Soccer is weird, man.
Somehow, some way, despite international duty absences, injuries, and outgoing transfers, Atlanta United (6-8-6) finds themselves riding a four match unbeaten run since assistant coach Rob Valentino took the reigns as interim manager back on June 3rd. On Saturday, bizarre finish or not, Atlanta found a victory in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first time in nearly three months.
The Five Stripes go again tonight with a chance to extend that run to five games as they visit Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to take on a 14th in the conference Revolution side. New England (6-11-1) had found a run of great form lately, but a collapsing 5-1 defeat to Columbus at home over the weekend put an abrupt end to a four match winning streak. As they were in the loss, the Revs will again be without key playmaker Carles Gil, sidelined with a lower leg injury.
Atlanta, while returning their Euro and Copa America players for this match, will begin adjusting to life post-Almada, their own star No. 10 on the verge of a massive transfer to Eagle Football Holdings. It’ll be interesting to see who steps up on either side to fill the voids that each lineup has in the attacking midfield. The absence of Jamal Thiare (luckily for Revolution goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic) will limit Atlanta’s striker depth to Daniel Rios and… yeah, Daniel Rios. Meanwhile, despite last match’s injury scare, defender Stian Gregersen will be good to go for this one after some minor leg cramping Saturday night.
Kickoff in Foxborough is set for a 7:45 PM ET start, with national television coverage coming on FS1 and FOX Deportes. Streaming is still available as usual on Apple TV, this time free with an Apple ID. Radio coverage is provided in English on 92.9 The Game and in Spanish on La Mejor.
Before then, head down to the match thread in the comments below to discuss the pre, during, and post-match action as Atlanta United attempt to quell the Revolution.
Atlanta Unitedโs Lineup:
New England Revolution’s Lineup:
How to Watch:
Venue: Gillette Field, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Kickoff Time: Wednesday, July 3rd; 7:45 PM ET
Available TV/Streaming: FS1, FOX Deportes, Apple TV (free with Apple ID)
Available Radio: 92.9 The Game, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
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Cmon let’s get another one.
I normally like to blame our uniforms for losses ( green or blue should not be in our palette . Try orange red yellow peach etc ) but I think I am slowly figuring out .. our dudes arenโt that great
Disappointed that we didn’t give Brennan a go.
(Verse 1)
Five Stripes weep, Mercedes mourns, a chorus filled with sighs,
The dream of glory fades away, before our very eyes.
Josef’s magic, lost to time, Almiron’s pace no more,
The boys in red who stormed the pitch, seem destined to explore
(Chorus)
Oh, Atlanta United, where did the magic go?
From champions’ throne to chasing games, a symphony of woe.
A title fight, a distant dream, the playoffs hang in doubt,
What ever happened to the nights, we screamed and danced and shouted out?
(Verse 2)
We built a fortress in the south, a place where legends rise,
Barco’s flair, Nagbe’s driving runs, and Tata’s fire in his eyes.
But transfers out and signings missed, have chipped away the core,
A team that danced with destiny, now struggles to win one more
(Chorus)
Oh, Atlanta United, where did the magic go?
From champions’ throne to chasing games, a symphony of woe.
A title fight, a distant dream, the playoffs hang in doubt,
What ever happened to the nights, we screamed and danced and shouted out?
(Bridge)
But somewhere deep within the soul, a flicker still remains,
Of golden goals and celebrations, etched in victory’s strains.
Perhaps a young star will emerge, a leader will be born,
To rewrite this Atlanta tale, a brighter future sworn
(Chorus)
Oh, Atlanta United, where did the magic go?
From champions’ throne to chasing games, a symphony of woe.
But hope remains, a flickering flame, a future we hold dear,
For nights like those, we’ll rise again, and chase away the fear
Chatgpt? this is amazing.
Interesting…pulling Williams for Wolff
Wow, from the replay shown it looked like we got away with one.
Why arenโt we trying some subs ? They canโt be worse than this
Silva is so lackadaisical with the ball.
We still havenโt scored 1 goal off a set piece
They look better, but not great that so much of our offense is just go out wide and desperate cross in.
Saba for muyumba โฆ how will that turn out ?
How do we create a counter attack, and itโs somehow 3 v 7?
Saba time!
I think it’s time to pull Rios… It probably has been time to pull him.
Do we get a trophy for most transfer money in a year ?
Supporters shield , golden boot , and the Beefy Checkbook
I wish
We turned into a team that prioritized bringing in talent to sell talent for a profit. If Garth doesnโt fire Boca and get rid of this culture, the fans will truly disappear. We support a team and our sportโฆ not a business that doesnโt care about the very people that enable their โbusinessโ.
