Yes, Atlanta United entered today’s Leagues Cup match against Necaxa not having won a match in this tournament before. But they also hadn’t lost a match in this tournament in 2025, which meant I was somewhat optimistic. On a grass surface – prepared for this weekend’s Premier League Summer Series – the Five Stripes played Los Diablos to 3-1 loss after a chaotic second half. I’m let down. And sad. Here are the final whistle thoughts live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
This was a clean slate
I desperately wanted the team to step into Leagues Cup and look at this as an opportunity to set something right. Giving up the early debacle of a VAR-assisted goal didn’t bode well, but to Atlanta’s credit they fought back with a wonderful goal and continued to create chances throughout the first half.
I also desperately wanted the team to do everything opposite in the locker room at half time, in a half-hearted attempt to throw off the demon that apparently lurks in there after the first 45. They did, only for it to rear its ugly head in the 77th minute off yet another moment of dumbfounding mistakes. It also didn’t help that Miguel Almiron’s ability to finish was simply nonexistent tonight, to the point it was almost a cosmic joke.
I’d say the slate wasn’t fully cleaned, there were still some dirty spots on it.
New guys?
I would’ve loved to have seen some more minutes from Enea Mihaj and a handful of the other new players or youngsters on call-ups. For his part, Enea Mihaj absolutely saved Derrick William’s bacon in the 77th minute, for the team to turn around and concede a goal on the corner. Will Reilly stepped in and played big dawg football again, and Luke Brennan played the 90 very effectively. Unfortunately, coming off a weekend match didn’t make the task any easier for Ronny Deila, and bad habits continued to be too much to overcome.
Defense
The newcomers to this team can’t get here soon enough. Mihaj is a great first step, but this team needs so much help. With a loss and a -2 goal differential, this match more or less means Atlanta making it out of the group is about equivalent to their chances of making the MLS playoffs. Late game defending, set piece defending, defending defending…it all needs help. And don’t get me started on the attack. I despise coming across as so pessimistic, but one can only hope that this summer transfer window really hits when everyone gets settled.
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Let us know down below what you thought of the match.
There were probably 5 minutes of very good, quick one touch passing, a couple of good defensive interventions and relatively good level of effort during the whole match but like the British commentator said: this is not enough to win and you get paid to win. Glad I didn’t go to MB
Agreed….he should be on every match.
Personally I dont understand the “big dawg football” sentiment with Will Reilly. I mean, if the expectation is to simply not be a noticeable weak link among this Atlanta United group, then sure. If we ever had a late lead to protect, different story.
But we weren’t functioning nearly as well after the 65’ subs and Reilly being not as comfortable on the ball as Muyumba played at least some part in that.
It’s nothing personal against him and I’m not upset that he’s getting minutes. But we need to call a spade a spade. We’ve cut some fat but our depth is still inadequate.
Periods of unrealized potential punctuated by moments of absolute trash – this game and the 2025 season in a nutshell.