The worst start in franchise history continues as Atlanta United extended its scoreless run to 343 minutes after a 3-0 defeat at Orlando City on Saturday.
With a record of 2-5-3 and nine points in four games, Atlanta remains 12th in the Eastern Conference.
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Head Coach Ronny Deila returned to the 4-2-3-1 that has become typical of Atlanta United lately. Saba Lobjanidze returned to the right side while Jamal Thiare took over at striker to replace a suspended Emmanuel Latte Lath. Mateusz Klich stepped in to replace injured Tristan Muyumba in midfield in front of a Luis Abram and Noah Cobb center back pairing.
The Five Stripes appeared to take a more passive approach to the game in the first half, not pressing as high and trying to hit on the counter a few times. This resulted in Orlando having the lion’s share of possession and creating more dangerous chances.
One such chance saw Luis Muriel drive into the box before being taken down by Bartosz Slisz. After a VAR review, Orlando City was awarded a penalty kick, which Muriel converted to give Orlando a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.
Things only went downhill from there as Alex Freeman doubled the lead in the 50th minute for his fourth goal of the season.
And Marco Pasalic put a bow on it with his long-range strike that nestled in the near post bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Terrible. Pathetic. Embarrassing. Take your pick of an adjective to describe Atlanta United’s season so far. The soccer looks bad with no signs that point toward a glimmer of hope that we’ll see an improvement soon.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments below.
This might not be a popular opinion, but those are like belly buttons. Everyone has one, some stick out more than others.
Delia needs to either bench Miggy for refusing to play on the wing and connect with Lennon, or admit he’s been playing him in the wrong position and move him to the 10. Put Miranchuck at the 8 or on the bench if Miggy moves to the 10.
Miggy has been very disappointing and reminds me of the hero ball that Araujo was playing – always moving to the middle and ignoring Lennon on the wing. Not that Lennon is great, but his work rate is, and Saba seems to be able to work with him. For whatever reason, it sure looks to my untrained eye that Miggy refuses to do so.
We are playing 10 v 11 out there mostly because of Miggy. Maybe even 9 v 11 in the offensive half because Miggy is taking Miranchuk out of play.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Luis Araujo couldn’t really play w/ Lennon either, and I know we all love to hate on LA but I saw him play w/ Flamengo a few months ago and he looked like a different player. Gonna give Miggy the benefit of the doubt here. He was begging for the ball on 1 play for sure in Philly and BL went for the cross instead.
A front 4 of Saba, Miggy and Xande + LL should be able to get you into the playoffs but now Xande is gone.
Neither Araujo nor Miggy wanted to ever pass to Lennon. Both want to move to the middle even though that isn’t their assigned position.
Sure, maybe there’s a good reason they were ignoring him, but the result was both played out of position and went hero-ball to the detriment of the team. Lennon and Saba seem to work well together; I don’t know near enough about soccer to understand why Miggy can’t seem to work with Brooks.
It does seem clear to me that Miggy should be at the 10, and that he has also decided that for himself. Delia lets him do it, even though it is against the role that he has assigned for him to play and he and Miranchuk just get in each other’s way as a result.
Hence, we have the disjointed and dysfunctional soccer we’ve seen. Something has to give; either Delia capitulates to Miggy and moves Mira back to the 8, or he benches Miggy until Miggy promises to play the position he’s asked to play. My guess is Miggy gets his way.
Two requests for the upcoming match this Saturday. Back to basics.
Win the ball in every 50/50 situationStop playing the ball out from the back. We can’t do it and constantly giving the ball away results in a significant % of our goals conceded.Guzan on the bench.Sorry, that’s three.
Thiare was mis-timing all of his header attempts.
If ever we needed proof, our performance and tactics(?) to date prove that acquiring the players and then acquiring the Manager is a ticket for disaster. Only one time did we do it right and hire the manager first (Tata), and ever since then the FO has been doing it backwards. While there still is time (and a window) to correct the problems (mostly), I am not optimistic. I hope that I am wrong, and I will renew my season tickets in any event.
