Another day, another loss as Atlanta United traveled up to Chicago and utterly failed to throw a bucket of water on a lackluster Fire squad. To be fair, it wasn’t anywhere near as frustrating as last weekend against Columbus Crew, but the lack of results is compounding and fans are struggling. The Designated Players aren’t producing, the squad is struggling to be a cohesive unit, and the excitement is waning. Here are the final whistle thoughts from Atlanta United’s 1-0 loss to Chicago Fire.
Saba
Saba’s effort, no matter what you say, is there. He bleeds for the crest and he at least gives you something in the attack that’s sheer piss and vinegar. I’m here for it. Don’t get me wrong, I truly wish the team could play some complete football, but it’s nice to see a dude go out and just leave it all on the pitch. At this point, I’m all in on letting the backups just have a go. Let Luke Brennan, Cayman Togashi, and Saba Lobjanidze be the front three for a match or two. The almost $50 million worth of players aren’t fully making things happen, so what do you have to lose by just rolling out the guys who are hongry?
Midfield
Ultimately, I feel like the midfield is going to continue to hold this team back until a true number six is brought in. And I mean a guy who was like…born on June 6th of 1996 or something. This person should live and breathe the six. The number six kit should call them in the middle of the night and say “Hey…whatchu up to? Wanna hang out tonight?” That’s how close this next signing should be to actually being a lifelong defensive midfielder.
Designated Players ain’t doing it
This doesn’t need much explanation, but the pressure is the pressure and if you want to call it a privilege, own it. I want nothing more than Latte Lath and Miguel Almiron, especially Miguel Almiron, to succeed. But right now, they’re doing a grand total of not much of anything. They’ve had a bunch of decent moments but the stats that matter, the goals and assists – and wins – aren’t there. The two buyouts are lingering for this team and the summer window isn’t far away. If the Five Stripes aren’t in the top half of the league by the World Cup break, there should be some very tough conversations happening about how those buyouts are utilized.
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Let us know below what you thought of the match down below.
Dax said a few things last night that ring true:
Defn might as well let young guys play.
Forgot who said it (I think it was Henry), but I would really love to see Miranchuk get another shot at the 9. His movement and IQ are elite and his finishing is the best on the team. I know a mobile striker is the Tata way, but at this point, sheer finishing ability needs to be the priority.
Why is Brennan sitting the bench so much? Is he still recovering from the accident?
Every DP needs to be gone asap.
The 1-0 scoreline is an illusion – this team lost by 3-4 goals. I don’t understand anyone finding positives about the level of play right now.
The interplay between Galarza, Baez, and Miggy seems to be relatively good. It’s just not producing anything, and they tend to get stopped by the final line.
I am so disappointed with Lath. He’s supposed to be fast, but he gets beat on long balls constantly; he’s supposed to have decent touch, but can’t control the ball to get decent hold up play; he’s supposed to be a prolific goal scorer, but hardly seems to have any decent shots, much less goals. Part of that is admittedly the service, but he’s not helping things any by not being in good positions or making good runs to get a shot off.
Any update on Miranchuk? As I mentioned before, at this point we are just better focusing on winning the US Open Cup because the MLS season seems like a bust at this point.
“Excitement waning”; “top half of the league”…..both statements made me laugh out loud.
Funny that anyone still thinks this is a talented roster underperforming. Remarkable that one could think the FO built this unusually talented and underperforming roster but somehow just hasn’t gotten the manager right…when all a successful manager would need to do is read the social media tips for the obvious changes and we’d be winning. This roster has the personality, drive and soccer iq of a turnip.
Fire the entire FO; ban Spector from ever working in soccer again.
The problem is that there are only 2 buyouts permitted, and this team needs at least 5.
And that is because we’ve been too afraid to actually use our buyouts on poor performers last year when we could’ve gotten rid of 2 deadweights.
Offense is non existent. Passing in the final third is painful to watch. I have to wonder what they do in practice as they are almost never in sync. Miggy is really playing poorly with pass after pass off target. ELL is a complete bust (no speed, little agility, often in the wrong position, and shows no effort to create space) who needs to be sat down for a game. Saba tries hard but loses the ball often. At least he seems to care. How can a team of high priced players be so bad? How can so many players show no enthusiasm for their team? Yes I am a very frustrated fan (yes they are still my team). Atlanta deserves so much better. Arthur please send another apology letter as you are not keeping your commitment to this city.
Is the talented squad in the room with us?
Would love to get Santiago Castañeda to play the 6 but not sure if Paderborn will try to keep him around if they get promoted.