Atlanta United took the field in cold and damp conditions against FC Dallas for their preseason finale ahead of the 2025 season. To get as many players a chance to play meaningful minutes, the teams agreed to play 3 periods of 45 minutes. With news coming late in the week that Latte Lath had been granted his work visa, fans waited eagerly to see the debut of Atlanta’s new DP striker.
First 45
Atlanta United took the field with what could be their opening day starting line-up. With Brooks Lennon, Stian Gregersen, and Pedro Amador recovering from injuries, Ronald Hernandez and Matthew Edwards slotted in on either side of Derrick Williams and Luis Abram to form the team’s defense. Klich and Slisz lined up as the midfield tandem behind Saba, Miranchuk, and Miguel Almiron from left to right. Jamal Thiare started at center forward and Brad Guzan retained his spot in goal.
Dallas was determined to press high and hard with a lot of physicality. Past Atlanta teams may have struggled with this but this group’s desire to play quickly, intentionally, and vertically was able to create several early goalscoring chances including a 12th-minute goal by Saba Lobjanidze. That goal began with a cross-field switch by Almiron to Hernandez who quickly pressed upfield to create a shot for Saba and then fought to immediately reclaim the ball to set up the goal-scoring second attempt. The partnership between Saba and Hernandez looked dangerous and could lead to a lot of goals this season
Overall, Hernandez and Matthew Edwards looked fantastic. Hernandez was vocal and mobile, acting like a leader on the field. Edwards was dominant in the quick counter-press, winning at least 3 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and nearly creating a goal on a beautiful cross-field pass in the final 10 minutes.
The main takeaway from this group is the strength of positional partnerships and team defense this early in the season.
Second 45
The attack came out strong in the second period. Atlanta nearly added their second goal in the 55th minute when Almiron received a beautiful cross from Edwards and rocketed it off of the back corner of the goalpost. Minutes later, Saba doubled the lead with his second goal of the match. This goal came off of a blocked attempt by Miranchuk deflecting his way. Saba was an absolute menace today with his speed, positioning, and ability to work with teammates to create opportunities.
The rest of the period became an absolute clinic in backline offside traps for Atlanta’s defensive unit. I stopped counting after the 4th or 5th one but nearly every Dallas attack seemed to get shut down by the defensive group stepping forward. Despite a fluky set-piece howler by Guzan, the defense shut down a dangerous and relentless Dallas attack.
The most exciting moment came in the 75th minute as Almiron, Thiare, and Klich gave way for Edwin Mosquera, Jay Fortune, and the debut of Latte Lath. Latte Lath showed his remarkable speed and explosive quickness just a few minutes later when he nearly earned his first goal off of pressure that took him 1-on-1 against the Dallas keeper at the edge of the 6-yard box.
Closing 45
Latte Lath’s speed was on full display as he took the field with a new group for the final 45 minutes. Xande Silva and Edwin Mosquera lined up on either side of Luke Brennan who made his debut as the #10. Muymba and Fortune reprised their central midfield pairing in front of a backline of Dom Chong Qui, Noah Cobb, Gregersen, and Ronan Wynne.
This final period started fast with a chaotic energy and hard physicality. In addition to being blisteringly fast, Latte Lath is physically aggressive in how he challenges and sometimes destroys opponents. His best chance of the period came in the 109th minute when a turnover led to an open look for Brennan who dumped it off to Latte Lath who barely missed the top corner on a long curling attempt. That would be his last meaningful opportunity as Cayman Togashi replaced him after an impressive first 50 minutes of playing time for the Stripes.
Speed was on full display with impressive runs on both sides of the ball. In the 130th minute, Fortune started the counter on a Dallas corner kick attempt, finding Mosquera blazing up the left flank. Mosquera got in on goal after a long solo run and blasted the ball past the keeper for the match-winner.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was an impressive and appropriate end to what has been a highly competitive and exciting preseason. This team is going to score a lot of goals, press the ball down the field, smother their opponents when the ball turns over, communicate effectively, and use their strong depth to keep up consistency as player availability changes throughout the season.
The announcers on the broadcast made a shrewd observation when commenting on the strength of this team. When you have multiple players who could all start at the same position, they will push each other every day for opportunities and will make each other better as a result. After just a few weeks of preseason, this feels like a more complete and cohesive team than we have seen in several years.
Silly goals will happen like the two we conceded today, but those are flukes that can be learned from and overcome as this team matures together, and tightens up the sloppiness that you expect at the beginning of a season.
| Get Atlanta United training ground updates, audio and video content you won’t see anywhere else, Discord access, and more. Support us on Patreon and help support independent soccer coverage here in Atlanta! Click here to start a 7-day free trial. |
This write-up’s got me excited. LFG!!!
Have I mentioned I really like Fortune? Dude is becoming a baller. On most MLS teams he’d be a starter.
I completely agree and think he could be our starter again. We are very lucky to have strong depth in our central midfield with 5 players who could all be counted on to play at a high level. That gives us a lot of flexibility with call-ups, injuries, dips in form, and overall motivation through constant competition for minutes.
Having a fantastic talent like Fortune gives Adyn Torres and Cooper Sanchez more time to learn and grow with the 2s instead of having to sit on the bench for us.
I always look forward to your write ups, Grey.
I cannot wait for the starting front line to get more reps together. The polish/Eastern European midfield seems very in sync and solid. Even without everyone healthy, I’m very optimistic – which is something I haven’t been able to say in years.
A few standouts for me – Miranchuk seems much more comfortable slaloming through and around defenders. Saba just.. being Saba and giving 105% per usual.
This attack is going to be so much fun. The most captivating part of the 2017-2019 seasons was when the ball turned over and our attackers ran at the opposing goal. This team is built to do that at a blistering pace, while also being able to create goals in the normal build-up by overloading one side before flipping the field for an open look. Given how effective our counter-press and progression up the field have been so far this team will have one of the highest chance creation metrics we have ever seen for this club.
Miranchuk had a strong match on both sides of the ball. This was his most active and effective defensive performance for us so far. If he can effectively be a two-way player, that makes him so much more important and worth the purchase price.
This team has potential
Lots of good stuff today on a rainy, dreary day with a wet playing field. This attack is gonna be downright dominant at times.
I enjoyed the goals and near misses but really wanted to see the build up from the back and how Atl moved the possession across the mid-line. They handled it well. The 1st 45 showed dominance at every level, especially winning the ball back.
Gonna be fun when these players get to play actual games with Almiron and Latte Lath.
Wouldn’t be shocked to see ATL and Charlotte 1 and 2 in the East.