Atlanta United traveled north of the border to take on Toronto FC in a match that could only be described as truly representing 13th and 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Five Stripes actually looked pretty solid though throughout most of the match and the game easily couldโve been 2-0 at halftime. But why would it be that simple? An early second half goal led to Atlanta United trying to play catch up for the rest of the evening in a game that they truly needed to win if they want to have any chance of making a push for the playoffs this season. Here are your final whistle thoughts from Toronto.
Luck
Iโll just start off this post by saying that at some point someone needs to do a deep search of the Childrenโs Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground and figure out where the voodoo doll is hidden and burn it. For years, weโve seen this team inevitably end up on the negative end of luck and itโs been so frustrating to watch. The fact that this team did so well in the first half and then immediately got dunked on to start the second half is indicative of some things beyond anybodyโs control. Itโs as if the soccer gods themselves just donโt want Atlanta United to do their thing.
Scoring
This team has way too much talent to not be scoring goals like this. The fact that essentially $50 million worth of attacking players were brought in and Atlanta United has been shut out as many times as it has is incredibly embarrassing. In my opinion, the way the team is built right now lends itself more to counter attacking and transition football, and though they did better in the build up in this match, I donโt feel like the squad is being used to its full potential. I actually feel like thatโs a stupid thing to say because I donโt feel like the squad is being used at all right now. Atlanta has some of the fastest players in Major League Soccer as starters at the moment and some of the hungriest young center backs in the league and they continue to play a style of soccer that is counterintuitive.
Get well soon, Garth
I just want to take a minute to acknowledge the news about Garth Lagerwey earlier this week. We made it a point to not do an article simply because this is his personal battle and regardless of anyoneโs opinions of the team or the club, they should rally behind him. I just want to use this point to say that we all pray you get better Garth and that youโre back at the helm sooner than later at 110%.
Jayden Hibbert
Our coverage of the 2โs and our article on him last year has always been our attempt to let yall know about the young talent like Hibbert coming up. He showed well tonight and I personally feel he needs to be the successor to Brad once the big bald wall retires.
๏ฟผOn the show Wednesday I ran some numbers and determined that mathematically Atlanta United needs to win between 9 and 11 of its final 14 matches. This was not the best way to start that. Itโs a massive uphill battle for the playoffs this season, but ultimately this summer transfer window is going to be massive because everybody is looking towards 2026 at this point. Beyond that, let us know what you thought of the match down below!
I could copy/paste my comment last week, but I’m too lazy to go grab it. Either the players are doing exactly what Deila is instructing (bad) or Deila can’t get the players to do what he’s instructing (also bad). It’s just impossible at this point to ignore that we, again, have a bad coach failing to get the most… or even the bare minimum, honestly… out of an expensive and talented* roster.
*Excludes several players, including but not limited to Miranchuk and Klich. If they had never played elsewhere before AU, I’d swear they got signed sight-unseen based on a fake resume while actually working at McDonald’s.
The only positive for me was J Hibbert. Looked confident, good with his feet, athletic and quick; much better than Cohen. He should start for the rest of season and get experience for next year. Regarding the rest of the team, we keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I still donโt see Daliaโs benefit to the team. I guess weโll have to wait another 2 years to see it ๐ฑ
How on earth does brooks play a full match? Riddle me that, batman
Edwards? Hernandez? I guess with those as your options, Iโm not sure there is much improvement for a sub – your opinion might vary.
From a couple of crosses Iโve seen Hernandez provide from the right, heโs better at it than Brooks.
That cross field โpassโ last night that was 20 yards behind Saba should have had him benched.
well yesterday, Saba had two really bad corner kicks and Amador had a lot of bad moments as well. Our whole team is a mess, so Lennon is the least of our problems.
I wouldn’t say he’s the least of our problems (offensively he is a momentum killer at best, and a turnover machine at worst, and defensively about on par with Abram in terms of being a traffic cone), but I can agree that the whole team is a mess and Saba and especially Amador didn’t paint themselves in the best light this past game. I guess I would agree that he isn’t our worst problem?
