Atlanta United is back! The Five Stripes traveled north on I-75 for the Noah Cobb derby against Chattanooga FC, looking to kick start their first preseason under new head coach Ronny Deila. Finley Stadium is always a phenomenal venue to enjoy the beautiful game, and has already played host to some massive moments in both club’s histories. This cool Saturday was no different, though maybe slightly muted, as Atlanta United fell 2-1 against Chattanooga FC. Here are the final whistle thoughts!
Double pivot
We know the preseason isn’t so much about the entire blueprint as it is how each room is laid out, and the midfield “room” in this one consisted of Mateusz Klich and Tristan Muyumba playing in tandem. Muyumba was very involved in dropping back deep, almost as a third center back at times, while Klich roamed all over the midfield. At times the roles would reverse, but the discipline of the two seemed strong.
Traditionally, Ronny Deila has implemented a steadfast pivot in his various midfields over the years, so it’s no surprise that this was one of the first aspects of his coaching that stood out. In the second half, this switched to a midfield consisting of Slisz and Fortune in that pivot, with Reilly essentially taking Miranchuk’s spot higher up the pitch. This particular trio performed well, causing a bit more chaos which allowed the pressure to be taken off Atlanta’s wings.
Individual performances
As much as I would love every match to result in Atlanta United scoring a touchdown, soccer is a more refined game and offseason rust is a real thing. Not every player is going to be at the same fitness level, nor are they going to all be quite as polished as they’d like. Some players seemed to struggle while others had some incredibly strong showings.
Ultimately, Noah Cobb, Luke Brennan, Luis Abram, Brad Guzan, Ronan Wynne, Saba Lobjanidze, Will Reilly, Cayman Togashi, Efrain Morales, and Ronald Hernandez all stood out, in my opinion, as having solid matches. I thought Miranchuk and Silva seemed off, while everyone else appeared to play right where I’d expect.
Of course, opinions are like a certain body part, everybody has one, and being the first game of the preseason, I take all of what I saw with the most minute grain of salt. That Wynne goal was at a perfect time, though, as it gave the fans something to celebrate for a few moments until the game was leveled at 1-1 in the 82nd minute.
What I did like to see, though, was the discipline amongst all of the players. Even when Silva had a tough touch, or Miranchuk sent a wayward cross, they shook it all off and did well in their duels and positioning with their fellow teammates. To me, that’s much more important at this stage.
Happy to be back!
It’s just nice to be watching Atlanta United again! One of my favorite parts of the season is seeing all of the fans returning to the stands, greeting each other for the first time in a couple of months and holding on to that palpable excitement of what’s to come. Chattanooga is as good a place as any to kick off a preseason, as it’s already full of lore between the two teams, and today was no different. With a few more signings hopefully in the works, today was more a day of enjoying footy than providing some sense of deep analysis of the team.
Let us know below what y’all thought of the match!
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Other than to let Deila know who is willing to put forth effort, the match probably didn’t give him a lot in insight to the squad. It was obvious that the combinations that were used hadn’t played together very much in practice (if at all), and it seemed like everyone (other than Saba and a few others) were out of shape. Hopefully, there will be some serious improvement before the match in Birmingham.
My initial reaction is simply this… both clubs have made a huge mistake by not having CFC become a part of the Atlanta United team… Chattanooga is close enough for the the 2nd team to be based here and let’s be honest, nobody likes to cheer for any “2” team… fans would love to be able to watch their Blues grow into 5 stripes
Actually, for those families (and fans) who can’t afford tickets at MBS, the 2s offer a real bargain (season tickets for around $130 with free parking next to the stadium). The real mistake was switching to MLS Next instead of staying with USL Championship.
I’m a Rowdies fan so it’s good for me to not have to root against the 2’s.
My biggest concern is Cohen on goal. I have not seen anything that gives me confidence since he was brought here…
glad to see Slisz wearing 99!
Not that pre-season counts, but I think ‘that performance’ was exactly what our new coach needed to see… the typical AU switch off mentality after scoring a goal, some key individual mistakes on defense that resulted in 2 goals, and lack of offensive chemistry in the final 1/3. I was happy to see some of the overlaps in the mid-field though. Morales was the weak spot today. We’ll see how things progress next game, but yeah… a LOT of work to do. Pre-season or not, losing to a Tier 2 team still sucks.