Risers and Fallers: Brad Guzan saves Atlanta United from the Wooden Spoon

We made it, folks.

After a 1-1 draw to visiting D.C. United on Decision Day, Atlanta United’s catastrophic 2025 season has officially ended. You know what’s even better, though? Atlanta did NOT “win” the Wooden Spoon! They aren’t the worst team in MLS! Doesn’t this make y’all feel so much better?

Now that the season is over, this will be the last Risers and Fallers until the Five Stripes hit the pitch again in 2026. Hopefully, by then, we will have a lot more risers. I’m going to miss writing this column, but on the bright side, we have a busy offseason ahead to discuss for a few months.

For the last time in 2025, let’s dive into my risers and fallers!

Risers

Brad Guzan

One last time for the big, bald wall.

In his final professional appearance, Brad Guzan turned back the clock to give a vintage performance in front of the Atlanta United faithful. The 41-year-old former USMNT goalkeeper made five impressive saves, including a couple to deny his former Aston Villa teammate, Christian Benteke.

Also, I just want to say that it warmed my heart seeing so many people at the Benz for Guzan’s sendoff. Announced attendance for the match was 44,098 for a game between dead last and second to last over the Wooden Spoon. Playoffs or any chances at silverware were completely off the table, so it was great seeing all you 17s showing up to celebrate a legendary player in the club’s and league’s history.

Additionally, I want to give a shout-out to everyone who answered our call to leave messages for Brad Guzan. Y’all rock!

Miguel Almiron

This was not the storybook return that many imagined for Miguel Almiron ahead of the season. This team was expected to return to the MLS elite with the 31-year-old Paraguayan international leading the charge as part of the most expensive attack in the league.

Almiron frequently talked about wanting to give back to Atlanta the love that it showed him when he first arrived in 2017. While this season was dismal, Almiron did his best to give the fans one final joy with a fantastic half volley from outside the box to open the scoring in the third minute.

He then found the net again a few minutes later, but the goal was disallowed after he was deemed to be offside.

Miggy has been a somewhat divisive player in 2025, largely because he is receiving the third-highest salary in MLS ($7,871,000.00 in guaranteed compensation), despite producing only six goals and seven assists after 31 regular season games.

Despite being past his prime, I still think Miggy can have a resurgence in 2026 in the right system. I have long insisted that I see him as more of a 10, and I stand by the belief that he is currently the best 10 on the roster. I also think the team needs to play forward faster in transition to really make the most of both him and Emmanuel Latte Lath’s speed. There were a couple of times in this game where Miggy was very good on the break, dribbling through some traffic and trying to find penetrating passes, but he can’t do it all on his own.

We’ll see what happens in 2026 after he’s had a nice, long rest and a full preseason, but I’m not ready to give up on Miggy yet.

Pedro Amador

I haven’t been too high on Amador this season, but I have to admit he was solid against D.C. United. The 26-year-old Portuguese left back led the team in defensive contributions (11) and won a formidable eight of 10 duels. I thought he covered the left side very well during this game, often forcing the visitors to play an early cross or retreat away from the box.

Amador also got forward a lot, and I thought his interplay with players such as Latte Lath and Miggy looked overall very clean and interesting. His crosses are still very far from what they were in 2024, but his involvement did help progress the play through the left wing and half-space.

I’ve said in this column before that I think Atlanta should seriously consider any offers that come for him this winter, which I still believe to an extent. I’m still baffled by how hard he fell off between last season and now. Perhaps he can rekindle some of the 2024 Pedro Amador under the new head coach.

Fallers

Luke Brennan

You know how, at the beginning of the season, we were saying Saba should play on the right and was totally wasted on the left? Well, I think the reverse is true for Luke Brennan.

While both are right-footed wingers, Saba is a player who benefits more from being able to whip in crosses on his right foot. He is quick, can get to the end line, and cut the ball back inside. On the other hand, he is not very strong in 1v1 duels. He has just a 33.33% dribble success rate this season (10th percentile among MLS wingers) and a 39.4% duel success rate (14th percentile).

Meanwhile, Brennan’s 1v1 ability is better than Saba’s, having a 38.1% dribble success rate (30th percentile). While that may not seem like a massive difference, consider that Saba (1,938) played almost four times as many MLS minutes as Brennan (527), which greatly reduces the latter’s sample size. This is why Brennan operates better on the left, where he can cut inside with his dribbling to shoot with his right foot.

In this match, Brennan’s play was mostly about trying to send crosses in from the right side, which didn’t go very well. Only one of his seven cross attempts was accurate. Furthermore, because he is too right-footed, this positioning on the right side resulted in him having no shots, so his attacking contributions were very limited in this game.

I still think Brennan is very talented, and hopefully, we will see him develop more in 2026. His inclusion in this column isn’t about his long-term growth; just a bad game he had after being played in a position that wasn’t ideal for him.

Juan Berrocal

Man, I just had Berrocal as a riser in my last column, but his performance against D.C. was just uninspiring.

First of all, I thought he too often lacked awareness when defending inside the box. There were times when he wasn’t covering the right spaces as cutbacks were played in from the flank, which resulted in the ball crossing precariously across the goal. If D.C. were any more clinical, those opportunities would’ve become goals.

He was also incredibly imprecise at times when he attempted forward passes, which often led to cheap turnovers. With the high line that Atlanta was playing in this game, this can often leave the team exposed at the back during transitions, especially seeing as the defenders aren’t particularly fast. This happened a few times during the game. It also doesn’t help that Berrocal had a mere four defensive contributions and won just one of his six duels.

Berrocal is a weird case on this roster so far. Some of his performances (like his previous one against Inter Miami) make me think that he’ll be a good fit and solid all-around center back. Others, like this one, make me glad he’s only on loan until next summer. This lack of consistency from the 26-year-old Spaniard is very concerning.

Enea Mihaj

Much like Berrocal, I thought Mihaj struggled in this game. The 26-year-old Albanian international seemed a bit too aggressive at times to move up and challenge for the ball. Now, entering these duels isn’t bad in and of itself, but losing eight of his 12 duels meant that he was often pulled out of position, which opened spaces at the back for D.C. to exploit. This is especially problematic considering that, like Berrocal, Mihaj isn’t very fast. Wait a minute… TWO slow center backs? Whose bright idea was this?

In total, Mihaj had three defensive contributions after playing for 90 minutes. That’s very low for a center back. A big part of the reason for this was how often he ended up behind the play as D.C. flew forward on the break. In what should have been a retirement celebration for Guzan, Berrocal and Mihaj sure gave him a lot of work. The visitors managed 10 shots and a goal during this game, which is shocking considering they recorded the fourth-fewest shots in MLS this season (368) and the fewest goals in the league (30) in 2025.

Mihaj was signed through 2028 with an option for 2029, and Berrocal is on a loan from Getafe until June 2026 with a purchase option. With Stian Gregersen seeming increasingly unreliable due to his constant injuries, it seems that Mihaj and Berrocal will be the main center back pairing going forward. Both have shown the potential to be solid starters, but their inconsistency leaves some doubts in my mind. Hopefully, a full preseason together under a new manager will help them raise their level going into next season.

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!