As a heads up Nashville SC scored 7 goals in the match yesterday (04/26/25) against Chicago and ended up winning 7-2.
The answer to the question “Can it get any worse?” is always yes.
I was at the game, section 34. Great Stadium, 1st time there. ORL fans cool.
I thought they actually played much better than last week which was arguably the worst AUFC performance I have ever seen. Was a good game until the wheels fell off.
I watched Miranchuk off the ball a lot b/c I wanted to see if he was that bad (I pretty much missed all of last season b/c MLS Pass wasn’t free). Anyway he is and more. Completely invisible, doesn’t want to get involved, doesn’t want the ball. Just a training cone. Bench him.
Hope we get something for Spider Man b/c we need a left winger, I don’t know if RD just didn’t like they guy or what.
As for Mosquera I have a soft spot for him b/c he tries shit, but the 3rd time he went for that cross-field pass I was howling. Klich also better last night but btw him and Slisz maybe a bit too chaotic back there.
RD needs to figure this shit out quick.
I agree about the Orlando stadium. Love it. Been twice. Really like how close the seats are to the pitch. And that pitch!
If I’m Garth, my next action steps are:
1) fire Deila
2) make sure I add to my interview questions “what do you do when you can’t win games and generally just look bad” – if the answer isn’t “change something,” you’re not getting the job.
Half of our coaching history has been with guys who just refuse to experiment with their lineup and are willing to bury themselves and the team with an over-commitment to the “system” or whatever you want to call it. Recognize what you’re doing doesn’t work, eat a little bit of the pride sandwich, and make a change. At this point, you’re risking absolutely nothing.
I don’t think we’ve had a match where we didn’t try something new yet
At the beginning with the starting XI or after we’re down a goal or two and it becomes Fuck It, Let’s See What Happens time? I’ll admit we’re more fun when we’re down and fighting back, but it’s hard on the blood pressure — and standings.
The only relevant question in my mind is if it’s worth the pain by firing Deila right now and continuing our reputation as a franchise that is an awful place to come coach
I’m happy giving him or any coach a full year at the least. I know it takes time and patience for certain projects. What makes me mad about this situation is not having got rid of Pineda earlier when it was clear he wasn’t working, and not bringing in a coach earlier last year to start the rebuild process when it was clear 2024 was not going to win us anything. A coach in place at the end of last season to help with talent selection before buying Miranchuk and giving him time to evaluate our current squad before the off season would have greatly increased our chances this year.
My issue is that I don’t view 2025 as that much of a “project” vs 2024. Our starting line-up is principally the same and we’re significantly worse. We were not a bad team at the end of last year and yet we are un objectively a bad team right now.
Maybe that’s the difference and ultimately my growing opinion of the bigger issue. I have seen 2025 as a new project, one that the FO started working on since getting rid of Almada, giako, Wiley, Dax (retiring) and firing of Pineda mid 2024. They weren’t saving that season, but they did start the rebuilding for the 2025 project then.
But this idea that the FO is able to fit in any coach with the new acquisitions in a team that include the likes of Miranchuck playing alongside Miggy and klich without any input from said coach is arrogance from Garth and Chris. They should have hired the coach before rebuilding to get input from the guy tasked with making the pieces all work. Tata had that luxury, and that is the only reason I’m still giving Deila some grace (for now).
Now, I absolutely think Deila should be more flexible and doesn’t seem to be playing the team in its most suitable form IMO. But ultimately, the time wasting and ego of this FO has much to blame as well.
What, this FO has an ego? I have never heard the President say how successful he has been every where else. What ever happened to his timeline? I think when he came in he said it would be two or three windows until he got the roster where he wanted it. That was in 2022.
Rec. Hahaha. Exactly.
I’ve been stewing over a lot of similar thoughts.
