Atlanta United and New York Jersey Red Bulls don’t like each other very much. The games have historically been gritty, angry, and passionate, but the Red Bulls have definitely had the advantage in the regular season or, as Tito Villalba would tell anyone, in the games where the results don’t matter. In fact, it was just last year that Atlanta United finally bested the Red Bulls in a game that wasn’t a playoff match. The one thing they’ve never done, however, is won at Red Bull Arena. That streak was almost broken tonight thanks to an Edwin Mosquera wonder goal, but that scoreline was promptly pissed away just moments after. Here are the final whistle thoughts from up in Jersey!
Played into Red Bulls hand
It’s no secret how Red Bulls play. They run around a lot towards the ball, press high, and then stall the game whenever they don’t get their way or when they need a rest. It’s not a super secret formula, but it’s an effective one, much like a camper in Call of Duty or the shift in baseball. It’s also one that the Five Stripes have yet to truly figure out.
Luckily, Atlanta United was able to head into the half 1-1 after Alexey Miranchuk leveled the game off a penalty earned by Jamal Thiare. Prior to that, though, Atlanta struggled with the high press, as many teams do. They settled in after Red Bulls goal, which ultimately led to that penalty, but they appeared frantic and chaotic for much of the first half. That’s the Red Bulls’ game plan, and Atlanta played right into it. The team didn’t necessarily come out flat, they just struggled with being made uncomfortable.
Laying bodies on the line
For all the craziness that has been this Atlanta United season, no one can argue that the players aren’t laying their bodies on the line. It’s been some ugly football at times, and the injuries have followed suit. Knock on wood (do it, I mean it), the bruises that players have been taking over the last few matches haven’t been anything super serious, but there have been tons. Pedro Amador, Stian Gregersen, and Jamal Thiare – to name a few – have gone to war for the badge. It’d be nice if the results more often represented their struggles and pains in a positive light, but they physicality is definitely present.
Brad Guzan
I started typing this prior to THAT GOT DANG PENALTY SAVE, Y’ALL GOT WORKED BY THE WALL!
You just got to give the man some credit. For all the critiquing this team receives weekly, if we’re honest, Atlanta United would be much further down the standings if not for Brad bailing them out so often. Yeah, he had a rough time in 2022 and 2023 with the injuries, but the praise now needs to be as loud as the criticism then.
We can also fit Edwin Mosquera into that same category. This man walked into the game and scored an absolute banger to put Atlanta United ahead in stoppage time, just moments after the aforementioned Brady Guzan penalty save. Of course, in true Atlanta fashion, they gave up the tying goal shortly thereafter but whatever.
Anyway, let us know down below what you thought of the match!
I refuse to put Mosquera in the same category as Guzan in any context.
5-3-2 was a poor decision to start the game on, and you can see it when they switched back to a 4-3-3 (4-2-3-1?). Ball control still seems to be a weak point of this team. That and too many people on defense. Our defense doesn’t suck, but when we have too many bunched up it’s easy to say “oh that’s that person’s mark” and they give up goals.
Mosquera gets a lot of hate, and i’m one of those people, but sometimes he does shine through and tonight was one of those nights.
I’d add to that, RB are one of the few teams that consistently have our number for some reason and playing the same old formation and tactics every time we play them clearly doesn’t work. I thought it was brave (maybe risky even) to switch it up, but also one of those “crazy enough to work” ideas. It didn’t. But I think RV deserves his kudos for the day for 1) trying to adjust tactics depending on the game, and more importantly, 2) making adjustments at mid game when it was clear those tactics weren’t working. GP would never have considered either of those actions.
Ball control meaning being able to accept it, control it, and dribble it. It feels a lot like a bunch of 2 left feet people, not necessarily controlling the ball in the game.
When we were 5-3-2, RB’s had a ton of opportunities and were controlling the game completely. Then we switched it up and we started having options and movement. A back 5 puts 3 in the middle (which is more like 2) then 2 up front (which turns to 3 with Miranchuk) then you have the RB’s high press and you’re pushed back and bunched up. I’ve looked at a number of goals against us and they all seem to be when we’re bunched on the back line. We need to give our defenders space and let our midfield mark as needed but not bunch up and take up that space.