Points were split on Sunday afternoon after the latest meeting between Atlanta United and the Philadelphia Union in a match that, if nothing else, dumped a tanker’s worth of fuel on the already apparent animosity that’s developed between the two Eastern Conference foes. Let’s take a crack at rating each Atlanta player’s performance, starting with yours truly and followed up by y’all’s own.
Starters
Brad Guzan: 7
Atlanta may have conceded multiple goals in a match for the first time this season, but you can’t put much of the blame on Brad. A couple of massive saves left both Union players and Atlanta fans equally stunned as Guzan’s resurgence year continues. An difficult one-on-one and an insanely placed volley won’t dock him too much here.
Brooks Lennon: 6
Brooks Lennon had a much quieter day than we’ve come to expect in the season so far. An uncustomary zero chances created for Brooks, and he didn’t have a lot of his trademark success from whipping in crosses from the right flank.
Noah Cobb: 6
Despite fielding a duo that gave most an uneasy feeling, it wasn’t a very active day at the back for Atlanta’s center backs. The 18 year old notched a couple blocks, clearances, and recoveries, but was unable to come away with the ball in his few duels. Stian Gregersen should be returning soon, but with Derrick Williams also sidelined for a few more weeks, Cobb should continue to feature in Gonzalo Pineda’s lineup.
Luis Abram: 6
A similar day to Cobb, but Abram was slightly more active, coming away with six clearances. If he was looking to jump Noah in the depth chart with a side by side comparison, I don’t think he did quite enough to accomplish that. Still, nothing drastically bad from the center back.
Caleb Wiley: 8
A statement performance from the 19 year old Homegrown, Caleb Wiley scored a BANGER from about 30 yards out for Atlanta’s second goal. Caleb also went 3/3 in tackles won, and made six recoveries, all while being active in attacking phases with five passes into Philadelphia’s third of the pitch. All around performance from the soon to be Olympian. Consider this an 8+.
Bartosz Slisz: 6
A decent day for Bartek, more specifically on the defensive side of the ball and helping the Five Stripes control the middle and limit Philadelphia from open play, resulting in those quiet center back performances I mentioned above. I’d make it a 7, but there were some moments where he was a bit too cautious in the attack, including one moment where he charged his shot power meter for a few too many seconds before being dispossessed. Have a hit, son!
Tristan Muyumba: 8
Muyumba was all over the place on Sunday, and in a very good way. Tristan showed up on both sides of the ball, getting four successful dribbles, four tackles won, and a whopping 13 recoveries. Muyumba had one shot on target, and two more from within the 18 that wound up blocked. Another big performance from him in a position that is all his own at this point.
Thiago Almada: 8
If you’d been asking for a more active Thiago Almada, here you go. The Argentine bagged an assist with a perfectly floated cross for Daniel Rios, and had numerous other scoring opportunities that were just too difficult to put away. Almada posted a 92% passing accuracy, seven chances created, and five shots as the focal point of Atlanta’s attack. If performances like this continue, we certainly won’t be hearing those complaints anymore.
Tyler Wolff: 4
It was another lackluster showing from Tyler Wolff, who was quiet on the left wing for his hour of play. Wolff had one shot get blocked, and was dispossessed a total of five times, not quite the creative spark needed to compliment Saba and Lennon on the right. If Xande Silva still can’t go next weekend, it’ll be interesting to see if Wolff retains his spot in the lineup.
Saba Lobjanizde: 7
On the opposite side of the field from Wolff, Saba was very involved over the course of the afternoon, getting into great positions and in an alternate timeline has at least a brace from it as a reward. Major moments include a game winning chance that unfortunately hit the post, a barely wide curling effort that could’ve contended for Goal of the Week (against Wiley’s) had it snuck into the top corner, and received credit for his ability to draw defenders on Atlanta’s first goal.
