identity was visible, Atlanta United seemed to spray the ball around with a bit more patience looking to cut open New England Revolution. We know Gonzalo Pineda’s side wants the ball, but they seemed content with not forcing anything too early, and both Stian Gregersen and Derrick Williams helped set the tempo. And speaking of those two, they made some outstanding recoveries and defensive actions – especially in the first thirty minutes.
That’s not to say Atlanta United were slow. When the moments arrived, they struck with a quickness and inevitably looked dangerous when attacking – even if it seemed a tad rusty at times. That’s the inevitable downside of an early two week break with new faces on the squad. But it was only because of the unpredictability of the beautiful game that more goals weren’t scored before Almada’s PK in first half stoppage.
As we’ve seen plenty of times before, though, once the Five Stripes smelled blood in the water and got the first goal, it turned into rapid, fast-paced attacking soccer. And it was beautiful.
A Dynamic Midfield
Regardless of the result, the midfield spine of Thiago Almada, Tristan Muyumba, and Bartosz Slisz were everywhere. Slisz and Muyumba found moments on both sides of the ball, and the two-week gap from the season opener until the home opener seemed to truly benefit their overall communication and chemistry. All three were involved in pressures that caused New England turnovers, and they all had moments doing the dirty work on both attack and defense.
This midfield was a far cry from prior seasons, and that’s meant in the best possible way. Credit to the front office for having the vision to fix an obvious weak spot and then executing well on the right moves. Honorable mention to the attack because…ya can’t win 3-0 4-1 and not get a shout. Giorgos Giakoumakis getting his first MLS hat trick was simply wonderful to watch.
And with that potent attack, it allowed Pineda to have the luxury of pulling Muyumba in the 79th minute and Slisz in the 84th, which is simply a statement to the chemistry of the squad. It’s been mentioned now for months, but the team really does seem to be gelling well and it’s nice to see the midfield being a net positive for the whole group.
The Benz Was a Proper Vibe
Just a shout out to the fans! The 17’s brought the energy, and a fully open Mercedes-Benz Stadium at an Atlanta United game is a thing of beauty. The place exploded on the goals, despite those bated-breath moments when penalties are taken. And two penalties in the home opener wasn’t on the bingo card, by the way.
Giakoumakis with the 60th minute header for his second and then a volley into the roof of the net for the third? Things of beauty, and dang did the roof blow on both of those.
The flags were waving, even the non-SG’s were getting wild, beer was flying, and it was just a good night to be an Atlanta United fan. Three points on the board and we move!
I’m going to take issue with your “even the non-SG’s were getting wild” comment. It’s not like we sit on our asses doing nothing every game. There was enough noise last night that I could barely hear the Supporters’ Section – even without a goal.
That’s fair! I was hurriedly writing this while quite literally surrounded by that noise (and even tweeted how even the 300 section was bringing the fire). But yeah, perhaps not worded greatly, but it was meant as a compliment to everyone else bringing the vibes. Trust me, when I’m not in the press box I almost always sit elsewhere outside of the SS and I know how fiery certain sections get
PLEASE CAN WE OPEN THE TOP SECTION OF THE BENZ MORE??? I remember in 2018 we would open it sooooo much and now we only do it like 3 games a year. What has happened? More attendence = more money more money = well better everything and plus there would be a better atmosphere. At times it felt like 2018 again.
Logistically I dunno why they don’t open it more often; I don’t know what the cost is compared to what they bring in. But I agree, I love the Benz when it’s fully open
The main reason they open up the third level, or don’t open the third level, is demand. If there was enough demand for tickets, they would open up the third deck every single game. I am pretty sure they are not averse to generating more revenue. If they could, they would.
Not arguing with you, but honestly we don’t know what the hell the criteria are for opening up the top deck and the team has never made it clear. Why do I say that? Well…
How many season tickets are sold? It must be under 45,000 since that’s approximately what the 2 lower sections hold. Yet there has been a waiting list for season tickets. Why? In theory, if they sell 45,000 season tickets and some guy wants to be 45,001 they should open up the top deck and start filling it up with season ticket holders. Yet they have never attempted to do so. So they have some kind of criteria for opening the upper deck, but we don’t know what it is.
I can’t figure it as well. Seems they don’t sell all the Season tickets, since even at 45k capacity people can still buy tickets for groups or individuals; not necessarily from re-sales, so they must leave a certain number of “open” seats for sale? Also, I wish they would publish actual attendance; there were quite a few of open seats. A true sell-out would be like the Chelsea-Newcastle game last summer or the AU cup game in 2018…
My thoughts from the stands:
Unfortunately, GOTW, will probably go to Toronto or Portland. Two incredible goals, specially Insigne’s.
But if GG doesn’t win Player of the Matchday we riot.
Yeah, in reference to number 2, the ref was definitely premature in calling the PK….which is such a funny thing to type considering how few PK’s Atlanta got last year. But you gotta let that play out for the next couple of seconds when it’s being bobbled around six inches from the goal line lol. Either way, it gave Almada the goal, which then helped make the decision to get GG on the next one, and that seemed to unlock Super GG, so it all worked out in the end.
I do feel bad for Saba though, he was close on so many occasions.
MoM was Giorgos, obviously, but Almada was great as well. Looked like a $30M player.
I think he looks like he’s trying to force the issue on being a $30M player. He had some unforced errors in addition to some beautiful moments.
Towards the end of the 2nd half when we were up multiple goals, most of the offense was looking for their own moment of brilliance. Can’t fault them for looking to grab another goal. There were a few instances where they took it themselves, but would have likely laid it off if the scoreline was different.
I thought he grew into the game nicely. He really is the spark that we need to drive at folks and create space and opportunities. Ultimately, I think he’s a far cry from Miggy, but he’s still better than most in the MLS