Atlanta United kicked off the 2026 MLS season on Saturday with a 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati. The Five Stripes, after their busy offseason, employed a bit of a shocking lineup with the inclusion of Cooper Sanchez over “veterans” like Tristan Muyumba, and with a center back pairing of Juan Berrocal and Enea Mihaj. Don’t underestimate the depth, though, as Atlanta stepped out of the gate actually creating opportunities and looking like a cohesive soccer team. Near the end of the first half the pressure began to taper off, and ultimately what was a pretty equal battle turned drastically in favor of the home team. Here are the inaugural final whistle thoughts from Cincinnati!
Identity
Regardless of the result, the team had an identity and at least tried to stick to it. That’s leaps and bounds better than anything fans saw in 2025, and it’ll likely pay off for Atlanta more often than not. In a hostile environment after a raucous offseason, Atlanta United defended well for most of the match and took opportunities when they were presented. On paper, they were admittedly the more dangerous side in the first half and it was very clear what type of style they were wanting to play.
The midfielders seemed adamant about playing in those quick, forward passes to try and break loose Latte Lath (or Miggy or Saba), and that’s exactly what you want to see. They have to finish those chances, though. It has to be said that at least this opening match saw the Five Stripes doing something where they all seemed to have the same idea, but it simply wasn’t enough to take the day.
Halftime
It’s always intriguing to me, the philosophy of the halftime chat.
It seemed like this one was quiet. Atlanta exited the locker room and never fully became the protagonists. To their credit, they tried to play in transition moments and had some half-chances, but a few of those moments were canceled out by players suddenly losing their footing inside the box. The game stayed 0-0 for too long and the home team was bound to snag a decent chance at some point, and sometimes the formula is that simple.
It’s tough because this was such an unexpected starting lineup, it’s hard to say if/how Tata could’ve made changes any quicker. But it seemed pretty clear by a few minutes into the second half that the changes needed to occur sooner than later. When the subs were made, it was already an uphill battle.
Miguel Almiron
I love Miggy. But he struggled mightily to get going tonight. It may be a mixture of bad luck and rough decision-making, but the Paraguayan Prince just seemed a bit off in moments where you expect more. And perhaps some of that is Miggy and Miles Robinson’s history and Cincy making it a point to shut him down, but for much of the game it felt like Atlanta was one Miggy moment away from breaking loose.
It goes without saying but here in a World Cup year, Miguel Almiron will be striving for greatness. Here’s hoping he settles in and plays his own game instead of feeling like he has to shoulder the weight of both Paraguay and the city of Atlanta.
Playing against a very good MLS squad that had already played a meaningful game (and dominated it) and on the road to boot had me hoping for a draw. We nearly got it.
Still a lot of work to do, but some encouraging signs as well.
My dear Atlantista friends are very positive, and I like that. Still, to my tired eyes, Atlanta was waay too MLSsey. No real shape, and defense seems very willing to facilitate the opponent´s life. Almiron needs better company, and a better place. He´s 32 now, and should be the playmaker, backed by a solid 5. Maybe Franco Cristaldo, the Gremio player that seems to be in talks with Atlanta could help. And please, no more Soviet Mechanic, or the usual Muyumbas. My tired eyes don´t deserve that kind of punishment anymore.
Best of luck, and Tata will sure change, and evolve. And I thought this Cincinnatti team is very beatable, if you only can play faster,
Best regards
M
Thumbs up especially to pls no more soviet mechanic …..
New guys look good, the team has a clear identity, midfield looks like the best in years. Lot’s of positives and things to look forward to.
Disappointed w the final result. Absolutely optimistic with future of this team. I enjoyed watching a clearly defined style of play with players clearly understanding positions, objectives, responsibilities and tactics. The on field communication looked good to me. I like the starting player decision. The coach now has a better idea with what he is working with and where focus on improvement needs to be. More time is needed. I believe team needs improvement in the air. Offense and creativity in the attacking third not there yet. I liked mirranchak coming off the bench bc he is currently a 2nd string caliber player and needs to play in way that adapts to this system and also EARNS 1st string. Im seeing a competitive team in the making. Kudos to cinci well played. FIFA needs to revert back to immediately raising the offsides flag.
