No intro/opening paragraph tonight. Let’s just get into it.
That was really bad
There’s no other way to describe it.
Atlanta United looked sloppy and disorganized essentially from the opening whistle. Misplaced passes, heavy touches, careless giveaways. Philly’s goal — which featured countless failed clearances by Atlanta and ultimately saw Quinn Sullivan unmarked in the middle of the box for the straight-forward finish. It’s amazing that this wasn’t at least 2-0 Philadelphia by halftime.
Simply put, when you’re 2-3-3 on the season, off to the worst start in club history, and just coming off a disappointing home stretch, you have to show some fight. Atlanta waited much too late to show a pulse in this one, and that was largely after Jovan Lukic was sent off in the 56th minute with his second yellow card. (By the way, Latte Lath was shown a yellow card and will miss next week against Orlando City due to accumulation. Fun!) It’s simply amazing that nine matches in, this team still hasn’t managed to put together a 90-minute effort.
(NOTE: While I was typing this, Tai Baribo, a second-half substitute, made it 3-0 on what was essentially a free header…with his team down to 10 men. I’ve got nothing.)
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Injuries upon injuries
Atlanta United finally looked as if it was close to getting back to a clean bill of health as Derrick Williams was the only player out due to a lingering hamstring injury.
That changed on Saturday as three (!) players failed to see the match out: Stian Gregersen, who just can’t stay healthy, was forced to exit in favor of Luis Abram before Tristan Muyumba suffered what appeared (on the broadcast, at least). Then, Noah Cobb had to leave in the second half after suffering an injury of his own.
The obvious hope is that all three are OK for next Saturday at Orlando City; we’ll get the word later this week at training. Needless to say, this group can ill afford another rash of injuries.
Ronny Deila got this lineup flat wrong
Saba Lobjanidze has been one of the few Atlanta players to show an all-out effort every single match. Even on his worst day, I can’t think of one time where I’ve come away saying to myself, “Man, Saba just didn’t look like he wanted to be out there tonight.”
For some reason, Ronny Deila opted to start the match with Saba on the bench, Miguel Almiron on the right, and Jay Fortune on the left wing. Let’s be clear: I love Jay Fortune and what he can bring to this team. I didn’t think I’d be writing about “Jay Fortune, left winger” tonight, though. Why not put Xande Silva or Edwin Mosquera there instead unless the two of them picked up a last-minute injury keeping them from playing?
I really want Deila to figure things out with this team. But experimenting and trying to fit square pegs into round holes won’t do it. Just an awful loss.
I’ve had numerous discussions with a buddy of mine over starting lineups, positionings, etc., but have come to the conclusion that none of that matters until this team, no matter who is in whatever position they’re assigned to, can figure out how to play together. Fortune at winger, goalkeeper or left back doesn’t matter. Xande as a CF or 8, doesn’t matter. Miggy and Miranchuk on the bench and we bring in some ATL2’s, doesn’t matter. If they can’t figure out how to pass, control and be aggressive with the ball on offense and stifle an attack on defense, none of this matters.
This isn’t a front office issue. This isn’t a sporting director issue. I could blame the coach as a scapegoat, but i’m not sure it’s his issue either. This team hasn’t figured out how to play together as a team. Sloppy passes (my dead grandma can pick out a player and pass it to them better than this last game), frequent giveaways (even the announcer said something to the effect that “another giveaway” was a common phrase used with AU), and just bad movement around the field.
Our 10’s can’t 10. Our wingers are too predictable and uneffective, our midfield can’t link up a good enough sequence to make us look dangerous and our defenders are having to control too much of the ball instead of getting it up field.
Let’s also not forget, we don’t have a ton of new faces in the starting 11 from last year. Miggy & Latte for the most part are the only ones. Klich when he starts, but if it is the typical Muyumba/Slisz midfield, saba/xande wing, miranchuk 10 and the lennon/cobb/gregerson/willians/amador back and Guzan in goal, not a whole lot has changed. Is miggy/LL really changing the course of the game? I don’t think so.
I would agree, however I think a LOT of what you are referring to falls under the coaching staff – they are the ones responsible for player discipline. Whether that’s understanding the #10 position, playing quickly against a hard press, finding the open player with a line-breaking pass (with enough weight that it’s not yet another giveaway), or shot-taking in the final 3rd that couldn’t be confused with a field goal.
