It might have been a meaningless match for The Five Stripes’ competitive aspirations, but Wednesday’s 4-1 trouncing of Gonzalo Pineda’s Atlas FC was a very meaningful match for several players who were hungry to prove themselves on the first team.
With at least three debuts and the best game this team has played in a while, we have quite a few individual performances to discuss. Let’s dive in.
Risers
Jayden Hibbert
In just his second first team start, the 2024 MLS SuperDraft pick again showed a lot of promise between the sticks.
Up against an Atlas side that managed 10 shots on goal, the 21-year-old Jamaican international came up with nine important saves and would have held onto a clean sheet if it hadn’t been for a deflected free kick at the end of the match.
I also thought Jayden Hibbert was very composed on the ball. Atlas put a lot of pressure on him at the back, and besides the one bad giveaway he had inside the box (which he ended up making up for with a save), he did a decent job of helping the team build forward through pressure. Drawing in the press and exploiting the space left behind is exactly how Ronny Deila likes to build up, so having a goalkeeper who is confident and good with his feet is important.
Of course, two games are still a very small sample size, and Hibbert needs some polishing to clean up some areas of his play, particularly his long distribution. However, what we’ve seen from him this season is very encouraging, as he may have to replace Brad Guzan as the starter in 2026 if the 40-year-old goalkeeper decides to retire at the end of this campaign.
Cayman Togashi
Having only seen him play 66 minutes in the MLS regular season so far, this Leagues Cup match against Atlas was Cayman Togashi’s best opportunity to show that he deserves more first team minutes.
And boy, did he take it.
There were many things that I liked about this goal — the 31-year-old Japanese striker leaping into the air like a salmon to win that header somehow and the way he started this play on the left side before finding Bartosz Slisz in the middle as an outlet for a switch of play to Nyk Sessock who plays the cross into the box (more on him later) — but my absolute favorite part was his celebration. He got up and energetically roared up toward the open Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof.
It might seem like a small thing that’s unrelated to his soccer ability, but I think that display of passion is significant. Ronny Deila has said several times this season that the team needs more “hunger” to go out and win games. I don’t know about you, but that looked like Togashi was very hungry for that goal.
Hopefully, he gets more chances to satisfy his appetite with the first team.
Nyk Sessock
The 25-year-old Philadelphia native was signed to a first team contract the day before this match and left an overall positive impression starting at right back.
His highlight of the night was playing the cross to Togashi for Atlanta’s fourth goal, but he had another couple of crosses that looked very promising, including one to Jamal Thiare in the first half that resulted in a blocked header.
Aside from providing good support in the final third, he was also defensively solid. I thought he did well to close down attacks from the right side, and his seven defensive actions were part of a very committed performance at the back.
With Pedro Amador and Matt Edwards likely out for at least another couple of games, Ronny Deila will probably look for Sessock to provide much-needed depth at the fullback positions.
Fallers
Before I get into this category, let me preface this by saying that it was hard for me to pick three “bad” performances from this game. I thought mostly everyone was solid, and I really had to nitpick for the most part to select my Fallers for this game. That being said, let’s jump in.
Will Reilly
Argh! Right after I included him as a Riser in my last column, Will Reilly had his worst performance of the season so far.
Reilly looked to be struggling on the ball at times during this game. He had multiple poor passes that led to turnovers and lost possession eight times. He wasn’t great in his duels, winning just four of 10, and just overall didn’t look like the promising midfielder we had seen flashes of earlier in the season.
He did have some good moments in this game, though. He created two chances, including one where he put Luke Brennan through on goal with a wonderfully weighted through ball, and had a whopping six passes into the attacking third.
To be clear, I still think he has the potential to be a very good player in MLS in the near future. Deila often praises Reilly’s determination and hard work, so I’m sure he’s going to be motivated to improve on this performance.
Tristan Muyumba
The 28-year-old Frenchman came on to start the second half and had yet another rough game.
For the most part, Muyumba looked highly uninspiring and wasteful with the ball. He lost possession often while attempting to dribble and played a few too many negative passes. Furthermore, he had very few defensive actions and ended up losing all three of his duels.
Atlanta United has long been missing a midfielder who can effectively break lines of pressure. When he first arrived in the summer of 2023, it looked like that could have been him. However, his decline since then has been disappointing, and it looks like new signing Steven Alzate will supplant him when he is available.
