Bonjour!
Atlanta United returned to MLS play this weekend after the Leagues Cup break, but it ended up being a case of déjà vu as the team’s positive moments in the game were not enough to secure all three points in a 1-1 draw to CF Montreal.
After this rendezvous with a disappointing regular season, here are my picks for Atlanta United’s Risers and Fallers.
Risers
Alexey Miranchuk
If you have only just begun reading my work, you might think I’m the world’s biggest Alexey Miranchuk fan with how much I’ve praised his recent performances. I’m not — I assure you — but I have seen myself having to give him more and more credit for showing up when it matters most.
He did it again, just minutes from the end of Atlanta United’s recent visit to CF Montreal when he headed home to salvage a draw.
Shortly after this, he very nearly stole all three points with a shot that smacked off the woodwork.
But his shooting isn’t the only reason I’m picking him as one of my risers for this game. He was also one of the team’s top chance creators on the night, racking up three key passes and two accurate long balls that helped the team find good avenues of attack.
By scoring in this game, Miranchuk now has five goals in his last seven matches across all competitions. He’s in extraordinary form and undoubtedly the best performer of the team’s DPs.
Saba Lobjanidze
The Georgian winger was one of the honorable mentions for my last column after his spectacular free kick goal in the 4-1 thrashing of Atlas FC last week. He didn’t get on the scoresheet this time out, but he was still one of the most impactful players on the field.
Despite having to play on the left wing, where I think he is significantly less effective than on the right, Saba led the team in key passes (4) and created two big chances.
Perhaps his best moment was this mouth-watering through ball to put Brooks Lennon through on goal. Saba’s vision to pick out the pass is excellent, and he couldn’t have executed the pass any better.
With Saba igniting his creative spark and likely being on most set pieces for the time being, the Five Stripes will surely continue depending on him as a key part of the attack.
Juan Berrocal
We got some debuts in this game!
With both Steven Alzate and Juan Berrocal cleared to play prior to the match, we got our first looks at both in the second half against Montreal. Alzate barely played, but Berrocal got a solid 25 minutes where he looked very promising.
On the defensive side of things, I thought he did very well to win both of his duels. Something that stood out to me was the way he would pick out potentially dangerous passing lanes into the box and cut off the player that was on the ball. One of his first plays after coming on involved him tracking a cutback target, which forced the ball carrier to hold the ball and eventually recycle it back out.
But defense wasn’t all Berrocal brought to the game. He displayed an impressive passing ability, which allowed the team to break forward much faster and create better chances. The best example of this was the beautiful lobbed ball that he played into the box for Ronald Hernandez, who made a diagonal run before knocking it into the path of an incoming Saba Lobjanidze. The play didn’t result in a goal, but it was a taste of what we can expect from the Spanish defender.
Mind you, this was his first match with the Five Stripes. He hasn’t even gotten to train with the team yet, and he is already reading some of his teammates’ tendencies. Berrocal’s ability to play effective progressive passes such as these reminded me a lot of our first looks at Enea Mihaj. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when both of them are on the field together.
Fallers
Emmanuel Latte Lath
Look, when you’re the (former) MLS record signing who was purchased at a $22 million price, you’re expected to be able to finish.
So when you don’t score from chances like this…
… or miss after giveaways like this…
… it’s not a good look. With just seven goals and an assist in MLS, this season has been far below par for Emmanuel Latte Lath. At this point, it may be a confidence issue given how poorly this season has gone for both him and the club.
Maybe he needs a nice vacation at the end of the season before coming back for his second full season in MLS. Players like Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge and Orlando City’s Luis Muriel struggled when they first joined their respective MLS sides, but this season they’re balling out. If Latte Lath can have a similar bounce back in 2026, I’m sure we’ll see him deliver on the hype he entered the league with.
Tristan Muyumba
Three in a row, huh, Tristan?
Muyumba was without a doubt Atlanta United’s worst player against Montreal. I counted at least six misplaced passes on top of his several turnovers throughout the match. He was non-existent at the back, posting a mere three defensive actions and showing an alarming lack of awareness by allowing Caden Clark to sneak behind him on Montreal’s goal.
Just watch how Clark (Montreal’s No. 23) catches Muyumba ball-watching and gets around him easily.
He had one bright spot earlier in the game, though. His little flick-on to put Latte Lath was really cool, but that was his only real involvement in the attack. It was the one real positive of a poor performance that forced Ronny Deila to sub him off at halftime. With Will Reilly entering the match, the midfield noticably improved.
Then we got this gem from the postgame presser:
Quite simply, if a player isn’t 100% fit, he shouldn’t play. Although Reilly had a rough game in his start against Atlas, I absolutely think he could’ve started this game and been an overall net positive over Muyumba.