I’d say my main contrasting opinion is that I don’t feel the loss of Giako, Almada, Wiley, and much less Dax is enough of a loss to require a new project rebuild.
The club should have been prepared to replace Almada. We’ve basically had a like for like replacement of Latte Lath for Giako. We arguably got an upgrade in Amador over Wiley. And then we replaced one veteran defensive midfielder another supposed upgrade in Klich.
It took half a year, but on top of Miranchuk (admittedly not an upgrade though I still dont think he’s been set up for success), we also now have Almiron.
So to say this is a whole new project also suggests to me that Pineda never had a chance, given we have like for like replacements or upgrades over key departures in 2024 and are worse.
Regardless of all of that, I completely agree that the sequencing of all these moves has been completely out of order. In hindsight, I think Garth should have given Boca the can much more quickly based simply on our lack of roster flexibility due to some bad contracts.
Then, whatever happens with Pineda, sure. Then we can get a new coach in to influence a rebuild. But the nuance of sequencing these moves is the main element of the post covid era that I still dont think we’ve learned from.
To me, the club will need to have a MASSIVE summer window to demonstrate that we are willing to put trust in a coach the same way we trusted in Tata the first 2 years.
Otherwise, Im not convinced it matters
how long Deila sticks around.
Edit: I do see how my clamoring for a big summer transfer window would align with your interpretation of a new project rebuild.
I guess Im mainly just expressing that I’m not sure the manager is the root cause of the issues (despite my cathartic release of gameday emotions that mat suggest otherwise).
Yikes. There is not just one single problem with this team unfortunately. I remember Deila saying in the beginning that he gives players room to take risks and make mistakes but his patience runs thin if they don’t learn from mistakes and improve – and he said he isn’t afraid to bench anyone (or something to that degree).
Well, I haven’t seen him come through with that promise yet.
Yeah, that’s all talk.
Seemed clear from the get go Deila was not the right guy and stated so. Personally I don’t see much track record of technical superiority. Which ok, these isn’t the most technical competitive league…the reason it is a bad fit is because of his demeanor. Lacks charisma, nurturing…some seemed to think because he’s a bit crusty somehow he’d tough guy the team into performance. That’s rarely how pros work. Sure, sometimes you need a bit of that in chemistry…but the guys who get the most mileage are mostly guys their players love and respect which is what makes the @33 chewings even more effective but who are more so adept at building confidence and recognizing nuance.
And none of that is to put it all on him. Plenty of roster gaps and skillsets that just don’t mesh well together. He’s just more so the opposite of what this team actually needed. But we are playing guys often who just aren’t good and some who are just terrible fits.
Regardless…the pattern continues. I’d said I’d give Deila and the club another chance but I’ll be focusing on other teams for the remainder of the season.
Don’t you mean Saba was on the left?
Like all of you, I was super excited at the beginning of this season. I thought Deila would be a good coach. I was wrong about everything. Deila has shown me nothing to believe in and most of our players don’t play with heart. Bench all the d@mn, lazy, overpaid players and start those that actually put in a true effort! This is beyond inexcusable and I’m so pissed off that our club is turning fans away at such a rapid pace!! GET YOUR $HIT TOGETHER or get the F out of the way!!
looking back is always easy, but I really had doubts about Delia’s ability to do something above the average. I didn’t follow NYCFC too closely during their MLS cup win but, the few times I saw them, I wasn’t really that impressed with their play. They did have a very good player in Rodrigues (I think) , a good keeper and also the little guy that still plays there but they never had like great performances. The preseason, to me, didn’t look that great but I kept hoping. I’m thinking that all the acquisitions were done prior to Delia’s hiring; right? So maybe he doesn’t know how to put the pieces together and don’t fit the way he wants to play (sound familiar?) This is too much like last year. I keep looking at our roster and we certainly compare well to other top teams but tactically we don’t. We seems to be outplayed for second balls, get caught out of position too many times, the ball transitions are way too slow and hate to say it, our goalkeeping doesn’t help.
