Two teams walked into Mercedes-Benz Stadium, kicked the ball around for just over 90 minutes, walked off, took a shower, and went home. And that’s pretty much Atlanta United’s 0-0 draw against D.C. United in a nutshell. So how about those player ratings?
As a reminder, here’s the ratings scale:
- 10 – world-class performance
- 9 – elite performance
- 6 – average
- 5 – slightly below average
- 3 – well below average
- 1 – poor in every level
Lucas Hoyos
Lucas Hoyos still worries me when he has the ball, so that’s why I docked him a little in my rating. He did end up with a fairly alert save that kept it scoreless and ended the night with a clean sheet. Although, that was more down to D.C.’s playstyle more than anything.
Staff rating: 5.5 | Community rating: 4.5
Tomás Jacob
A bit of an unremarkable evening attacking-wise for Tomas Jacob, who had an open near post to shoot at in the second half and completely whiffed on it. He was also 1-for-5 on cross attempts. That said, he enjoyed a good night defensively, which, again, was probably more down to D.C. deciding to sit back.
Staff rating: 6 | Community rating: 5.8
Elías Báez
Like Jacob, Elías Báez struggled to cross the ball effectively from his spot on the pitch. But, like Jacob, he didn’t offer D.C. enough opportunity to work when it did choose to attack, doing a good job of frustrating Tai Baribo throughout the evening.
Staff rating: 6 | Community rating: 5.8
Stian Gregersen/Enea Mihaj
Good, if not remarkable, performances from Atlanta United’s centerback pairing. Again, of course, D.C. didn’t do a whole lot on the evening, anyway. I did dock them a little for being much too slow to react on what amounted to D.C.’s best opportunity of the night on the hour mark.
Staff rating: 5.75 | Community rating: Gregersen 6.2/Mihaj 5.76
Matías Galarza (Man of the Match)
The best of the midfield trio for Atlanta United on this night. Plus, he had one of Atlanta’s two shots on target. Man of the match because I’m not sure who else to give it to.
Staff rating: 6 | Community rating: 6.29
Tristan Muyumba
I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Tristan Muyumba this season. He was OK again on Saturday, but shades of the old one came back at times as he was unable to help Atlanta break through D.C.’s low block. That’s not to say he was terrible, though: he passed at a 91% clip and was credited with 11 passes into the final third.
Staff rating: 5.75 | Community rating: 5.64
Cooper Sanchez
It wasn’t as good as his performance against the Philadelphia Union, but Cooper Sanchez put in another decent shift for the team. I don’t see him leaving the starting XI any time soon. (He did have one of Atlanta’s two shots on target, too, and finished 41 of 47 passing)
Staff rating: 6 | Community rating: 6
Alexey Miranchuk
Someday, Alexey Miranchuk will show a sustained uptick in form. We didn’t see anything resembling that on Saturday.
Staff rating: 5.25 | Community rating: 4.9
Miguel Almirón
Like the rest of the attack, indecisive and imprecise with the final ball. Regressive performance for Miguel Almiron.
Staff rating: 5.25 | Community rating: 5.7
Emmanuel Latte Lath
Unfortunately, a goal against the Union didn’t do much to spark Latte Lath against D.C. and he was back to his “old” self — which, unfortunately, has been relatively ineffective.
Staff rating: 5.25 | Community rating: 3.7
Steven Alzate (65’)
Had 32 touches in 25 minutes and put together a rather innocuous performance.
Staff rating: 5.5 | Community rating: 5.1
Saba Lobjanidze (74’)
Saba had the opportunity to have a positive effect on this match. He didn’t.
Staff rating: 5.5 | Community rating: 4.8
Fafa Picault and Pedro Amador (88’)
No rating. Limited involvement in the match.
Tata Martino
You can’t say Atlanta United limited any D.C. chances because of the way D.C. tactically approached the match. Tata Martino, though, needed a different attacking approach from his team to break through a compact D.C. defense that sat back all evening long and wasn’t able to come up with one.
Staff rating: 5.5 | Community rating: 5
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When Jay is back, fully fit, and assuming he puts in the same level of performance to before the injury, who does he replace in midfield: Cooper or Muyumba? I can see it as an upgrade either way, but do you go for energy or experience?
We know what Muyumba is already. Ineffective.
Sanchez is an unknown
So, Fortune over TM
Muyumba’s run of form lately has been much better though he still makes a few mistakes from time to time. Let’s not act like Fortune will somehow be better out of the gate. He’ll likely just be added into the mix with him and Cooper splitting time.
I think Fortune is a better 8 than 6, and Muyumba has been more consistent as a 6 than Sanchez has been in his role as an 8. I’d guess we see Fortune rotated in with Sanchez until someone establishes themselves as a consistent performer there.