Atlanta United is off to its worst start in franchise history with a 2-5-3 record after 10 games of the 2025 MLS season, and a major contributor to that poor form is the team’s lack of goals.
Ironically, the Five Stripes have the most opulent attack in the league after supplementing the reportedly $13 million summer signing of midfielder Alexey Miranchuk with club legend Miguel Almiron for an estimated $12 million and the $22 million league-record signing of striker Emmanuel Latte Lath. That’s almost $50 million spent on its three designated players alone.
Despite the significant investment, the team’s attack has been shut out in five of its first 10 matches in 2025, causing the team to fall way behind the lofty expectations many experts had placed on it in preseason.
Aside from what appear to be glaring issues with team chemistry, there is a concerning lack of penetration and creativity in the attack. Atlanta United’s Almiron, who has mostly played as a right winger this season, leads the team with 4.59 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (ranked 20th in MLS), with Miranchuk behind him at 3.97 (39th in MLS). Those aren’t the numbers one would expect from some of the most expensive signings in league history. This, paired with the eighth-worst goals per shot rate in the league, has played a part in the team’s early struggles.
However, this season, there was one game where things seemed to click for Atlanta United. When NYCFC came to town in late March, the Five Stripes turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win with all of the attacking pieces showing some of the best versions of themselves we had seen all season. What spurred this turnaround was a series of tactical changes that head coach Ronny Deila implemented around the 58th minute of the match.
I want to go back over the most important changes on that day and why it could be the way for Atlanta United moving forward. Let’s start with one I discussed at great length in another article.
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“Maestro” Alexey Miranchuk
The Russian international has received a lot of criticism, much of it justified, for a lack of offensive production when in the attacking midfield role. His only goal contribution in seven games of the 2025 season came from his leveler in the first half against NYCFC.
In the team’s match at FC Cincinnati, Deila was forced to modify his midfield late in the first half after Tristan Muyumba went down with a knee injury. His solution was to push Miranchuk back as a No. 8, where he looked very comfortable and was able to help the team in more ways than he had before: His long range of passing made switching the play faster, his technical ability allowed him to beat pressure and his eye for space off the ball made him available to his teammates in build up.
With the team down by two goals against NYCFC, Deila decided to pull that page from his playbook again.
“We needed somebody who could open the match for us, so we moved [Miranchuk] further down, and he did exactly that,” he said after the match. “I call him ‘Maestro,’ because to me he is a maestro, with a technique and awareness that we need, and it is something that everyone else playing that position should learn.”
Exactly as Deila said, the match really opened up for Atlanta with Miranchuk in the deeper midfield role. An Atlanta side that had struggled to advance the ball for much of the game was able to play much more directly thanks to Miranchuk’s long balls.
He also became a fundamental piece of the team’s build-up by receiving the ball in pockets of space before passing to teammates who can keep the move going. He had three touches leading up to Atlanta’s third goal, shown in the video below.
“It’s a good position with the ball, but, to be honest, I prefer to play number 10,” Miranchuk said. “Be closer to offensive, scoring goals, but I mean, this is my opinion. Whatever (the) coach will say, I’ll do.”
Despite how well the team played with Miranchuk at the No. 8, Deila has not played him in that position since then. While game state was certainly a factor in the three goals that led to that comeback win, I think the team could benefit more from what Miranchuk can provide in that deeper role. Given the team’s recent struggles, it could be time to pull this page out of the playbook again.
Miggy — how many times has he played 10 in his life?
For Atlanta United fans, that may seem like a silly question, but it’s the one Deila snapped back with when I asked about how he decides who plays the No. 10 spot when he has two players that can fulfill the role: Alexey Miranchuk and Miguel Almiron.
“I don’t understand the question,” Deila said. “We have two who can play 10. We have four. Miggy, how many times has he played 10 in his life?”
By the way, the answer to that question is 93 out of the 313 games he has played in his professional career. He has 30 goals and 21 assists as an attacking midfielder, most of those coming during his first stint at Atlanta United, where he was named MLS Newcomer of the Year in 2017, an MLS MVP finalist in 2017 and 2018, and — of course — helped the team win MLS Cup 2018.