Gross.
Garbage.
Disgusting.
Sloppy.
Embarrassing.
A lot of people need to get fired.
I watched on delay. Just finished.
When Atlanta was winning at the end last year, where was Lennon?
Edwards is soooo better.
Fortune is better than Klich.
Bench numchuks, Miggie to the 10.
Need a real 6.
Need another CB.
I was not a Mosquito fan early on, but he’s looking like our most dangerous winger.
If Mosquera is our most dangerous winger, we are genuinely terrible. Because Mosquera is a joke…typically lost, often errant…awful. I’d take Lennon any day and that’s saying something because in as much as I support him as a fan and would love to see him coming off the bench, too many gaps in his game.
This! Unfortunately, Edwin IS our most dangerous winger. And I hate his game. He has nothing but speed. But, at least the other team has to pay attention to him.
The team make up is terrible but deila not adjusting. FO talked about building the spine of the team but as is we dont have one. We could improve it like many fans clamoring for LL-9 miggy-10 mira-8 pick your deficient 6(i like fortune bc he has a future and a heart) and desperately need an anchor on the back line. I like how gregerson plays but is out too much and not sure is a leader. Cobb like fortune has heart and a future but not there yet as “the” guy. I hope the xande trade is really about the international spot more than the money to address Cb anchor…6 would be my next priority. Love guz but i think its time for him to back up our future keeper and let him go all out in tourni play and/or playoff again if we get there
Lennon is best when he’s free to roam up the right and in sync with his winger. When he’s all alone in no mans land all he can do is draw defenders in and then do a back pass. I’ve watched his play specifically over the last 2 years between 2023’s run and the 2024 run before he got hurt. Every time he’s allow to move up and get into the attack, the opposing teams struggle to mark. When he’s not, it’s predictable soccer. I do not believe Edwards is better, but he is an option.
I agree. A wing that is unpredictable and constantly cuts in doesn’t help a RB. You basically lose that entire side of the field. Part of why Almiron is beefed as a 10 IMO.
Agreed…if you’re going to play in a 4-2-3-1 those wingers & backs need to be in sync and know where each other are at all times. Miggy, for his faults, is a mid-midfielder, not a winger, and it’s literally clear to everyone who’s watched these games that that is the case. So that makes Lennon look bad because he can’t do much with that. Saba and Lennon vibe very well.
I think you are forgetting both starting CBs were hurt? Or at least one.
Lennon hurt not on the field.. Hmmm.. I wonder…
Not sure the hype on Lennon. Outside back that can’t defender…winger that can’t win a 1v1 on the dribble. Only thing he can do is bomb loooonnngggg loooppping crosses when open. I got 20 people out at the pick-up game park that can do that.
I was genuinely excited going into the start of the season and am so disappointed now. I’m beginning to think this group of players is just not very good at soccer, at least when they play together. And the tactics, such as they are, seem to only highlight our weaknesses. Damn.
This 100% has to be a reflection of the tactical approach by the coach. No way this group of players (remember, almost 80% of the starting 11 were the same team as last year that finalized a run to the playoffs) can’t figure out how to play together and turn their skill into something. No way at all.
I hate blaming the coach, it always feels like a scapegoat, but it has to be him. People playing the wrong positions (saba on the left, Klich/Slisz as dual 6’s, Mira as the 10…the data science teams have to be pulling out their hair because the data is likely saying the same thing), not having a style of play that mimics the strengths of the squad (we’re not a strong counter attack squad, at least from what I can see), and the combinations of people together just don’t make sense. The fans know it, the front office knows it, the commentators on the broadcast knows it, Parky in a podcast knows it, Dax and MLS360 know it and the only one questioning it all is Deila.
I’m not rocket scientist, but it doesn’t take one to figure out where the problem is.