Well, that’s a wrap for Atlanta United’s Leagues Cup run. Of course, they still have that Gonzalo Pineda derby match against Atlas on Wednesday, but even a win isn’t enough to make it to the knockout phase. The game will be meaningless. Might as well break out the ol’ AMFAM Cup and play for that. Oh, wait, Toluca still has it. Never mind then.
I’m sure you all have your fair share of opinions on the players’ performances in the 3-2 loss to Pumas in Leagues Cup. Here are my thoughts on some of the best and worst from that match.
Risers
Saba Lobjanidze
After being benched for the past three games, Saba Lobjanidze returned to the starting lineup with a bang.
He generated a crucial equalizer off an own goal after making the often-neglected run to the back post before providing service to Emmanuel Latte Lath for the go-ahead goal before the end of the first half. The Georgian winger now has eight assists across all competitions this season, leading the team in helpers and third in goal contributions behind Miguel Almiron (10) and Latte Lath (9).
For me, the key here is the diagonal run Saba makes toward the right side. Miggy, cutting inside, plays a perfect through ball, and the 30-year-old Georgian international calmly slides it into the path of Latte Lath. I have always said that I think Saba plays his best soccer on the right side, where he can play cutbacks and crosses to attackers in the heart of the penalty area. This would mean moving Miggy centrally to the 10, where clearly he can be an effective chance creator.
It would require shuffling around several players in the current starting lineup, but I think Ronny Deila needs to seriously consider playing Saba on the right to get the best out of him.
Bartosz Slisz
The Polish international has been steadily improving throughout the season. He has become the focal point of the team’s build-up from the back as he finds space between opposing forward and midfield lines to receive the ball before distributing to either flank.
But the 26-year-old midfielder has gotten much more involved in forward play under Ronny Deila. He has gotten better at facing pressure and finding incisive balls when in the opposing half. Not to mention he has a decent shot on him as well.
A good example of his attacking involvement is the lobbed ball that he played to the back post for Saba to smack past Keylor Navas to equalize in the first half.
I’ve thought for a while that Slisz operates better as a No. 8 than a No. 6. I have never really seen him as the ball-winning midfielder that this team needs, but his passing still makes him a big asset to this team. It will be interesting to see how he pairs with new signing Steven Alzate, who should, in theory, be the more defensive-minded midfielder.
Will Reilly
Even though he only played 21 minutes, I thought Reilly looked lively and brought some energy to Atlanta’s midfield toward the end. I thought he did well to escape from pressure and move the ball forward.
He also demonstrated his awareness and alertness with a smart interception toward the end, which he followed up with a good service to Jamal Thiare in the play that resulted in Keylor Navas’ red card.
Reilly has shown much promise in his minutes with the first team, and I think you’ll see him start in the essentially meaningless match against Atlas on Wednesday.
Fallers
Brooks Lennon
While the 27-year-old right back insists his contract renewal talks are positive, his performances certainly aren’t.
Defensively, Lennon was a disaster. He registered just one tackle (which he lost) and won just two of his five duels after going the full 90 minutes. He also gave away this really boneheaded penalty early in the game. It isn’t the first time he has conceded a penalty after a reckless challenge inside the box.
His game didn’t get any better going forward. He had just one accurate cross out of three that he attempted throughout the match. My theory is that Deila put him on the left side to start the match for a couple of reasons: First, it keeps Ronald Hernandez on the right side where he had been connecting well with Miggy. Second, putting Brooks on the left takes him off of his crossing foot and stops him from just mindlessly lobbing balls into the box once he gets into the final third. It forces him to try and find some other way to push the attack forward.
Of course, that didn’t end up mattering much because Lennon would then just start cutting in slightly to be on his right foot.
His attitude says it all: He isn’t happy here, and he doesn’t play for the badge. I think it will be best for him and the club to part ways after his contract expires in December.
Ronald Hernandez
Speaking of giving up penalties, here’s the one Ronald Hernandez gave up to lose the game.