“Yes, I want to play the No. 10 and I think I feel much better there,” Almiron said after the NYCFC game where he scored his first goal back with the Five Stripes. “I get on the ball a little more.”
That’s the key for Atlanta — get Miguel Almiron the ball, and he can do the rest. He still has the technical ability for it and can be much more dynamic and creative in the final third than Miranchuk has been so far this season.
Atlanta United has a major problem on its hands with both Miranchuk and Almiron. When it plays Miranchuk at the No. 10 while Almiron cuts inside from the right, there isn’t anyone left on that side to create the overloads that are crucial to Deila’s system of attack (especially problematic considering the team tries to play down the right side a lot). Furthermore, he and Miranchuk appear to often occupy the same spaces, which ends up being a hindrance to both. This has been a glaring issue lately, especially as the team has now gone four matches in a row without a goal from open play.
Miguel Almiron 2025 Season Heatmap
“He [Almiron] is often playing wing and he plays another position,” Deila said. “But that is just because he really wants to help the team, and he’s eager to get on the ball.”
Shifting Miranchuk back as a No. 8 alleviated that problem during the NYCFC match, and it made it easier for the two to link up and launch quick moves in transition, something the team has had difficulty with.
Although Deila seems hesitant to run Almiron at the 10, it seems to be the position where he thrives the most. Miranchuk at the 10 hasn’t yielded positive results so far, and the team needs to change something soon to correct course before it’s too late.
The Five Stripes’ games will not be getting any easier. They will next host southeastern rival Nashville SC, which is coming off an astounding 7-2 beatdown of Chicago Fire, before road trips to Chicago and Austin FC. Then they host the Philadelphia Union, FC Cincinnati and Orlando City before embarking on a brutal six-game away stretch at the New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, Columbus Crew, Inter Miami, D.C. United and Toronto FC.
Given that repeatedly trying the same thing has shockingly not produced better results, it may be time to go back to something that has worked for this team before. After all, this team doesn’t have much else left to lose.
MY TAKE –
Miranchuk – has never been what we expected. He is soft on the ball, had no speed, and does not seem to create much. He never tackles, or pressures anyone effectively has no hustle has no heart. He need to be off the bench. I think we have all seen that Leenon does have the skill to play in an attacking position and Edward has proved that he is a much better RWB. Here is what i suggest –
—-LL–
Mosquera—-Miggy—Saba
——fortune——slisz—-
Amador—Morales—-Cobb—Edwards
———–Cohen/or Hibbet————-
Guzan – looks slow and reflects are poor, hold the ball to long when he gets it and therefore never triggers counter attacks.
With this line up – I bet they works hard and play hard. Make sure that the Defensive mids come get the ball and they need to attack the opponents when on defensive formation – stop watching them build in our third. At this point we have seen #59, #11 and Guzan – they not going to do anything different – so give the young players a chance.
I’d keep Lennon in, but I’d be happy to see this lineup. It’s time for Guzan to no longer be a starter as sad as that is. And these are players who will work hard (though I haven’t seen as much from Slisz)
[…] Scarves and Spikes Article on Tactical Adjustments […]
Reading that article makes me appreciate the quality of the articles posted here even more.
They really do a great job of tactical breakdown of the game and players. Very impressive compare to others. Nice write ups!
4 days and nothing new….Guess they are practicing hard this week?
Deila out. He doesn’t have 2 who can play the 10; he has 1. Miranchuk is not a 10.
I don’t even care anymore.
I keep thinking back to an episode of the Off the Woodwork podcast previewing the NYCFC game (Mar 29). Jon Nelson was interviewing NYCFC commentator Glenn Crooks. Crooks said that while RD was managing NYCFC, Nick Cushing did a lot of the tactics and almost all of the team training, and RD was focused mostly on man management and team leadership. If RD kept the same role here, I wonder who is primarily responsible for tactics and training AU today.
For whatever that’s worth…
I think we can all agree on one thing: with a game every 4 days next month we better figure something out soon.
I mean why not miggy at the 8? Lennon left wing? Amador rw? Mathews looks solid enough at rb. Chon qui idk but gives ronny his inverted wingers and maybe more defense minded backs. Miggy can play mira in to his feet like mira likes and mira can give miggy his coveted 1-2 as miggy just keeps running at the back line but maybe give him LL as a target still instead of being past everyone already. Keeps alexi higher so maybe he does get more in the attack bc miggy pulls him into it.
