Atlanta United’s search for stability has the 17’s struggling

Freakin’ sports, man. I’ve had thoughts about this article since Atlanta United kicked off their three match home stand against NYCFC a few weeks ago, and after that miraculous come-from-behind win I really hoped the Five Stripes were turning a corner. I’d have loved to write that article infinitely more than this one. The 1-1 draw against FC Dallas was frustrating, but acceptable IF Atlanta handled business against a struggling New England Revolution. Vibes could have been more positive. We all know how that turned out.

That means Atlanta United’s early season opportunity to tally some points before they hit a buzzsaw of away matches went up in smoke, right out the open roof of the Benz. 4 points out of 9 at home – in front of the largest soccer attendance in the U.S. every single week and with the talent the squad has – is unacceptable. It’s disappointing, and it pisses off the fans who spend their hard-earned money and time to make the atmosphere inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium one of the best in sports.

The problem is…the team doesn’t suck. At least on paper, anyway. The results definitely suck. But we’re not looking at a 2019-2021 FC Cincinnati here; it’s a group that has the likes of Miguel Almiron and Latte Lath, plus a smorgasbord of individuals who genuinely have lots to bring to the table. We’ve seen it! There’s young, hungry talent, players in their prime ages, and uber-exquisite, world class guys all on one roster. But is the problem the “smorgasbord of individuals” who aren’t showing they can play as one cohesive unit?

Since Saturday’s dreadful loss against New England Revolution, fans and pundits have thrown the blame at pretty much everything. I’m pretty sure I saw someone blaming Spike the dog – poor guy catching strays – and the roof being open (this requires more critical thought than blaming a canine, maybe something to this, will investigate). But ultimately, the responsibility always falls into three cups: the coach, the players, and the front office.

Of course, there is that fourth option, which is simply that soccer is a game that doesn’t always reward the team who created more chances and had better underlying numbers. The issue is, fans are sick and f$%^ing tired of hearing that at this point. It is a legitimate point, it really is…Atlanta United should have had 3 or 4 goals against New England, even without the robbed Miggy goal and the missed handball in the box. But “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” ran out a long time ago.

Now, the team finds itself on the back of a home stand that netted only 4 out of 9 points thanks to a very unlikely win against New York City – otherwise we’d be having a totally different conversation right now – and the worst start to a season in franchise history. So, going back to the cups, what changes, who’s responsible?

The easy answer is “Everyone is responsible.” When Ronny Deila arrived here, he told me he views every person at the club as part of the team that can elevate the players on the pitch. Kitchen staff, security, physios, groundskeepers, etc all have a part to play in his eyes. “If there’s a problem,” he said, comparing himself to a school principal, “and they can’t fix it amongst themselves, then they come to me.”

Coaching staff

As for Deila, he’s been presented with some very tough decisions going forward. His team is creating chances, and that’s definitely half the battle, but the hallmark of Atlanta’s season eight games in has been the inability to play 90 minutes of consistent football. Have they also been unlucky? Yeah. But I’ll use that old cliche: sometimes you have to make your own luck. Does Deila need to make a wholesale change? Play with a back three, or with two strikers (or both)? Does he need to make a statement by benching someone until they can get their head out of their rear end?

But as for him being the scapegoat, I’m not on that boat. I’ve watched this man at training rip into players for being too lax, or not putting forth the effort he requires. He quite literally told me the first time I spoke with him that the team needed to be more “assholes” this year – something we haven’t quite seen (though it has improved) – and that he expects mistakes, and for them to be corrected immediately.

Deila’s tactical changes in games have also done well to at least create more chances. Taking Saba off at the half to switch to three center backs helped stifle New England’s attack, and it led to more opportunities for Atlanta. His adjustments at and within the second half of the NYCFC match helped spur the unfathomable comeback.

So, back to the choices he’s presented with. Saba absolutely plays better on the right. On paper, that was supposed to be Almiron’s spot considering Miranchuk was the attacking midfielder and because Saba could play the left. Eight games in, I don’t think anyone can argue that Saba is more effective on the right side, and Miranchuk – for the moments he’s had some success – still only has one goal to his name in 636 minutes played as the number 10. Miguel Almiron has mentioned, recently, that he is very comfortable at that 10 spot, which he played here and at Newcastle for a time until he was moved to the right flank. For Miggy’s part, I’d like to see him be more selfish. Exhibit number one, the disallowed goal vs New England.

Deila chose to start Miggy on the left with Saba on the right to keep Miranchuk central, but Miggy’s natural tendency to play centrally basically created an open void on the far left. Back to exhibit number one, Miggy’s disallowed goal came from the central-right side of the box. The decision then becomes, does Deila try Miranchuk at the left wing where he’s played some with his national team? Does he drop back to the central midfield position where he can focus more on controlling tempo and playing in the high profile attackers? Does he play as an almost second number 10 in a weird 4-2-2-2 with Miggy and in front of a more defensive pairing of the other midfielders? Or does he get benched? It’s not exactly an enviable position Deila finds himself in, coupled with the aforementioned mental hurdles this team has to overcome. And it isn’t just Miranchuk’s issue, either, but more on that later.

Players

Which brings us to the players cup of responsibility. Deila can’t score the goals. Every player on the pitch for any amount of the 90 minutes during a game can, though, and in my opinion it isn’t an individual talent problem. It’s the lack of cohesion and decision making in the final third. The squad is actually doing a solid job getting into the final third, and as said before, some of it is indeed luck. They’ve hit the woodwork 5 times this season already. Miranchuk leads the team in big chances created with five, followed by Saba Lobjanidze with four. A reminder here, a big chance is essentially one where the person ultimately taking the shot has a high probability of scoring.