Sad if this is really the case. Best fan base in all of MLS if not the US when it comes to soccer and you are killing it.
Itโs clear to me this has been their model. They took a winning team and decimated it for profit. Weโve been downhill since. Now that Garth is in, and weโre selling our best players mid season, he has only one shot to โshow his cardsโ. If he does the same thing as Boca and brings in young (foreign) talent, Iโll know this is what Arthur Blank wants from AU (a selling team)โฆ and Iโll find another team to support with my money if that happens.
Bocanegra doesn’t (and didn’t) set the culture and strategy. The guy in Lagerway’s seat does (and did). You can blame Boca all you want for the buying low and selling high of the glory years, but you’d be wrong.
Agree. Boca can be justifiable blamed for a lot of things, but that isn’t one of them.
F ing a Rios – you are trying to trap and put multiple touches on a ball inside the 18 ??!!
Rios is a statue of lead feet.
Two left lead feet.
A dummy to Rios is not ideal.
I do not look forward to watching this second half…
Iโm giving it 20 mins before NE scores again.
if we plan on scoring any goals in this match, I think we need to pull Fortune for Saba and move to a more 3-4-3 or even go more extreme and pull Abram and put in McCarty and switch to a 4-3-3
Iโd pull Muyumba. He looks slow and unimaginative. At least Fortune is creating something, however sloppily.
I wouldn’t really say taking 2 shots on goal as creating something
When no one else is looking dangerous, I would.
Iโd put in Firmino.
Fortune is the only one shooting.
Valentino really needs to work on movement off the ball and passing into spaces. We play direct passes to the foot and itโs so slow and predictable, all the other team has to do is hold their space and be patient. We are toothless in attack and with 1-2 defensive mistakes per game and we will start piling up Lโs real fast.
Wow, we look slow and sloppy.
Two very decent saves.
We should bring McCarty on and put Slisz up top.
Welpโฆ thatโs probably the nail the coffin with our current team and set-up. Play for pride and keep fighting, boys. Thatโs all we have left.
I’m tired of watching Guzan flop around like a rag doll….can we please move on from the dinosaur ๐ฆ
to be fair, that 2nd goal wasn’t really bad defense or bad Guzan. It was just a really good pass and volley
Iโd say the crosser wasnt closed down fast enough, and Gregersen/Guzan had a miscommunication.
Fortune shot that was saved goes in vs Guzan.
Gregersen lost his man on that one, IMHO. His first bad game, really.
Well, thatโll put us out of our misery.
We have 8 guys in the box , they have 4 โฆ and score
And great job by the only DP left on the roster
There goes the unbeaten streak.
I am currently thinking maybe Valentino is running this current line up in preparation for the US Open Cup match next Tuesday. Or we will have a few short term contracts for this Saturday against RSL, assuming we are actually trying to win the US Open Cup
Believe me, the team will try to win USOC. Valentino may end up with the manager’s job no matter what, but winning USOC will just about clinch that. Boca wants to win so he can brag about how he built the team that won USOC. Garth wants to get his first trophy. Plus, let’s be realistic here. Not really thinking we’re likely to make a run for MLS Cup or Leagues Cup this year.
Talking about USOC, the brackets are set for the rest of the tournament and if Atlanta United beats Indy 11, AU will definitely face an MLS team in the semi-finals.
whether we tie or lose tonight, Atlanta should definitely punt against RSL and just look ahead to Tuesday
This team just refuses to play direct. It is like they don’t think a goal is worthy unless it is against 7+ set defenders.
Nah..just keep feeding it to Lennon to bomb balls into their defense to clear it is the way!!!
/sarcasm
We really need to bring in a coach. Then players.
I just want to warn you that a lot of MLS insiders say the manager’s job is Rob Valentino’s to lose. One loss tonight to NE isn’t going to knock him out of the running. Don’t be surprised if you hear absolutely nothing about management bringing in anybody for an interview.
Blank won’t make the final call, but he LOVES for guys to be promoted into jobs they’ve never had before. OK, Rob V has been an interim manager in MLS before, but close enough to being brand new at the job.
Boca will absolutely love for a guy like Rob V with limited or no experience to get the job so he can keep getting players with little or no input from the manager.
Garth already basically said “We did the interim manager thing in Seattle and kept the guy on and it worked great!” so there you go.
Everyone is so sloppy and in each others space – I guess that is what you get when you sell good players and you have backups of backups in
Absolute 100% football terrorism.
Finally an early ball behind the defenders. Too bad the cross was bad and Rios is option.
For playing a 3-5-2 formation, I have never seen such a gap in the midfield. Without a DP striker and a DP midfielder to direct movement off the ball, this is the type of soccer we can expect until the end of the season. The cards are stacked against us on every facet. If we sell Wiley (who is actually a better offensive player than defender), we are throwing in the white towel.