That alone is enough to put you down as a faller, but the Venezuelan’s overall lackluster defensive performance was what earned him this spot in the column. Jorge Ruvalcaba and Alvaro Angulo made the game a nightmare for Hernandez on that side of the field, and he struggled to win the ball back cleanly. He ended up committing four fouls (more than anyone else in the game), which is especially dangerous with the context of his yellow card in the first half.
I feel bad for Ronald after this game. It certainly wasn’t a good showing, but you can tell how much playing for this club means to him.
Tristan Muyumba
Muyumba is one of those players who can either excel or struggle on the day. In this game, it was the latter.
The 28-year-old Frenchman managed just 18 completed passes in 70 minutes of play, which for a midfielder is a shockingly low number. For comparison, Piero Quispe, who entered for Pumas as a sub for the last 38 minutes, completed 23 passes (one of which assisted Coco Carrasquilla’s game-tying goal).
I thought the build-up play suffered down the left side due to the ineffective combinations between Lennon and Muyumba, who struggled under pressure.
Do you agree with my choices? Post yours in the comments below!
I don’t like the Lennon take either. It does seem overly critical. Lennon is a very good offensive player at right wingback. What has changed? He lost GG and Almada for one. Those players clicked offensively. Brooks has not been able to click with Almiron. There is no give and go with Almiron. Brooks gives and Almiron takes off across the field with his left foot dribbling into traffic. Almiron is exclusively left footed! Why is he playing on the right wing? Saba and Brooks play well together on the right side. Move Almiron to the 10 where he belongs. Move Alexi to the 8. We have way to many guys playing the wrong position. If Ronny played guys where they were best suited I believe the team would have a chance to win. Right now they don’t have a chance. I understand that the crosses from the right side have been ineffective and are frustrating, but those crosses create opportunity. GG was big and tall. Latte is tiny. Its an issue on crosses. Playing Hernandez who doesn’t cross and eliminating Brooks as an offensive weapon doesn’t help the team big picture. It limits us to trying to run an offense through a wrong footed right wing. There’s so much blame to go around but singling out Brookes is unfair. The guys making the big money ( Almiron and Latte Lath)are who we should be blaming. The coach who can’t effectively put together a good offensive plan and can’t bring the team together. The GM who brought these designated players in. This team has 4 wins! Every single player is miserable and sick of it. They all have bad attitudes at this point! How could you not? I haven’t seen a lack of effort or intensity from Lennon or any of the players. I just see a team that doesn’t mesh because they don’t have defined roles and the key guys are playing out of position. The 23 team scored 66 goals. This team has 29. That’s an epic failure. Ronny needs to have a plan and stick with it. What he’s done so far sure isn’t working.
There’s plenty of conclusions I agree with in there, but some particular points to refute:
What has changed, with Lennon in particular, is that he no longer does the things he used to do that made him dangerous and unpredictable – namely, runs in behind, driving into the primary assist zone to do cutback crosses instead of normal crosses. I don’t know what caused that to stop, but it’s not the players around him. Almiron even rewarded him for one such run earlier this year. That could be on the coach, possibly not.
Let’s not pretend GG and Almada were without fault too. Almada when he wasn’t having a good game, was worse than Almiron – trying to play hero ball, losing the ball in bad places, etc. (yes, he had great games at a much higher level than Almiron too, but that wasn’t consistent with us), GG had plenty of touches worse than Lath’s.
Almiron has given to Lennon multiple times earlier this year only for the ball to be passed back to the CB. I’d argue that’s why Almiron stopped giving him the ball. He’s also playing RW because that’s where he played at Newcastle, because as a left footed right winger, it means he can cut inside and provide a natural shooting option (known as an inverted winger). Where as if he was on the Left Wing, it’s difficult for him to shoot, but instead can more easily make crosses. Not saying one is the correct option, only that it’s perfectly reasonable for him to be playing RW.
Saba has said himself he can play on both sides, and I think he even said he likes playing LW (same as Almiron, it allows him to be inverted and therefore shoot)
Alexi has said he’d rather not play the 8 if he can, and most of his best plays we’ve seen him do has been close to or inside the box. 8 is not his position, and I’d argue that Second Striker/Center Forward in a two-forward setup is really his natural position.