Not scapegoating here, but Saturday was bad. Really really bad. I couldn’t even classify it under an off-night – it was just plain amateurish. The 2s would’ve curbstomped that squad. It is Deila and his staff who shoulders the responsibility for the performance on the pitch – the training should reflect it. Yet…on Saturday, i am embarrassed with how we played – no heart, no soul…no joy. The players looked bad from the first whistle and by the end of the 2nd half they were unrecognizable. To your point, there was ZERO discipline for both position and play – this, to me, is unacceptable from a coaching staff perspective.
It almost seems like he has lost the locker room already and that match was a clear message from the players. Either that, or his training instruction is either so vague or confusing the players just can’t get out of their own heads.
Like I said earlier, I agree with your points above but I just can easily and with a good conscience lay this on the coaching staff for that putrid hot garbage crap from Saturday.
Always a FMSTH and always a supporter….im just tired…
It’s wild whenever we look to break or get into the final third there is only ever one option in the box, nobody making runs to the end line, yet we still get killed in transition. Our guys never seem to be in the attack or defending either. It’s really strange.
I agree. It seems like no matter where on the field we lose possession, we’re at risk for a counter. It could be at the top of the opponent’s 18, and in 2-3 passes, the other team is crashing our penalty area. WTF?
Who are the top 3 players that need to be benched right now?
For me?
Slisz
Lennon
Alexey unless he played the 8
But but if you bench Lennon who will boom long looping crosses to the other team into the box and will let the other team score on their side of the field over and over again?
Not sold on benching Slisz (but not opposed to it either), but absolutely on Lennon – even during the warm ups, with no one guarding him, he consistently hits it a mile over everyone, or dribbles it across the ground to the two in the box (a tactic that rarely ever works in a match). Absolutely agree that given Miranchuk’s (lack of) speed, either he moves back to an 8, or becomes a second half sub at the 10.
Up until into the 2nd half last night, I thought we looked similar to circa 2017 – good talent a just do stupid shit in the back. But not being able to put ONE in the back of the net AND giving ONE up when we are a man up is just unacceptable when we have the skillset that we have on the pitch. And that is the primary difference between 2017 and 2025 (among other issues).
And why oh effing why do managers NOT play certain players in their strength position, and want to do it “their way”??? Miggy at the 10, Miranchuk at the 8, Saba out wide and ELL at the top proved successful against NY…we all see it so why can’t any of our managers (besides Tata and Valentino)????
I don’t know what is going on with this team on the pitch – it’s the same problems with different players and different leadership. Last night was one of the worst matches I’ve seen us play since we got thumped 5-1 by CHI in 2019…even then we at least scored ONE. We didn’t even look disjointed at times, we looked like a) we had NO idea how to play quickly out of the back against a hard press; b) no one knew where their teammates were and we must’ve given away possession 1000 times; and c) the players looked like they just did NOT want to be there and couldn’t be happier as when the final whistle blew.
The ONLY common thread that I can point to is how they are being coached – and I’m not a sky-is-falling fan, nor a [insert manager name]-out bandwagoner…but damn, this is not nuclear physics we are asking our coaches to figure out. Deila has made some good tactical adjustments at few times this season, so I KNOW he is not without awareness, but last night seemed like an absolute middle finger to him from the players. We had ZERO answers.
Leadership needs to seriously take a hard look at what exactly is going on in training and in the locker room – that performance along with our start this season should be the ‘pull the fire alarm’ moment for this club. We cannot keep doing this year over year….
I am a FMSTH and will always support this club…but good Lord they make it difficult to do so with matches/seasons like this..
This is the issue when we keep bringing in “proven coaches” in my mind. They’re so damn set in their systems and beliefs that they refuse to change. Deila is going to continue forcing us into bad line-ups in my mind because he believes firmly that he’s right and we’re all wrong.
You know, it’s funny – DeBoer tried to do it “his way” in 2019 until the players revolted and he capitulated…and OH HOLY of HOLY we started winning and playing somewhat fluidly. Then in 2020 he went back to his way and got whacked…
This is NOT difficult…
I’m going to be charitable for a moment and assume RD is competent and flexible. If that’s true, then this lineup must be the best one he see’s *on the practice fields*. That’s a really scary thought.
Way too many changes in lineup. How many matches have we played with the same lineup and consistent instructions to the players? Seems they are playing thinking way too much on how to play. (Just like GP’s teams) Who are our best players and what are their strengths? Let’s start there and add the supporting roles.