Daniel Rios: 7
Daniel Rios did the storied #19 kit proud, the latest in a lineage that includes Miguel Berry, Luis Araujo, and Edgar Castillo. Despite his short time in training and dealing with a minor injury that kept him sidelined, his debut and subsequent goal feels like he’s got the right mold to mirror Giorgos Giakoumakis’ style of play up top. The 6′-1″ striker proved to be a threat in the air, nearly getting full connection on a corner earlier on before going up between both of Philadelphia’s towering center backs to head home a perfect Almada cross. I’m a fan of what was seen Sunday as a late game sub option to grab a goal or defend a lead.
Subs
Edwin Mosquera: 5
Mosquera got credit for “assisting” (technically) Caleb Wiley’s wonder goal, only to turn around and assist Mikael Uhre and the Union in their first of the away side’s comeback. He made the effort to make up for it later though, with a great chance created for Saba near the end of the match that on another day was the match-winner. As someone who believes in second chances, you can’t be too hard on the guy.
Nick Firmino: 4
The last thing I remember Firmino doing was entering the game… which isn’t a great sign for a guy that played a third of the match. Then again, he was being asked to play out of position at striker with the team going from two goal lead to scrambling for a draw within minutes. Still, you would’ve at least liked to see something more from the 23 year old, especially with what we’ve seen from him off the bench in the past.
Community Player Ratings
And now, here’s what the SnS community has to say about Sunday’s performances:
Brad Guzan: 7.03
Brooks Lennon: 6.76
Noah Cobb: 6.79
Luis Abram: 6.76
Caleb Wiley: 8.07
Bartosz Slisz: 6.9
Tristan Muyumba: 7
Thiago Almada: 7.03
Saba Lobjandize: 7.21
Tyler Wolff: 4.57
Daniel Rios: 6.76
Subs
Edwin Mosquera: 4.59
Nick Firmino: 4.72
Gonzalo Pineda: 5.23
What I’d love to know is who practiced? Will GG play? What about Xande? Any info at all?
I was a Wolff fan last year, but he has not come along as expected. Maybe because Wiley is improving so much by comparison? Seemed like we were playing a man down.
Good observations and I mostly agree with these ratings. I might dock Muyumba a point as it seemed like he still made some suspect passes, but he’s a ball-winning machine out there and seems to be everywhere at all times. Even with his flaws, he’s a massive upgrade over the mids we’ve seen in the last few years.
I’d probably dock Mosquera a point as well. That pass that led to the goal was such a WTF moment. It wasn’t a great decision even if the pass is well struck. And it was a pretty poor pass that really put Guz into a tough spot.
Guzan continues to be the surprise of the season. it helps that our defense in the middle of the field is much improved, but he seems to be moving better and making a key stop or two each game (which he wasn’t doing consistently at all last year).
Almada played like our star CAM again. Hopefully, he’s knocked off the off-season rust and is ready to go on a tear. Also, I just love watching Saba play. It’s a shame he didn’t find the net on that late-game potential winner, but he’s been our most consistent high-performer this season. The fact we can move him to either wing, if needed, makes him that much more of an asset.
agreed, including docking muyumba and mosquera a bit. muyumba had a pretty solid match overall imo, but there were too many moments (especially getting forward) where he almost reminded me of barco…no plan, just dribble until you hit a deadend.
guz has definitely been a surprise but i do still find a bit of fault with him on the mosquera back-pass debacle. he knows he has an 18 yr old out there in front of him, and guz should have been screaming instructions as soon as the ball left mosquera’s feet. i’ve seen that kind of thing a couple of times before, where it looks like (because i can’t hear from 20 rows back, or on tv), that guz makes some assumptions with cobb instead of barking orders…like a captain and keeper and 39 yr old veteran should do.
that being said, he has also been better at distribution than i’ve ever seen him…even though i still get reeeeeally nervous whenever the ball touches his feet!
i too am encouraged by almada’s performance sunday. hoping he’s got his head cleared now. and saba…man i wish muyumba, slisz and others would just pick their head up a little more often to see the great (and usually unrewarded) runs that guy is making all match. there were a couple of times where a thru-ball would have put him 1 v 1, but nobody even looked his way.