Anything has to be better than what it has been.
Honestly dont feel like miggy was ever a great goal scorer. Saba is more a threat than what we have other than LL but him and miggy are not real goal threats. Alexei should be with his touch and size but has not translated.
Miggy doesn’t have to be dangerous as a goal scorer, he needs to be a playmaker and a goal contributor, who can also attack and score goals.
The problem everyone keeps seeing is we don’t look dangerous. We’re predictable, we’re safe, we’re reserved, and we can’t control the ball to save our lives.
He knows how to do this, we’ve all seen it, and we don’t just forget because we got moved to a new team and was simply used as a winger. We just need to get him back on the bike.
Can Lennon even use his left foot?
Maybe only for walking and running.
Lennon had that wonder goal a season or two ago with his left foot. I think it was one of those matches where he was pushed up to winger because we were out of other wingers.
Blind squirrel finding a nut?
Miggy as the 10 seems a no-brainer based on his previous MLS success. AM is a great player, but very slow in transition. LL needs someone to push the issues to open up runs in behind. Saba plays way better on the right wing anyway, and we could use Mosquera on left. Then we just need a solid defensive midfielder to balance AM. I like Jay there, but Slisz would be okay too. I’d also like to see us play Cobb as right wing back to utilize his speed more; provided the rest of our starting backline stays healthy.
“AM is a great player” to be honest, I haven’t seen that yet and I’m really trying very hard. His attribute so far for me: he can make a pass if given the time and space but so can many average players. When things get sticky though, he can’t handle it and the opposition knows it.
I know others have said it, but we really need to switch it up to something like:
LL
Saba – Miggy – Lennon
Alexey – Slisz/Muyumba
Amador – Morales – Cobb – Hernandez
We still take advantage of speed from Saba and Lennon with a late triple switch of Thiare and Mosquera up top and Fortune for Miranchuk when defenses are tired. Also, we should start taking a look at Hibbert in goal sooner rather than later.
“It’s a good position with the ball, but, to be honest, I prefer to play number 10,” Miranchuk said. “Be closer to offensive, scoring goals, but I mean, this is my opinion. Whatever (the) coach will say, I’ll do.”
“Yes, I want to play the No. 10 and I think I feel much better there,” Almiron said after the NYCFC game where he scored his first goal back with the Five Stripes. “I get on the ball a little more.”
“He [Almiron] is often playing wing and he plays another position,” Deila said. “But that is just because he really wants to help the team, and he’s eager to get on the ball.”
So, both guys want to play the 10. One guy is willing to do what the coach asks for the betterment of the team. The coach acknowledges that the other guy is doing his own thing out there, and is making excuses for him. This is not good.
The path of least resistance seems obvious for Delia. Let Miggy play the 10, because 1) he’s going to do it anyway; 2) you’re not strong enough to stop him; 3) your preferred starting 10 is willing to take the step back; and 4) it actually worked the one time we did it.
It might be the right decision, and it probably should have been made long ago. I think it possibly has gotten to the point where if Delia makes that change, the entire team will realize that Miggy runs it and not the coach. Hopefully, it is not too late for Delia to make the change and still have the team believe it was his decision, and not just Delia capitulating to Miggy. If not, the end result is he’ll be looking for his next opportunity sooner rather than later.
If we don’t make the change, Miggy will continue to do what he wants out there rather than what he is instructed to do, and the coach will lose the locker room if he hasn’t already.
Tough spot for Delia to be in, but it’s his own fault for letting it get to this point and not seeing what the best deployment for the talent on his squad actually is.
This is a very good point and one that I’m going to bring up to the guys for potential discussion in this week’s show. I really hope it isn’t Miggy forcing Ronny’s hand, because perhaps that is one of the many points of contention that there appears to be in the locker room rn. The longer this goes on, the worse the results will be and tbh I think Miggy would have the upper hand in this standoff. Ronny can only lose so many games before the FO decides to pull the plug. There’s no way they ditch Miggy over Ronny. I think if this is the case, Ronny will have to capitulate soon and play Miggy at the 10 if for no other reason than to save his job. I think this Nashville match will be crucial for Ronny. If you’re going to start any sort of turnaround soon, it has to come from this game because the games don’t get much easier for the foreseeable future (and this is considering the 7-2 shellacking they gave Chicago).