I was absolutely pissed when I saw the starting lineup and I hoped that I was wrong. Clearly I wasn’t. This is the most broken team I’ve ever seen.
Nobody knows what anybody is doing. Nobody has any chemistry with any other person on the team. There are a bunch of individual people running around with no formation and no idea of what to do.
Oh and by the way, we have no idea how to hit the goal. 12 shots and 3 on goal. Garbage.
70% possession and playing 40+ minutes with an extra man and Philadelphia did not look scared at all.
We could be the worst team in MLS right now…
Unfortunately – I think we are… and that just pisses me off.
I don’t think it’s even close…
MLS champs to fighting for Wooden Spoon. We pissed off some soccer gods along the line.
Embarrassing
I had friends over so I was coming in and out of the game when I saw Saba get subbed in. I proceeded to yell at the TV, “Why wasn’t Saba starting?!” This club, man…
Because we’re flaky on defense, we’re not going to win 1-0 matches, so we should just try to outscore our opponents. Turns out that Scandinavian coaches don’t necessarily produce defensively sound teams.
So move Almiron to the 10, Miranchuk to the 8, put Saba at RW, and Xande Silva at LW, and go for it. Oh, and start Cobb if he’s healthy.
Because whatever we’re doing right now is obviously the wrong answer. But at 10, at least Miggy has attacking intent, as opposed to Miranchuk’s…. “languid”… (some might say purposeless) style of play. And Saba and Silva are both live-wire wingers, so put them on the sides of the pitch where they feel most comfortable and get over the “inverted winger” orthodoxy.
I realize that this is not a perfectly assembled squad, but the manager isn’t helping matters at all. IMO, it’s already clear that Deila doesn’t know how to maximize the talent on this squad, so move on and find someone else.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but that was just a putrid performance tonight. Maybe Philly’s press was just that good, but I have no idea what our offensive identity is. And that’s unacceptable for a team with one of the highest payrolls in MLS.
100% agreed. Folks on this board have been begging for Miggy at 10 and Miranchuk at 8 for weeks now. The one time they did it, it really unlocked the attack. It’s not like we have a lockdown DM anyway, so I don’t think Miranchuk would even be a big downgrade there. But he’s just not fast/dynamic enough to be our 10. I don’t know how the staff can’t see this. Plus there’s really no downside since I don’t see how it gets much worse than what we saw today.
”Plus there’s really no downside since I don’t see how it gets much worse than what we saw today”. That’s how I felt until last nights match. It can get worse, much worse. Right now I’ve seen almost every team play and the news are not good.
We are in trouble. Infighting amongst the players on the field. Terrible body language at the first moment when something goes wrong. Some on the team have absolutely not bought in to what Delia is asking them to do. 9 games is enough to be on the same page and we are not even close.
Is it too soon to say the coach has lost the locker room?
Where is Garth to tell us how he has been successful everywhere he has been. And to remind us that “we are back, BABY!”?
Not too mention his wannabe justification of building a team of proven winners and coaches only to increase season ticket prices. I can’t tell that we have a coach with 17years worth of experience through these first 9 games in the least bit. Starting the end of May the 6 game road trip through July will be even more brutal this season at this rate in addition to our poor play at home.
I am a Founding Member. This season may be the end for me as a STH. Ticket price increase for this continuing decline?
I’d love someone in the media to put Garth on the spot. Hey SandS writers, if y’all get a chance, make him sweat!
Watch out. He is the smartest man in the room. He will tell you so.
I really thought this article was wrapped up nicely at
“No intro/opening paragraph tonight. Let’s just get into it.
/That was really bad/
There’s no other way to describe it.”
But then you wrote more and now I’m angrier than before, because I had already forgotten how annoyed I was to see Saba on the bench. I’ve never been this quick to call for a coach firing, but here we are. #DeilaOut
Considering the money we’ve spent to only get worse each year, it’s truly the lowest of lows being an Atlanta sports fan.
Atlanta United 2 is better than our 1st team. Cant get any lower than that. Just ridiculous and inexcusable. If they don’t figure something out soon, they could lose every fan they have ever had. Nobody is paying or spending time to watch this &h;t!
This team sucksss.
You know, I don’t really know what to say/do/think. I’m probably just going to go on with my weekend and week as normal and forget about this team. I’m glad relagation ain’t a thing cause we might be there right now.