This performance follows a string of poor performances from the 28-year-old Frenchman, who at this point might be emerging as a prime buyout candidate for 2026. And to think we thought he was the Nagbe replacement back in 2023…
Derrick Williams
Yeah, Derrick Williams only played like 15 minutes, and no, it certainly wasn’t his worst match, but I’m including him as a faller because he really is on the decline.
The 32-year-old Irish defender just doesn’t have the pace to keep up at this level, and I think we’ve mostly seen the last of him as a starter. Deila even prefers to play Mihaj and Gregersen, both right-sided center backs, in a back four rather than start Williams.
One moment of the game that stood out to me for all the wrong reasons was an Atlanta United corner kick in the 89th minute, just 14 minutes after Williams subbed on. The Five Stripes lost possession, and he just seemed to jog back with no real urgency. With relatively fresh legs. I mean, come on, man.
Williams’ contract expires at the end of the season, and given that he’s being paid close to $500,000 while delivering very little on the field, I highly doubt the team picks up his option this offseason.
What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to share who your Risers and Fallers are for this match!
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“flexing the clutch gene” sounds very painful…jus sayin
i would add hibbert to your risers as the only edit to this article. maybe he hasn’t played enough minutes yet, but he has really looked solid.
Alexey’s jeans are blue
and apparently stretchy
I’m not sure Latte Lath is falling. He is already at rock bottom, so it is more like sustaining. Guy needs to get away, clear his head, and come back next year ready to go.
How can a player (LL) show great touch, good ball skills, ability to get open and super speed and then all disappear after 4 games?
Shitty coaching?
Enjoying these articles and I cant find a single thing I’d disagree with this time around.
Im expecting a 60/30 split with Alzate and Reilly next match. Id love to see Alzate start, getting 30 minutes should put him on track to start beyond thay.
I’m concerned ELL is struggling with the spotlight that comes with being “the guy”, and having the transfer fee record for half the season. But I do also think the higher profile players may benefit from a mental reset and a winter window to refresh the depth pieces.
Its crazy that were in that position after what feels like a 6 year rebuild, but I think thats the reality with this group.
Thanks! We’ve had this discussion in the discord, but I feel like this team tried to force a “win now” mentality for most of those 6 years when the reality is that the squad has never really been good enough for that. Many of the signings made look in hindsight like temporary fixes to big problems.
I think this window and the last are helping truly rebuild. There’s a new CB pairing, a new starting striker and a reinforced midfield. You’re likely to see two new starting fullbacks in ‘26, which would complete the backline rebuild and probably a winger.
I think the jury’s still out on the DPs, but it’s encouraging to see some positive signs from the new players brought in to hold down positions in the long term.
Yeah, I remember being told last season that we were “MLS Plus” or better at every position on the pitch, meaning every starter was at least above average for MLS.
That didn’t turn out to be true, even though the front office probably believed it. I can’t remember for sure, but that comment might have been made before the Analytics department was fully up and running. At least I hope it was.
Agree that the rebuild didn’t truly begin until the last two cycles, as it is hard to really say you’re rebuilding when you don’t know who your coach will be because you haven’t hired them yet. I wonder how much input Delia had with signing LL. We did that about 2 months after we hired Delia, so he may or may not have had full input. LL seems like he may be a bad fit for the system.
I like the leadership and ball progression i’ve seen so far with Berrocal and Mihaj and Stian appears to be better with them than Derrick. I agree, Derrick looks tired most of the time even though I can still see some heart in him. I’m just thinking he isn’t fit enough to be a starter and it’s rare to see CB’s get subbed out like we have been doing.
Alzate still needs more minutes to evaluate. So far, looks like another midfielder. Destroyer? Not seeing that but maybe he wasn’t the Destroyer everyone keeps talking about? Given Slisz’s recent form, maybe he’ll remain the 6 and Alzate goes to 8? Maybe switch to a 4-3-3 and he’s a RM?
I agree that Alzate didn’t look very destroyer-like against Montreal, but again he played like seven minutes so not a huge sample size. In theory he’s being brought in to be the more defensive midfielder.
I said it on his signing article, I’ve seen Alzate play, he is not and never will be a destroyer. He is a deep lying playmaker who could just as easily play a more attacking role. He is a connector/distributor who keeps a team ticking. I’d presume the aim is to have him and Slisz acting as double pivots with Slisz probably being more box to box. Alzate should be a very good MLS level player – he will drop into pockets of space and look to play tidy forward balls and has very good technique. A sort of lesser Michael Carrick (for those who would have seen him play).