I agree. Delia will get fired long before Miggy gets cut. Miranchuk becomes super important here, I think. His willingness to step back to the 8 for the team and being vocal about it in the locker room would really help Delia out of a very tight spot.
I don’t have as much love for Miggy as everyone else (still believe he is part of Atlanta legend, but I think we all need to realize most soccer players age out fast), but I also think it is best for Delia to push him into the 10 have hope either it works out well or blows up hard so everyone can realize Miggy is better off in the wing. I think pretty much everyone, particularly the fans, have had it with the FO and most of the players.
As I’ve said from the get go, RD is not the guy….was a terrible choice that actually belies some of the chronic issues the club has experienced since the early days in assessing intangibles, personality and the big picture. That said, if the FO fires RD before the end of the season, it will set the club back another 3-5 years. The way to handle this is to give him some mandates from the top, focus on personnel and 2026…then just cut him loose at the end of the season. Not for his benefit, but for the benefit of being able to attract a decent manager in the future and not doing more damage to the psyche of the club (losing is bad enough, toxic losing is a cancer that’s hard to excise from an org). As it stands, attracting a replacement will be hard enough given the trajectory. I mean, if RD was the best we could do after a long search…just read between the lines here…even with all the money and cutsy training facility and garish stadium, this isn’t currently a desirable position for even top middle tier coaches. Just facts…
I’ll wait until after the Nashville game and get a better feel for his value. One side of me (the optimist) thinks it’s a matter of a couple of tweaks but we’ll see. I’d hate to see another coach fired.
Maybe I’m just a bit naive. But I have a hard time believing Miggy is actually forcing this change – having been at the PL level for several years with Eddy Howe calling him one of the easiest team-players to coach up – I could see it more of a situation where Miggy realizes there are some serious lineup issues and is trying to take it on himself to make something happen, subsequently and unintentionally (?) shining a light on the glaring midfield problems…
I think your point about Deila is very good – he created this issue and probably has an opportunity to fix it, AND if he is a good leader he can save face at the same time…remains to be seen tho…i am hoping for the best and do hope he can turn it around. The swinging door of coaches is not good for anyone.
I tend to agree with you. I am willing to give Miggy the benefit of the doubt since he has played winger at the highest level of the game. If he’s having to constantly cut in to “find the game”, it probably means the current 10 isn’t doing his job.
I think in that situation, it is on the coach to see that and put Miggy at the 10 and Alex at the 8 rather than permit one guy to freelance when everyone else is at least trying to play their own assignment.
I’m not saying Miggy is doing this to spite the coach or create friction. I think Delia is right when he said Miggy really wants to help the team. Those two just need to connect on what the best way is for Miggy to do that. I don’t think they are connecting right now.
Miggy is clearly taking it upon himself (you’ve echoed this by saying he is “trying to take it on himself to make something happen”, so I don’t think we really disagree). He is spending much of his time on the pitch, in the offensive half at least, where the 10 would normally be. Problem is, the coach has put him in at the wing.
Even the coach acknowledged Miggy is doing this and is apparently just fine with Miggy freelancing because “he really wants to help the team, and he’s eager to get on the ball.”
The problem, as I see it fwiw, is that Miggy freelancing is having a negative effect on everyone else. When you are virtually playing 9v11 in the offensive half (Miggy takes out Alexy with his positioning and Lennon by not combining with him), it’s small wonder you’re having trouble scoring or even getting good shots on goal.
I remember the one goal Alexy scored. I believe Miggy was basically right next him and going for the ball himself. Alexy just got to it first.
I do think Delia should put Miggy at the 10 and Alexy at the 8 – both guys seem better suited to those roles on this team. I think from his actions on the field Miggy believes this too and is taking it upon himself to go do it. Intentionally or not, it creates a problem when you’ve got a coach telling a star to play one position, but the star playing another.
For what it is worth, Miggy isn’t the only one that lost confidence in Lennon and won’t combine with him.