It is utter bulls*** to see a flag raised so late. I have never agreed w that change. Incorporate technology its there.
The flag change has been one of the best rules implemented imo. Imagine if that goal was onside but the linesman put the flag up early virtually stopping the play. If it was onside after the replay, we would never have known if it would have been a goal or not, essentially taking away a clear chance for us to score.
I cannot disagree with you. I can see the advantages of the rule. My opinion and perspective are from that of a long ago retired player, former ref and coach and seeing this rule change pan out : the referee needs to get it right, call it in real time, properly manage these scenarios thus the game. It is not always easy. Certainly there have been games where this rule – ruled in a non offsides and the outcome was just and also in my favor. Mistakes go both ways historically some goals should be some goals should not. In this way this is the beauty of soccer. Carma in some cases. The better the referee, the better he can be equipped to make the correct call , the lower the risk of extended play causing an undue injury and the higher a fair outcome. Id rather go back to the old rule and in addition see teams overcome poor calls to achieve the win – not through crying and attacking the ref but through superior play overcoming all odds. I think if fifa can change simplify the definition of when a player is off or on ie whole body vs partial body / even on/off and better equip the referees w capable technology it would be a better system of managing this. From what i understand this is being looked at and partially incorporated.
A few thoughts. For a 17 year old, Sanchez played incredibly well. I thought we lost our stability when we brought in Muyumba and Alexy. His movements, quick play, and calmness were very mature.
Jacob looked solid and appears to be a great addition. The through ball to play Latte Lath in was a thing of beauty. Liked Baez’s defense. He should settle in better with more time.
Not a great start for Hoyos. Wasn’t called on often, but when he was, he made some poor decisions with his aggression. He also gave away the ball way to much. I like being aggressive periodically with long balls to try to create a counter, but he played it to no one a few times resulting in a quick turnover of possession.
It pains me to watch Miles completely shut our offense down. The kid deserves the DP tag. He was everywhere last night.
Overall, I like the progress. Directionally, we look like we are headed in the right direction. Feel disappointed with the loss, especially after how well we started. Having said that, I recognize that we were playing away in against one of the top teams in the league that was motivated with it being their opener and having played in the champions league already. So it is a loss, but one that should create optimism.
I thought we looked good at the beginning. A lot of good take aways. Had we scored 1 of our many chances early, this would’ve been a whole different match.
Well, our best seasons have all started with losses. Glass half full 🙂
We knew that the new (‘old’?) identity under Tata was going to be one where focus more intensity in attack and leave yourself open to dangerous counters. You beat that by making sure you score more than the opponent. So we will need to figure that out early on.
Lots of season left
42 total comments in the opening match thread… that alone should be a serious alarm for how far our club has fallen in the last few years.
I really hope it’s recoverable, but from my optic, the summer transfer window is about the most optimistic thing I see this season. Just sad.
I guess you were not around towards the end of last season. I think the last couple matches barely got to double digits and it was only 4-5 people commenting. 42 is a HUGE improvement
Edit: I just double checked. Our last match of 2025 against DC had 5 total comments. So definitely a huge improvement.
Yup – by the end of last season, I had checked out. The interesting comparison will be the comments on the opening game of the season comparison… that’s what I was trying to say feels vastly different from any year prior.
Defense didn’t look too bad 90% of the time, just two costly mistakes. Offensively, the team looked very disjointed. It kind of looked like the backline as a gear was going at one pace, the midfield gear is going at another rate, and the attacker gear at another speed. So occasionally two gears would sync up, but we never got all 3 gears synced up.
Definitely not the start we would have liked, BUT I liked the intensity and can see the opportunities. Tata will get them to perform as good as this roster can in pretty short order. He just needs a few more transfers to get the roster he needs (just hope it’s enough to get us hot by late summer and moving into the last part of the season). I believe he can do it!