Crosses only work if they’re accurate and they aren’t predictable by the defense. How many times have we seen Lennon receive the ball, stare for 5 seconds at the defender in front of him, make a cut and cross over everyone’s heads to a backpost where no one was at? Hernandez has actually been more effective, because he makes crosses (not all effective yes), but also makes the run to the box for cutbacks, etc.
Singling out Brooks is unfair, but putting plenty of blame on him isn’t. He’s not the only one getting called out, far from it, this article alone also calls out Hernandez and Muyumba and compliments a sub in Reilly instead of any of the other 7 starters. I don’t think anyone has actually said Lath and Almiron are doing perfectly fine either. But for the context of this match, Lath did score and Almiron helped produce.
Ronny does have a plan that he’s trying to stick to, and it’s the 4-2-3-1 with Miranchuk at the 10 and Almiron at the RW. It’s not working, like you said, but he technically has a plan.
I don’t know where I was going with this, because I actually agreed with a lot of the rest, I just had to be devil’s advocate.
“His attitude says it all: He isn’t happy here, and he doesn’t play for the badge.” Your whole spot on Lennon is just overly critical. He had a bad game (again) but he was played out of position. Do you really want him trying to take people on 1v1 in the dribble? Do you want him shooting? Do you want him playing left footed? What do you want from him at LB?
I get being honest when players play poorly, but that section felt more like a hit piece on Lennon because the fanbase has soured on him more than an honest evaluation of his performance. If you’re itching to slam a player, just reel it in a bit.
Not that I don’t see your point and can empathize with it, but I don’t know that LB vs RB should make that much of a difference. He’s not one footed like some other players, and was paired with a player he has plenty of experience with in Saba. Likewise, Hernandez has never gotten a pass for being put on LB despite also being a RB. I can see maybe offensive output being down as he figures out what to do other than cross with his strong foot, but I think it’s fair to say he should’ve done better even considering the circumstances.
I get the impression from his last few games that his attitude/mindset is negative, and more geared towards proving he deserves to be on the field rather than helping the team win (see field goal attempt instead of a pass or cross vs Necaxa), but I can’t presume to know that from my 50,000′ view on the tv, or that my viewpoint isn’t biased.
I am more concerned with the attitude of the rest of the team towards Lennon. Zero confidence form other players. Also, Lennon was atrocious in all facets of the game.
This is a homer evaluation. Lennon is still one of the better contributors to the team given what we have to select from. Muyumba is perhaps one of the more dynamic midfielders on this team. To demote Lennon and Muyumba while attempting to manufacture talent in Reilly is a discredit to the reader. Reilly was isn’t anywhere near rising. He probably shouldn’t be getting minutes at all.
Perhaps we should pivot more accurately to the keeper BG who has long since seen his time as a starter disappear.
How are we to take this blog serious with these evaluations.
This team needs to shed a lot of dead weight and they are not going to get anywhere promoting the likes of Reilly and the untalented academy products. Time to bring in experienced talent.
One puzzling thing about Lennon: he was brought here to exploit his speed. Many may not remember but he was a speed demon early on, then things changed into a more possession style of play. Since then I don’t think I’ve seen many balls played into space for him to run into. I feel a big contributor to his decline is how we are playing now since he is not technically gifted or good on 1v1 situations.
This is… certainly a take. But one from someone who hasn’t watched games in 2025, apparently.
Reilly is absolutely rising…his energy on the ball has done more to progress the game than most anyone else we’ve seen all season. Still a bit inexperienced, but that’s young players in general. Give him his moment to shine (tonight would be it) and I feel like he will.
Completely agree. I do feel like some of the perceptions of certain players are a bit harsher than they should be because they’re playing to the coach’s system and sometimes that doesn’t vibe with each player. But I agree that Lennon looks out of sorts most of the time. He’s now being referred to as “Back Pass Lennon”.
Everything else I feel is spot on.
We need to get a “Thanks for your service” social media post on Lennon. Time to move on.