Being completely honest, one would’ve been hard pressed to find a person who realistically thought Atlanta United would pull off a win – even in Mercedes-Benz Stadium – against this 2026 Nashville SC team. Though the Five Stripes just snagged a good win against Chattanooga FC in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, Nashville did something midweek that no MLS team had ever done: defeated a Liga MX team in the Estadio Azteca. That being said, it was admittedly a much more balanced match than I ever predicted. Ultimately, the deciding factor was once again Atlanta United’s lack of attacking production, and that’s all she wrote. Here are the final whistle thoughts from Mercedes-Benz Stadium as Atlanta United fall 2-0 to Nashville SC.
Missing Miggy?
Miguel Almiron being out for a couple of weeks was always going to throw a question mark into how Atlanta United played. In this case, Matias Galarza stepped into a pseudo-winger role while the true midfield consisted of Jay Fortune, Cooper Sanchez, and Tristan Muyumba. The build-up was, therefore, more cautious and patient than we’d typically see. Normally, at some point during matches, Miggy is trying to tear down the pitch and create some sort of chaos with the hope it’ll unbalance the defense, but that genuinely hasn’t been effective.
I’m not saying how Atlanta United played today, at least in the first half, without Miggy is the way, but there was certainly some more organization throughout the back and the midfield. The Five Stripes, if nothing else, were less predictable.
A Designated Player striker
I truly want Latte Lath to succeed, but fans are still waiting on him to provide whatever you like…goals, mainly. Good man, really great to talk to, and has lightning in his shoes. But the “no service” excuse simply won’t cut it. He’s wildly underperforming, and it can’t be chalked up to a lack of luck anymore. There were more than a couple of opportunities in this match he, at minimum, should’ve tested Brian Schwake. At one point early in the second half he had a golden chance that he took with his left foot, weak and directly at Schwake, that lacked MLS quality, much less Designated Player quality.
Bradley Wright Phillips, on our show last week, pointed out that it seems like Latte Lath is lacking confidence. That may explain why he felt the need to drop further back into midfield as the game progressed to find the ball, which subsequently led to him turning over the ball in the sequence that led to Nashville’s opening goal.
While I still contend a tried-and-true defensive midfielder should be Atlanta’s primary target, there should be very legitimate conversations about a buyout on Latte Lath. The lack of production is simply unacceptable.
TIP
He only performed a couple of songs but it was pretty sweet seeing T.I. perform here in the Benz. I know there’s been some frustration that maybe it feels disingenuous when the team is in such rough form, but I guess I look at it in a different way. Sporting Kansas City, Philadelphia Union, and like six other teams are all playing horribly and not a one of them is having a talent like T.I. still come in and play for the fans. From a fan perspective, I think it was a great way to honor HBCU night and Atlanta culture in general.
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Let us know down below what you thought of the match.
Agree that the “lack of service” argument doesn’t hold with LL. He makes atrocious runs and consistently puts himself in low probability positions to receive a dangerous pass. The number of times last night he was on the complete opposite side of the field with the ball in crossing position was insane. I get running off of the defenders backside shoulder, but not all the defenders… every singe time.
We r literally in the same spot (14th) we finished last year after the loss to Nashville…….enough said.
Ugh! Whatever. Nashville is not exceptionally good individually. But well coached and disciplened as a team.
I didn’t enjoy their style of play, but congrats to them, they are winning.
It helped that they didn’t have Sam Surridge otherwise the scoreline had the potential to be much worse.
Another week, another loss. That’s Atlanta United.