He also seems to have a better understanding of the “defending” piece of his role.
Latte scored, hilbert looks alright, Miggy captain?, we saved a loss and got a point, but this team is still very uninspiring.
Is it okay to blame injuries at this point?
I think Atlanta has played less than 5 matches with the preferred starting 11. So it is definitely ok to blame injuries
Fair, Right on. Our defense has really been affected all year, what is the deal with gregerson? When is this new CB get here?
Heโll be here when the window opens on July 24th, Stian is still out with his quad injury. Iโd be surprised actually if he isnโt the recipient of a buyout
Thanks for the insight. Thatโs a shame. Feels like we need 3 new CBโs.
Mihaj is certainly a good addition to replace Gregersen. I could see us looking to replace Williams with a comparable player to who Williams was when we got him a few years ago. I’m starting to wonder whether Abram’s recent form will influence their decision on his future.
Morales and Cobb are additions from within, and I think Nigel Prince and Kaiden Moore could play small roles next year.
My 2026 CB group is something like:
Prince and Moore will spend the vast majority of their time with the 2s, and we still have Matthew Edwards as a CB option in an emergency.
Blaming injuries would be fine if our attacking options were injuredโฆ but theyโre not.
As I watched the first half, I could see that the boys did have some attacking intent. They were trying to more aggressively advance the ball and get it into dangerous positions, but it really was breaking down before it got to the final third. The right side of the pitch was essentially unused as Brooks is completely ineffective. I canโt remember many times we truly attacked down the right flank.
The left flank with Amador was better, but once Saba got the ball, itโs just heads down try to beat someone and he doesnโt really beat anyone. Similar with Miggy, once he gets the ball, the team effort is over and it more or less becomes 1:1 ball.
The person who should be pulling the strings, Alexei, continues to be a ghost and has zero influence on the game. He has to start in a deeper position as he does have good vision, which you can tell, but heโs not dynamic at all.
If we continue to trot out this line-up and formation, weโll never win as it simply doesnโt work. We have too many dud players.
I definitely agree with you. I generally hate blaming injuries. Our attack is anemic. Alexy did look better, deeper in a 352.
What has happened to Saba this year? Not enough converstaion around his disappointing performances.
I think the reason we never attack via right flank is because Miggy moves inside so Brooks is alone. If Brooks then makes a run and we turn it over there isnโt anyone to defend on that side. And the chance we turn it over with only 1 person advancing on the right side is high. So I donโt know that a different RB changes that problem.
I actually did see the team doing a nice job advancing the ball until we get to the final third. Then everyone other than LL becomes a passer, not a scorer. We need both wingers to have a nose for goal (think Tito). 2 of our 3 DPs have proven they are NOT natural scorers throughout their career. Thatโs what worries me the most if we are committed to keeping our DPs, which is the sense I got from that Chris Henderson interview.
Miggy’s movement should create space for an aggressive RB to exploit. We do not have one of those.
I think itโs the opposite because of how Miggy moves inwards. When he is on the wing with the ball, he moves inwards and draws defenders with him. That would open up space for a Lennon to exploit. But that would require that Miggy still pushes up the right center side of the field.
But Miggie moves horizontally into the center of the pitch almost becoming a number 10 and while he does drag the defender with him, it leaves now only one person on the right side in the offensive half. They are completely isolated so even if they got Brooks the ball he would be all alone with almost nothing to do. We need somebody else making runs under that space too because Miggy abandons it and once he is moving to his left, he very rarely offers any danger moving back to the right because he is so left footed.
Not to say, I love Lennon. I just think the reason we arenโt advancing up the right is our right winger always progresses himself centrally, so the only person left on the right is the right back.
Another bottom of the barrel match played by bottom of the barrel squads. Yep, thatโs us.
Insert *playoffs* meme here