I hope after this match, Atlanta would switch to a 3-4-3 formation, maybe a diamond 4. I think our current personnel would do better in a 3-4-3
I agree. I don’t think we play well with two strikers…
I don’t think we even have two strikers. No real ones, anyway.
I hope they change at the half!
100% percent. We need to sign some players to say the least. Thankfully, we have about 30 million to do so.
Also, this turf is terrible. Everybody is slipping and sliding
Everything is just so dull. The only person that has energy in attack is Wiley. Put in Saba and Brennen to inject some energy into our attack.
Agreed
Fortune has been not great as Attacking Mid. Just giving away too much drom poor touches. Would almost want to switch him with Muyumba.
Fortune has looked terrible so far. A lot of his passes have been very inaccurate or directly to a New England player
I would like to see Muyumba in a more attacking role.
Bro Rios how can you not get half decent contact?
Silva has been really disappointing to me lately. I just feel a decent chunk offensive opportunities just kind of die with him. Which doesn’t help when Rios up to where almost all offense dies with him.
Xande is a turnover machine
Come on โฆ
Williams got clipped.
Dang it.
Well, that was coming given how on the back foot the team has looked.
Very positive play from the beginning. I would prefer Morales to start over Abram but whatever…
And then it wasn’t.
But looked like he might have been off???
I feel like FS1 should have announcers a bit more proficient in the English language.
Exactly why I am switching to Apple even though it often lags.
Well certainly a factor…
Man I really don’t wanna watch on Apple cause it lags due to my poor internet, but FS1’s coverage is just trash.
I still haven’t renewed my Apple…. team hasn’t done much to drag me back into that yet. FS1 has been ok/great for the Euros….trash for Copa….MLS is meh. Meola was always a bigger guy but he looks like he’s put on a few too. Tony loose some weight buddy we need you around for a few decades more to counter Lalas!!!!
Less play football!!!!!!!
I totally agree, I really enjoy the euros coverge. Copa America coverage has been abysmal with delayed commentary and other things too. It’s weird, I recall in the pre-pandemic era, fox FS1 coverage being amazing. I’m not sure why it has dropped off.
So we are going with Abram, Williams, and Gregersen. Interesting to see Fortune playing the attacking midfielder role instead of Firmino. And I was correct that Saba starting on the bench, hopefully he is brought on around 55-60th min. Also finally not carrying two goalies
Fortune at AM is probably not a great idea. I also noticed not dressing 3 goalkeepers, which I think may be the first match under Rob V where that is true.
Feels very defensiveโฆ weโll see where the offense comes from
Saba canโt be too tired from the Euros.
i think i would rather see brennan start up top over rios. not predicting that, just my preference. firmino as the CAM.
Iโd rather see an actual traffic cone
I agree on 3 CBs. Probably a loss. Wonder who will step in for Almada tonight. Is Torres available?
NE can’t score and they will be missing their best player. I think we win this one 1-0.
Kiss of death, probably.
Sigh…I guess it was.
Firmino could be the person that gets the start or even Wolff. I think it will depend on what formation Valentino chooses to run
I think Torres is not available for any more MLS matches this season unless his contract status changes, meaning he’s moved onto the senior roster. He played twice in the USOC and that burns off his availability to be used this season under the MLS rules that allow MLS Next Pro players to get 4 day contracts with their MLS parent teams. Each player can sign four 4 day contracts but can only dress for 4 matches and can only play in 2 matches.
Whereโs thiare?
I think he is gonnna pull another sneak attack and hop on the plane to New England.
Apparently out with a shoulder injury?
well supposedly he was already dealing with a shoulder issue prior to the last match, but banged it up when he took a tumble into the sign during the last match
Jamal Thiarรฉ is expected to miss the next two-to-four weeks after suffering a right shoulder injury in the clubโs match against Toronto FC on Saturday. His rehabilitation process will determine his return to play timeline.
From https://www.atlutd.com/news/atlanta-united-availability-report-presented-by-piedmont-vs-new-england-revolution-gillette-stadium-july-03-2024
Well…that’s not optimal.
I am guessing we go 3 CBs again and Saba will come off the bench
Did Saba play a lot in the Euros? If not, iโm hoping he slots back in at the start.
No. He played like 10 min in one appearance. Had one shot he probably should’ve scored on. I will be glad to have him back.
I am just basing it off of the fact that Slisz did not play in his final match for Poland, but he also did not start in the first match back and coming on as a sub around the 60th min. So I am think the same will happen with Saba
While I think youโre right, I hope youโre wrong as Barto played more for Poland and we frankly didnโt need him as much as we need Saba