The tifo tried to warn us

You have to admire 53,000 people watching a tifo malfunction and collectively hoping, “Nah, it’ll be aight.”

I genuinely feel for the many Supporter Group members who spent hours working on that tifo only to be let down by something out of their control – I know many of them and I genuinely hope the Benz can get this thing worked out – but it provided perhaps the best metaphor possible for Atlanta United’s 0-3 start.

To set the stage, Dominique Dawes, Olympic gold medalist from the 1996 Atlanta Games, stood on the capo stand in front of 53,000 people ready to hammer home the Golden Spike. Despite the first two matches of the season, the hype was rolling. But the spike wouldn’t sit properly in the holder. There was a fumble – a legit accidental one – but one of those moments where the energy in the building kind of flickered before everyone just decided to push through it. Steve Craig and the halo board filibustered for a moment but the spike went in, the fans carried on, we ride.

Then the tifo went up…kinda.

The Supporters Section unveiled their tribute to Tata Martino’s return. The man was depicted as the Terminator, sunglasses and all, with “Tata 2.0: Come With Me If You Want to Win” stretched across the banner. The right side (looking from the rest of the stadium) pulled taut and climbed toward the rafters, but the left side sagged. It hung there, half-raised, not quite right, while smoke billowed around it and the light show did its best to make up for it. From the press box you could see the reaction ripple through the crowd. It wasn’t like…gasps or groans, it was just small clusters of people turning to whoever was next to them and grimacing. Like full on emoji 😬

About 25 minutes later, Real Salt Lake scored twice in four minutes, and suddenly it felt like the Triforce of soccer god shenanigans had punk’d everyone in the Benz.

The metaphor here basically got laid out for us when the left side of that tifo just failed to launch. It’s so frustrating because Atlanta United’s 0-3 start to 2026 hasn’t been one consistent flavor of bad. It’s been three different varieties, like the ice cream machine in the press box, which might actually be more frustrating than if the team had just been straight terrible. The tifo acted like it was going to go up with no issues.

At Cincinnati in the season opener, Atlanta looked like a team with some semblance of a plan. The backline was at least somewhat organized. Elias Baez and Tomas Jacob were fairly composed in their debuts and for 80 minutes, Atlanta kept Cincy scoreless against a Cincinnati side that finished second in MLS points last season. Then Kevin Denkey did what Kevin Denkey does while the defense got caught in no man’s land on a break. Then Nick Hagglund headed in a corner to make it 2-0 in the final 10 minutes, but it felt like at least there were some positives.

Unfortunately, it then it became obvious the tifo was, in fact, having some issues.

At San Jose, that progress went totally down the drain. Hoyos’ distribution via a simple pass from his own box gifted Jamar Ricketts a chance to set up Preston Judd’s opening goal. Atlanta’s attack was just nonexistent and everything sucked – yes, that’s analysis. Timo Werner came off the bench (AHAHAHA) for his MLS debut and assisted Ousseni Bouda to seal the match at 2-0. But like…the rigging on the tifo would eventually just GO UP, right? The Scarves and Spikes xRage meter definitely did.

Saturday rolls around, and it’s the home opener where Tata Martino walks the touchline as head coach at the Benz for the first time since 2018. Everyone in the building was ready for some philosophical reset, but they basically got a train wreck.

Sergi Solans scored his first career MLS goal in the 23rd minute after an Atlanta turnover and kinda fast break, with Juan Berrocal admittedly running about as fast in defense as the left side of the tifo. Aiden Hezarkhani, practically still a child, made it 2-0 four minutes later with a strike across his body into Hoyos’ near post. I’m pretty sure the carcass of the tifo, of the Supporter Groups’ hard work, was just lying there rolled up behind the sign boards, and it was hard not to see the metaphor writing itself in real time.

Metaphors don’t always cooperate, though. This one decided to get complicated because remember, the right side of that tifo did what it was supposed to do.

After almost a full first half that essentially packaged every one of Atlanta United’s worst tendencies into 38 sad minutes, Alexey Miranchuk decided to drag this team somewhere it hadn’t been all season a.k.a the back of the net. Alexey was making his first start of 2026 after coming off the bench in the first two matches. He scored in the 38th minute to pull Atlanta within one…for all of two minutes. That was the club’s first goal of the entire 2026 regular season, and it was reciprocated once again by Real Salt Lake scoring again as Zavier Gozo delivered a banger of a shot after Elias Baez stepped up the left wing too far, leaving Juan Berrocal to give Gozo far too much space to operate.

From there, it was even more of an uphill battle for the Five Stripes, but in the 74th minute, Latte Lath did something we need to see more of this year. He broke quickly from his marker, received the ball on a wonderful pass from Tristan Muyumba and controlled it perfectly before playing the ball across goal, and Miranchuk was there to slide it in. It was 3-2 and the Benz had some life. The 17s, who had spent the first half just willing this team to -poke- do something, had some hope that an equalizer was coming. I mean it never happened, but the hope was there. Just like that tifo.

Both of Miranchuk’s shots on target went in, and he appeared composed. Both of his goals came from being the late runner into and around the box, which is something he’s genuinely found success with in his time in Atlanta. If the first two matches were evidence that Atlanta’s $45 million attack didn’t have a heartbeat, at least Saturday was Alexey grabbing the defibrillator.

But the tifo was still hanging there, half finished. The goals were cool and all, and Alexey was certainly one of the best players on the night, regardless of the two times he hit the back of the net. None of that changes the fact that Atlanta United gift-wrapped a two-goal head start AT HOME to a team that started an insanely rotated lineup AT HOME.

The defensive structure that looked so promising for 80 minutes in Cincinnati hasn’t held up. Hoyos’ distribution has been a recurring problem. The transition from midfield into the attack is still a step off (though admittedly getting better). Latte Lath is confusing to watch right now because he’s clearly talented and capable of moments like the assist on Miranchuk’s second goal, but he’s also clearly struggling to be the consistent sword-point of this attack on a weekly basis. And Miggy, bless him, might be a bit unlucky this week, but truly struggled last week.

The tifo was supposed to stand tall and be a beacon for those who’ve been jonesing for Tata-ball since December of 2018. Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was supposed to feel like a homecoming, and don’t get it twisted, the community aspect of the day was right. The building was full(ish) and the fans were on one. Tata stood on the touchline and I really do think you could feel the weight of what it meant, for him and for the supporters who spent years watching other coaches try and fail to recapture what he built the first time around. He said it best in the post-match press conference, though.

“The result put a damper on things but it was incredible being here again.”

Martino said before the season that truly reshaping this roster would take quite some time and three matches in, that timeline feels accurate. He reiterated, though, that he believes in this project and that these are just the first steps. Plus, if you’re looking for optimism, the schedule offers a bit of a lifeline. Philadelphia is next on Saturday, followed by D.C. United and Columbus, all at home. Atlanta won’t leave the Benz for a while, and if they can gather some momentum in the next three they could make great strides in unscrewing the screw that’s started the season. It all only matters if the defensive breakdowns stop, though, and if the attack can generate consistent chances (and finishes).

Alexey starting did legitimately change things, plus Matias Galarza, who came on in the 59th minute for his debut Saturday, adds midfield dynamism that simply wasn’t there in the first two matches. There are real reasons to believe things improve from here, but right now, three matches into the Tata Martino comeback, Atlanta United looks a lot like that tifo. The intent is right and the vision is there and you can see what it’s supposed to be. It’s just not all the way up yet, and everyone in the building knows it (and is blaming that stupid rigging).