At times, the main attackers get caught up at the top of the box trying to play tiki-taka passing to create what would essentially equate to a tap-in. The average shot distance for every player combined on Atlanta’s squad this year is 15.7 yards… almost three yards inside the box. For reference, the average in MLS is 18 yards. That being said, even if you take Atlanta’s main attackers, namely Latte Lath, Miguel Almiron, Alexey Miranchuk, and Saba Lobjanidze i.e. guys that all have the ability to place a ball well beyond the goalkeeper’s reach, that number still sits at 16.1 yards. This isn’t to say Atlanta needs to start going for golazos at every moment, but y’know…use the run game to open up the passing game. It’s so often that an attack goes to die at the top of the box that the team often resorts to sending in cross after cross to the back post, conveniently where no one wearing a Five Stripe kit is waiting. Getting closer to the goal to take shots is great, if it can be executed, but that’s not happening right now.

Besides that, when Atlanta has an opportunity to counter, the most likely result is player A passing the ball to player B in a place they weren’t expecting it, resulting in a turnover and both players throwing up their hands in frustration. We’ve all seen it. The chemistry just isn’t there right now, and there isn’t much of an excuse. Besides the international break, Atlanta has actually been very fortunate to have its main group of players together for consistent time.

Now, to be fair, on the defensive end of the ball we’ve seen less of the boneheaded mistakes that characterized the first few matches of the season. Brad Guzan and the defense would’ve had another clean sheet on Saturday if not for that pesky soft penalty and his friends. But the full product isn’t there yet, and a lot of that does, in fact, fall on the players. Midfielders have to control the tempo better during matches, it can’t be all-gas-no-brakes for 90 minutes. The wingers and wingbacks have to put in better crosses, and someone needs to crash the back post. The main attackers need to go on an adrenaline fueled, life-altering romp on a sketchy boat in Lake Lanier – or maybe just have a BBQ and play some D&D – to get on the same page with each other. GDI, if Saba isn’t the most chaotic good guy I’ve ever seen.

Front office

And that brings us to the front office’s cup of responsibility. Garth Lagerwey has essentially assembled an all-star team of folks who have some type of say in player signings. They all have proven track records, so is it simply that this team doesn’t have the right players? I personally don’t think so, though I do think the various personalities throughout the locker room, coupled with the multitude of changes Atlanta United has been through in the past calendar year, may have fostered some cliques. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you’re always going to have your good friends and better friends out of a large group of acquaintances, but if it’s getting in the way of developing into the team the front office wanted, something has to be broken down.

The decision to go after Miguel Almiron in the offseason made sense for a lot more reasons than simply him being a club legend. Lagerwey spoke about Miggy’s work ethic both on and off the field, and how in his experience, having a player like that would most certainly rub off on other players. The club legend part is a bonus. Chris Henderson spoke about having scouted Miggy back in his Seattle days before they moved the discovery rights down to Atlanta. Take all that away, and the Miggy signing still meant Atlanta was getting a proven Premier League winger and midfielder.

Latte Lath also made sense. The dude literally runs like Sonic the Hedgehog and has a knack for getting on the ball in dangerous spots, even when he probably has no business doing so. If he could get a little help in the box, he’d probably have 5 assists to go with those goals. Mateusz Klich is a proven midfielder who Lagerwey robbed from D.C. United and is essentially serving as a fourth Designated Player.

That brings us to Alexey Miranchuk again. After Thiago Almada was sold last summer, Giorgos Giakoumakis decided to go make a bit more money, and Gonzalo Pineda was fired, everyone was clamoring for a change that could save the season. Despite the somewhat slower pace Lagerwey self-admittedly works with, some folks are now saying Miranchuk’s summer acquisition was a panic signing. I can’t say I agree with that entirely, but as this point in time it does feel like the rest of the signings don’t categorically match up to what Miranchuk provides. And here’s the thing, no signing in soccer is a guarantee, just look at Marco Reus out at LA Galaxy or Xherdan Shaqiri at Chicago Fire.

Ultimately, I think the front office has built a team that can, and should be, playing far better than the sum of their parts. Is it flawed, and has there been a speed bump here and there? Absolutely. But the 11 players out on the pitch at any given time are far better than 11th in the East on 9 points in 8 games.

So what does Atlanta United do? The season isn’t a wash, we’re far from that. Some of MLS’ best teams are ones who decide to get hot at the end of the season. But this is Atlanta, and for better or worse, what happened in 2018 will always loom over the city as damn near one of the best seasons in sports this town has ever seen. Thus, it’ll always be the bar the club is reaching for. It’s no surprise fans are pissed to start the season this way after having such expectations, not to mention the roller coaster of emotional inconsistency that has been the past four years.

Does Deila have to make some hard decisions to bench some players and start others, or try a somewhat different set of tactics entirely? I think it has to be considered. Does the front office try to key in on a trade or acquisition of some kind? Maybe, but that’s easier said than done. Or do the players need to take some time to hash out whatever is keeping them from playing to their full potential? After hearing both Ronny Deila and Brooks Lennon talk about “everyone not blaming each other,” it lends a little credence – if not some speculation – that the lack of player chemistry is coming to a boiling point.

Whatever the answer, it needs to happen sooner than later. The miraculous playoff run in 2024 was a huge bump in goodwill after a tumultuous season, but we’re watching that goodwill fall away rapidly. The Five Stripes have to get it right. The city, the fans watching at home, the league, the players, the staff, and the 42000 who show up every week at the Benz all deserve better.