Atlanta United and D.C. United took the field on Saturday evening. Soccer was played. And that’s probably the main takeaway from a disjointed 0-0 draw at the Benz. Here’s the instant reaction to, well, whatever that was.
A massive step back
From a possession standpoint, Atlanta had the majority of the ball throughout the evening. That’s Rene Weiler’s preference against his opponents: he’s comfortable to concede possession and have D.C. build out the back.
But, as we all know, possession means nothing if you can’t do anything with it. That rang true for Atlanta as the few opportunities it did have just didn’t see them connect on that final ball. (To that end. Atlanta’s best chance was a drive from distance from Cooper Sanchez in the 13th minute that Sean Johnson didn’t really struggle with. On other occasions, during buildup, teammates didn’t look to be on the same page. Fortunately, D.C. failed to generate much of its own, so it was a wash in the end.
tl:dr; This was bad. Against a more lethal team, I shudder to think what the final scoreline would have been.
Hopefully this isn’t bad habits returning
As fluid as the attack looked at times against the Union, it was anything but against D.C. Any momentum from the win from a week ago has been stopped — not only that, but the international break is ahead.
While this doesn’t go down as a loss for Atlanta, it certainly wasn’t a work of art. Let’s hope that when it takes the pitch in a couple of weeks, we don’t see much more of this.
I’ve got nothing else
As I said earlier, this was bad. I just hope the 30,000+ fans in attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch this one at least had fun, despite the on-field product.
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That was a tough one to watch. It couldn’t been worse, and we could’ve lost and I think previous year’s teams would’ve done just that. We just didn’t have any ideas to break down DCU’s defense and they were all to happy to sit back and let us do nothing with the ball. The few times we had the ball in transition, we were just slow playing it forward. He wasn’t the only one guilty here, but this is where Muyumba is the weak point in the midfield. He’s too slow playing the ball forward and doesn’t have the best vision in that regard. He’s been much better defensively than we’ve seen in a while, but he’s lacking as a playmaker or accelerator back there.
I’m not sure i’ve ever watched a more boring, lack-of-energy match in my life. So many lost opportunities, passing instead of shooting.
Honestly, I just want to see more shots. Just shoot the ball. We’re doing that “let’s continue to pass the ball instead of dribble into space and create opportunities” type of play and it’s a snoozefest.
Dribble, shoot, take a shot and see what happens.
How could the scouting for the DP’s be so horrible? Latte Lath in particular. He was supposed to have speed, agility, and aggressive play. It appears 0 for 3. The trial period is over. Admit the mistake and move on when you can. As for ELL he needs to wake up and it least act like he cares. If he doesn’t his paycheck will become much smaller and his legacy ruined. He shouldn’t play 90 minutes. Thus far he has been good for 30 at most. Come on Tata. Change the attacking third tactics!
You have to look at #10 and #59 as well…none of them worth shit
Not sure I’d phrase it that way…grossly over paid and not the best fit for their role.
Well, last year we would’ve lost this game, so at least we have that…
Last year, they lose that game from a poor breakdown or 2. While play in the final 3rd was pretty poor tonight, the team controlled the game. Am I a little disappointed? Yes. Am I still encouraged that the team is on the right path? Also, yes.
This is also a good game to learn from. They will certainly face this type of setup again, so use it as an example to build a way to break it down.
@Tyler Pilgrim, your hot take is definitely not happening. DC’s style of play may get them into the play-in game. No way they are finishing 4th with such negative tactics.
Well that’s 2 hrs of my life I won’t get back.
Back-to-back results at home!
I agree. Was figuring 2-2 tie off last game but loss was not acceptable. This is defensive improvement. Not enough almiron on the ball but he was not making correct runs to get himself on the ball either. Mira did not step up as playmaker when almiron was off. I remember tata saying we where a one trick pony in 2018. Mls has evolved enough that wont work anymore. Overall wad a good team game but this is where dp’s have to win you the game. Better than last year but not a “good” team
No one wants to admit that Philly was playing on short rest.
Literally a snooze fest. Slow, uncreative, and just plain boring.
So boring I left at 80 minutes.