Brooks Lennon
This was a hard one for me because I thought Lennon was alright in this game, but I also couldn’t think of anyone else to include as my third Faller, so… sorry to all you Lennon lovers out there.
Defensively, I thought Lennon was fine. He had nine defensive actions and didn’t make any glaring mistakes, so that was good. If I had to nitpick one thing on the defensive side of things, it’s that he could have done a bit better in his duels (won 5/9).
For me, he needs to improve his decision-making in the final third. He played two inaccurate crosses in the match, one of which was nowhere near anyone at the back post. I think he needs to read those plays a little better and make sure he’s playing the cross to an area of the box where someone can get to it. Otherwise, it’s a wasted move.
Side note: I don’t know if someone showed him my last column, but Lennon almost shut me up with a banger of a goal early in the game. It was a good strike, and I credit him for trying it, honestly.
Do you agree with my choices? Post your Risers and Fallers in the comments below!
hot take – make Miggy a super sub or move him to the left. Saba has been sloppy at times, but i want to see Miggy run at tired legs and he’s been almost as equally sloppy, at times.
(i’m ready for the abuse lol)
if moved to the left, Brennan can be the super sub, but i think we try Saba on his preferred side again (less injuries on the team now). This will help us with our roster construction for the upcoming year at the very least
I’m not mad at the suggestion. Miggy has been…disappointing this season. Perhaps this will light a fire under him and help improve results.
I think Atlanta is better suited to play with wingers, but Deila’s system is to play with inverted wingers. Also I think Saba plays better on the right side and I also think he is a better match up with Lennon if we are going to keep playing him regularly. I think we are at a point in the season where we should be matching up players based on on field chemistry
Good list. I saw Lennon’s performance as pretty bad. He is predictable and slow in his decisions. His first touch lets him down a lot and his crosses just don’t find our players. I think we need to upgrade our wingbacks to play in this system.
I’m with you on the need to upgrade the wingbacks. I think it’s highly likely that this team completes the backline makeover in the offseason with two new starting fullbacks. I don’t see Lennon’s option being picked up, and Amador just hasn’t been good enough this season. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I’ve only seen the first half so far, but I thought Lennon’s game was markedly better, making good runs down the line, some progressive passes, the shot was actually a good shot. It’s still not good enough (he might as well not be on defense, I can’t remember the last time I saw him manage to block a cross), and I think we should move on from him, but it was better.
Especially given that hes a RB playing on the left, he had a fine game. This is definitely not the game to reinforce Lennon’s recent poor form.
Not that it changes anything big picture. He’s not playing at the necessary level to justify his contract.
I do wonder if he would play better with Saba than Almiron though. Saba being more of a vertical threat might suit Lennon.
Saba is the riser for me. Also, Muyumba was in the 10 role, so I dont think I’m giving much weight to that performance. He and Reilly shoukd alternate being first holding mid off the bench depending on game state/opponent.
RE Lennon’s crossing, In the case you are thinking of in the article, my recollection is that 3 players made a near post run and were all covered up. Personally, I cant blame Lennon for that.
I would put Guzan as a faller. I feel like what impressed me about Hibbert wasnt his 9 mostly easy saves, but how easy he was able to make some of them look by being more agile on shots from distance. He had 2-3 catches that I think may have been punches or deflections over the bar from Guzan.
Saba was one I seriously considered. I did not see Muyumba playing the 10. When Miranchuk left, I saw the team shift to a midfield 3 with Slisz in a single pivot and Muyumba/Reilly as dual 8s.
My risers/fallers are just taken from those who played in the game in question, but I definitely agree with your point. I have a strong feeling this season is it for Guzan, and I think there’s a solid succession plan in place with Hibbert. I also agree with your take on the difference in agility. When Hibbert gave that ball away inside the box, he did very well to smother the rebounded shot quickly. I think if Guzan is in goal, he doesn’t get there fast enough.
Even if there was a shift to Slizs as a pivot with Reilly and Muyumba as dual 8s, I think thats not really a recipe for success and not surprising that it didnt function as well as the first half, especially with a 3-0 lead in place.
Just happy we could rest Miranchuk.
I would add Brennan as a riser
Fair! I definitely considered him as he’s been in great form. He’s so close to getting his goal, too.
It’s so fun to watch him play.