Yep, Araujo was the same. Best thing about Lennon is his work rate. Talent-wise, I’d say he’s MLS-Mid – he’s had a 10-assist season. But I wouldn’t advise any MLS team to hire me on as a talent evaluator.
Saba seems to be able to combine with Lennon, though.
I think the compromise here is similar to what Parkhurst suggested in his conversation with Tyler last week. Miguel wants to be on the ball a lot more and wants to be more central. Miranchuk and our coach want Miranchuk to play as a 10. If we use a formation that emphasizes our wingbacks instead of wings, we could do a two-forward tactical alignment that fixes this conflict while also covering up our roster issues at LW.
I’d imagine this line-up would be a 3-5-2, 4-4-2, or 4-3-1-2. Miguel plays as a second striker, and Miranchuk stays at AM. As Parkhurst suggested, this keeps our three most expensive attacking options on the field in a tactical alignment that plays to their strengths and wishes.
The “fun” part becomes filling out the roster behind them.
3-5-2 might look something like:
Latte Lath — Almiron
Miranchuk
Amador — Fortune — Slisz — Saba
Edwards — Cobb — Gregersen
Guz
Friend, this makes waaaay too much sense, so it probably won’t happen. Too bad, I’d love to see it
I’m still holding out hope that something like it could happen. It gives almost everyone what they want and would give fans a different look for at least a match or two.
Side benefit of this lineup? It would really show whether or not AM should be at the 10 – if he can’t feed those two up top, then he “ain’t the guy”.
If he can’t do it, I’d play Jay at the 10 with Reilly next to Slisz in the 3-5-2
I’ve been hoping we’d see a more concerted effort to go 3ATB, but maybe the injuries at CB have put that off? Regardless, it is probably the best use of the players on the roster and helps maybe stabilize some of the defensive issues we’ve had.
I also think that if it doesn’t work with Miranchuk at CAM, you still have the option to drop Miggy into the 10. Then you can start either Thiare or Saba next to ELL. If Saba goes up there, Lennon can play RWB, which is probably the most ideal use of him anyway.
Delia, at least publicly, seems to have a very high opinion of AM’s skillset. Called him “maestro” I believe. My untrained eye says he is a good passer who is maybe a step slow and needs space to execute effectively.
I’d guess if AM can’t handle this role, drop him back to the 8, as worked once versus NY.
One thing seems clear – if we continue as is, it is not likely to get any better.
Someone needs to show Deila clips of Pirlo in his prime. Miranchuk as the deep lying play maker seems perfect. He doesn’t have to play the 10 to be a “maestro”.
Love this lineup IF we kept AM at the 10 – this would allow for Miggy to roam….still prefer Miggy at the 10 tho – he is so much quicker with the ball and decision-making…
The more I look at this lineup (especially after a couple of Old Fashions) the more I like it.
Another benefit of it is that it plays to the strengths of Chong Qui, Amador, Saba, and Lennon in how they play along the edge of the formation while providing athletic defensive cover behind them when they get caught upfield.
I love this, I really think we should go 3 at the back.
In an attempt to not just assume something new is automatically better, I’m trying to remember why 3 at the back quickly stopped working with Pineda. I’m pretty sure what happened then was the front 5 got disconnected with the back 5, because our midfield of Rossetto and Sosa, or whoever it was, was too weak to link the two together. Admittedly, that is something our midfield pair still struggle to do in our current setup, unlike before I think we have the players to make it work, in Muyumba/Fortune/Almiron/Miranchuk. We just got to get them in the right positions.
I won’t pretend to have any sort of learned opinion on tactics/formations, but I am glad that Parky is seeing something similar in how Miggy is being used versus how he should be used. Your solution makes sense to me, and I hope we do something like that or at least put Miranchuk at the 8 and Miggy at the 10.
Miranchuk, for his part, specifically said he will do whatever the coach asks, even if it is to play something other than his preferred position. Good on him for that.
the roster is talented. not perfect, but definitely talented…more so that at any time in the last 5 years imo.
at this point in the season, a lack of cohesiveness and a lack of chemistry is on the manager and his staff.
