Risers and Fallers: Tomás Jacob’s impressive debut, Miguel Almirón slowing down and more from Matchday 1

Welcome back to another season of Risers and Fallers!

Now that Atlanta United has returned to competitive play in 2026, we finally have something to sink our teeth into. The Five Stripes kicked off the new MLS Season with a 2-0 defeat in its visit to FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on Saturday, a bitter result that doesn’t tell the full story of a tightly contested match with many positives to take away.

From new faces impressing on their debuts to stars not quite delivering as expected, we have plenty to discuss, so let’s dive in.

Risers

Tomás Jacob

Long have we waited for Atlanta United to have a dependable No. 6, but the wait may be over with Tomás Jacob.

I was very impressed with the Argentines’ performance in this match. He covered a lot of ground throughout the match and was very involved in the team’s defense. He demonstrated a remarkable ability to read plays and snuff out danger as it developed. Jacob won 3/5 tackles and 7/9 ground duels throughout the match, often intervening in key moments.

My main concern with him is his passing. He completed 13/26 passes in this match — just 50% — which usually isn’t great for a midfielder, particularly your No. 6. However, I do like that he attempted several through balls forward, actually finding Latte Lath in behind one time. Many of them were either not played well enough or were cut out by the Cincinnati defense, but I liked seeing him try these riskier passes. I think that’s a part of his game that he can certainly be polished at his age, especially under a manager like Tata.

I don’t know if Tata is planning for Jacob to be the long-term No. 6 or how the potential arrivals of Matias Galarza and/or Franco Cristaldo will affect his role, but I think he is a good option at the position.

Elias Báez

“Hello Elías, welcome to Atlanta! I know you just stepped off a plane from Argentina and probably aren’t at 100% fitness, but can you play 90+ minutes against a really good Cincy team and defend against a winger who is incredibly fast and technical? Please? Thanks, pal.”

That’s how I imagine the conversation between Tata Martino and Elías Báez went before this match. The 21-year-old Argentinian left back had only started training with the team this week, missing the entire preseason as his transfer saga and visa watch dragged on. However, Martino was left with little choice. Dominik Chong Qui is still out injured for a few more weeks, and Pedro Amador’s green card process kept him away from the team until days before the trip to TQL Stadium. Báez was the only option, regardless of his fitness or preparation.

However, I thought Báez looked solid in this game. He posted 10 defensive contributions (2nd most on the team), including an astonishing backward heel clearance to prevent Cincy from having an easy goal. Báez had the complicated task of defending Ender Echenique, who reached the third-highest top speed in the game (32.89 km/h), for almost the entire 90 minutes and almost managed to keep him quiet. I have to give him credit for that.

Báez also attempted several progressive passes, showing very good attacking initiative. Although they didn’t always hit their mark, the ones that did helped kickstart some promising forward moves.

Like many of the players we saw on Saturday, Báez needs to work on some things, but I think he’s going to improve as he trains with the team some more.

Cooper Sanchez

I’m not going to lie, when I saw Cooper Sanchez in the lineup, I was worried. After all, is a season opener against a tough FC Cincinnati side really the best time to start the 17-year-old in midfield?

But Sanchez silenced the doubters (even me) with a strong performance. He pressed with intensity, kept plays flowing forward, and made intelligent moves off the ball to help the team. He made a few mistakes — understandable for a young player who basically got thrown into a trial by fire — but he didn’t look like a kid overwhelmed by the moment. As we say in Spanish, no le quedó grande la camiseta (the jersey was not too big on him).

At the team’s training session on Tuesday, I asked him what Tata said to him before the game and what feedback he got after. Here’s what he said:

“He told me just to play my game,” Sanchez said. “I think I’m a simple player, I like to keep the ball, I think I’m really good in pressing actions as well… just to kind of go out there and be myself. After the game, he said, ‘Good job, good work,’ and then I think one thing he told me that I could improve on was to be more of a protagonist in a sense. To not give the ball away every time, take my own chances at some points, and add goals and assists to my game.”

I completely agree with Tata’s feedback there. Sanchez looked good and didn’t have any major mistakes, but he also played relatively safely. He clearly has talent and needs to trust himself to take more risks. If he can “be a protagonist” like Tata says, Sanchez could be a very fun player to watch this year.

Fallers

Miguel Almirón

Man, watching Miguel Almirón running around the pitch with Tata on the sidelines really took me back. I felt like I was back in 2017, watching my first game at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

However, much has changed since those sweet memories. Specifically, Miggy has changed.

At 32 years old, the Paraguayan international no longer has the explosive speed that he once relied on to breeze past defenders and terrorize defenses. Excluding goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos, he put up the team’s sixth-lowest top speed in the match (29.74 km/h). It was glaringly obvious when he would try his typical knock-ons and fail to get ahead of the defender, or when he was outrun by Miles Robinson while chasing a long ball despite having a slight headstart on him (which, to be fair, also speaks to how good Miles is).

I think Almirón was also slower with his decision-making at times during this game. It felt like he’d hold onto the ball just a fraction too long at times, leading to a turnover or a receiver running in behind being called offside. Maybe it’s just early-season form, but he needs to be quicker on the ball if this team is going to be successful in attack.

I will give him credit, however, for getting some shots off.

Saba Lobjanidze

When I saw Saba run down a ball, dribble inside, and curl a shot toward goal in the first half, I thought we were about to get vintage Saba back. Y’know, the one who went into Inter Miami’s house in 2024 and made them cry with a couple of screamers?

But other than that one moment, he didn’t really do much. He created next to nothing, held onto the ball too long, and just didn’t seem to have a cutting edge in the final third. He had a very promising chance in the second half where he was almost 1v1 against the keeper, but he put his shot just wide.

He’s also still on set piece duty, which I’m not a fan of. His deliveries rarely impress.

Saba’s main asset is his speed. Seeing him running around, pressing, and charging into duels made me realize why Tata seems to rate him. However, for as useful as all of that is, he needs to have some sort of end product as a forward.

Emmanuel Latte Lath

This is supposed to be Emmanuel Latte Lath’s get-right year. It has to be after the club’s massive investment in him. However, he didn’t start his 2026 season on the right foot after being a ghost against FC Cincinnati.

Sure, the service to him wasn’t great, but neither was the service to Kevin Denkey, who broke the deadlock in the 80th minute. Both played 90 minutes and had about the same number of touches, with Denkey’s 32 marginally higher than Latte Lath’s 29. The main difference is that Denkey had four total shots in the match, including a goal, a save, and one that hit the post. Meanwhile, Latte Lath just had two, and neither one came close to testing Roman Celentano.

Now, to give Latte Lath a bit of grace, Cincinnati’s defenders are really good. That back three cleaned up a lot of Atlanta’s attempts to get in behind, whether by cutting out through balls or blocking the route to goal. Latte Lath’s best chance in the game came when Jacbo played a perfectly weighted through ball in behind, and he latched onto it only for Teenage Hadebe to shut him down when he tried to dribble past him. He could have absolutely done better on the dribble, but you have to give a lot of credit to Hadebe for his work on defense.

I’m not as much of a downer on Latte Lath as some folks are at this point, but he has to start showing he’s worth that lofty price tag Atlanta paid for him last year.

What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments and drop your risers and fallers for this game, too!

Plan Your World Cup 2026 Trip to Atlanta

Explore the Complete Guide →

Quick links to our Atlanta World Cup guides:

MARTA

Hotels

Bars

Restaurants

Things to Do

Fan Zones

Soccer Scene

Tickets