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Opinion piece written by Chris Levine (X: cklevine)
Ever have a wave of déjà vu come over you? That feeling of “I’ve seen this before…” and yet you can’t quite place where or when? Somehow, this year’s Atlanta United season is forming an eerie parallel to the last one. A hopeful end to the prior year, a consensus top-scoring attack, and a promising start to the campaign — all familiar ingredients. But both seasons took a sudden, and somewhat unexpected, turn at nearly the exact same point in the schedule. Different managers and different star players, yet a similar pivot point: a home match that sent the team and its fans into uncharted territory.
Armed with a 2024 squad featuring a young, talented, World Cup-winning phenom (Almada) and a veteran Golden Boot contender (GG), Gonzalo Pineda aimed to improve on the previous season’s mid-table finish and first-round playoff exit to the eventual MLS Cup champions. The last two transfer windows had brought a refreshing wave of offensive talent (Saba and Silva) and added strength to the spine (Muyumba, Slisz, Gregerson). This team seemed poised to climb to the top of the East and secure a crucial home playoff series.
A strong start — three convincing home wins and an away draw at NYC — had the team on 10 points after six matches, heading into a home clash with the Philadelphia Union. After a goalless first half, the Five Stripes struck twice in quick succession to take a 2–0 lead midway through the second half. The fans were ecstatic; this felt like a statement game. And it was — but not in the way anyone hoped. Within five minutes, Philadelphia had scored two goals of their own. Atlanta had blown a two-goal lead at home for the first time since 2021, and only the fourth time in club history.
In the following match, the team again gave up two late goals from a winning position — this time resulting in a loss. It seemed the proverbial dam had broken, and a flood of winless results followed. The collapse eventually cost Pineda his job and led to the sale of both superstars. Fans were shell-shocked, left wondering: What just happened? And how did it unravel so fast?
The once-vaunted attack sputtered, managing only nine goals during what became a nine-match streak of futility. A surprise road win against the Supporters’ Shield winners, Inter Miami, turned out to be an outlier — immediately followed by a humiliating home defeat to budding rivals Charlotte. Though the season ended on a hopeful note under interim manager Rob Valentino, with an even bigger shock win over the same Miami team in the playoffs, the Philadelphia collapse proved to be the linchpin that unraveled a season filled with potential.
And now comes 2025 — once again building fan expectations by “winning the offseason” with a record spending spree. Bringing back club legend Miguel Almirón, signing a speedy, clinical striker in his prime (Latte Lath), and hiring a proven MLS Cup-winning manager (Ronny Deila), the team looked set to capitalize on renewed fan enthusiasm following the surprise playoff run.
Everything seemed reset — a do-over, but this time with even better talent and a skilled gaffer. The season even began with flashes of home magic, earning nine points from the first seven matches. Then came another seemingly favorable home fixture — this time against the Revolution, a team that hadn’t scored from open play all season. The Five Stripes dominated, firing 18 shots, enjoying 56% possession, having two goals disallowed for offside, hitting the woodwork twice, and registering five shots on target. Yet, a close penalty decision went against them, and they conceded the match’s only goal from the spot.
Another excruciating home loss — outplaying the opponent but coming away empty. What followed was a slow-motion repeat of the previous year’s downfall. The attack, potent in theory but ineffective in execution, managed just two goals (plus an own goal) across the next six matches. The result: an ongoing eight-match winless streak.
Once again, fans find themselves trapped in a cycle of confusion and frustration. How could this happen again — in almost exactly the same way? No one seems to have the answers. And until this team puts together a complete, confident performance, the season — so full of hope — could once more slip away.
And to think it all comes down to a single match — a home match — a mostly dominant match — that ends up sealing the fate of the season. Is there still time to rewrite the script? Yes, but the window is closing. With a six-match road trip looming, it’s becoming more and more likely that fans will be left picking up the pieces of a broken team — once again.
It’s interesting that Deila and everyone in the FO are “safe” (according to Mr. Lagerwey), and at the same time, the results are because of bad data (the FO’s responsibility), bad scouting (FO’s and Manager’s staff’s responsibility/job), bad tactics (100% on the Manager), and bad luck (primarily on the team, but probably a result of the impact of the first 3 “bads”). Why this is being tolerated is beyond me.
And yet at the same time also said “No doubt that everyone is going to be accountable.” Doesn’t make sense. Feels like we’re stuck in yet another era of having people in charge with their head stuck in the sand and unable to pivot.
I just don’t see a world where the team’s issues are at the detriment of individual players or the combined not knowing how to play soccer. I don’t see a lack of quality or a lack of skill, it’s a lack of direction. I have to assume the team takes their direction from the coach in order to play out the system he’s designed but it takes a HUGE amount of skill to setup a system where you have to control 11 professional players on the pitch to know how to defend, control, progress, and attack.
We have great defenders, we have some decent midfielders, our attack is dangerous, and the supporting cast are all ones we can call upon (when healthy to sub/support the team). Deila said he hates back passes and wants to see less of them. What has Brooks/Amador done most games they’re in? Back passes. What has our defensive mid/dual 6’s done? Back passes. We can hold that ball on the backline real well, which is what he said he didn’t want.
When you have water running somewhere, you have to go find the source. And that source has to be Deila. He’s trying to build a system that doesn’t bode well with our cast of players, OR, doesn’t translate to the style of play many of our players are accustomed to. You have to ask yourself, is it easier to get 11+ players to match ME, or ME adjusting to the skill & knowledge our 11+ players have? We’ve obviously seen glimpses of what the team is capable of, and it doesn’t seem like 1-offs, it seems like they settle back into a style they’re comfortable with, what seemingly works, and what builds on the strengths of the players.
Well, if you look at the bright side, any win will be amazing to watch! It’s hard to really get that more in the dumps by watching another loss. I mean, can I really feel worse than I do right now?
Maybe that’s the number of games it takes the rest of the league to figure us out, then we’re out of ideas? I agree with @robpar below that I imagine our players stack up pretty well player-for-player against most teams. Maybe it’s the poor strategy/tactics, or just the Island of Misfit Toys as others have observed.
If all goes well, the team might win another 5 games this season. It is what it is…at a minimum at least appreciate the guys giving max effort on the pitch. In most cases that’s just unfortunately not enough but don’t want to overly diss anyone who’s doing the work when things aren’t great and managing to keep it professional. Just not an appealing product…
It would be interesting to compare AU player by player to say…Philly and/or Cincinnati’s roster. My guess is we compare very favorably; our roster is not as bad as some claim.
And here we thought that 4-3 home win against NYCFC after being down two goals was going to be the big turnaround game…
Nope.