Good point. I just wonder what we would be thinking if we had not made some stupid defensive mistakes and not hit the posts and cross bar so many times. In my mind, we tie two matches and win a couple of more matches. Is that good enough to change our minds? I’m trying to stay positive and looking for anything to hold on to. Let’s be positive for Saturday.
valid question but i could still turn around and point to the long stretches of no chances created as well as the lack of finishing, confusion in and around the box, and such.
this is still my team! and i’m rooting for them to turn this around. but i gave rd until May before i’d evaluate what we have…and he’s not inspiring me at this point.
I am on this coaches/staff responsibility train and have never understood why some coaches are so inflexible and close-minded.
Hypothetically, if relegation were a thing in MLS, I believe the overall sense of urgency, considering such a dumpster-fire season start like we have had, would probably look at little different throughout the ENTIRE club, from the top down to the players. As it is today, where is the breaking point of accountability???
Not politicking for MLS relegation, just sayin’….
You make an extremely important point here though – the only consequence that exists is getting fired for not making playoffs, and it’s not a bad gamble to say you probably get a year before being axed, even if you somehow fail to get in a playoff bracket that includes half the teams in the league. So who cares if you lose 10 games forcing your system. But when accountability is higher pressure with something like relegation, you won’t wait 10 games to experiment.
The most disappointing aspect of the article is RD’s response to the question of Miggy playing the 10 (even though in games he has played the 10, Miggy is averaging a goal every 3 matches and 2/3rds of an assist (not too shabby!). IF RD is going to remain this stubborn and ignore the obvious need to change the lineup/tactics (shades of FdB), then we definitely will “win” the Wooden Spoon.
If I was a data scientist for AUFC, either I suck really hard, or i’m the best and no one wants to listen. Either way, it’s a tough position to be in right now because the data has to be saying the same thing this article is saying. Everyone wants Mira to be the 10, even he wants to be the 10, but like I tell my kids “if you want something, you have to earn it” and so far he’s not showing he should earn that 10.
Amen 🙏🏻
Part of the problem is when Miggy cuts inside there is nobody with the overlapping run on the outside to widen the field. For some reason, Lennon doesn’t arrive on time. I think we do a little better on the left but not quick enough. In ay event I agree we should try it and also switch to a 3-5-2
I think we should poach Sorensen from Vancouver. Their roster is not better than ours but they are playing great football. I think Sorensen could be the next Nancy.
We definitely need to go for a coach who can bring out more than what the base roster seems to offer. It still kills me that we rushed to Pineda, instead of waiting and managing to snag Nancy.
The way I see it is not that Lennon doesn’t arrive on time. 95% of the time, Almiron never looks to the outside and just immediately cuts inside, so no defender needs to pay attention to the outside and just collapse on Almiron.
I’ll go third option and also say that Lennon arrives on time, but it’s not that Almiron doesn’t see him, it’s that he knows going to Lennon kills the forward momentum. Because if Lennon isn’t actively running into a space, he will either pass backward, hold the ball to stare at the defender in front of him, or send a hopeful cross without looking where his attackers actually are. The only way Lennon progresses that ball forward is he is either running into that space himself, or he sees someone like Saba running into that space out wide. If Miggy wants to move the ball more centrally and forward (which I think he often wants) then Lennon is counter-productive to that goal.
Perfectly said
I hope he’s thinking about this, and if he does it and we start winning games, he will deserve pretty muted credit for it imo, considering he effectively threw the season by forcing a system that lost a majority of the first 3rd of it. But hey, we can all be confident that this would turn things around, and yet we won’t know until it’s tried over a larger sample size.
He’ll get as much credit as de Boer got in 2019 when the players revolted and FdB changed the team’s tactics to play the way they wanted.
Playing the devils advocate here: to be honest, I don’t think the problem is Miggy on the right. I think it has more to do with defensive structure. If we don‘t give up stupid goals, the offense would not be under this extreme pressure and it would have more time to really gel. Getting enough men in the box and men at the far post would help a lot when crossing and would go a long way in solving our offensive issues. Nobody makes runs into the box from midfield and the far post is always open for us to attack. I don’t blame Dalia for trying to play Miggy on the right; “on paper” it makes sense. Miggy played RW for six years but he had very good support from his FB widening the field. That’s not happening right now. We have to solve our defensive issues first.