Atlanta United vs. Columbus Crew: Staff, community player ratings after a 2-0 loss

The frustration of Atlanta United fans is rarely more evident than when we release our player ratings form after every match. That was the case after the 2-0 loss to the Columbus Crew, where Atlanta struggled in the first half but looked decent in the second, albeit finding themselves unable to generate anything that would challenge the Crew defense. As I mentioned a few days ago, I’d expect a much different-looking team coming out of the World Cup break.

As a reminder, here’s a look at the rating 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 – Staff rating – 5.5; Community rating – 4.16

I’m not pinning this loss on Hoyos at all. Perhaps if he had a better defense in front of him, we’d be having a different discussion today. That’s not to say he was perfect.

Elías Báez – Staff rating – 5.25; Community rating – 3.83

Báez isn’t a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. But he needs to be providing more on that left side than he’s been providing.

Juan Berrocal: Staff rating – 4.5; Community rating – 2.33

Berrocal was pulled out of position on the first goal and was punished in the ratings because of it, receiving the largest share of 1s among the team. While I think rating him a 1 is extremely harsh, he was defintiely below standard.

Enea Mihaj – Staff rating – 4.75; Community rating – 3.1

Mihaj doesn’t deserve nearly as low a rating as Berrocal received. That said, he didn’t cover himself in glory against the Crew.

Tomás Jacob – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 4

Like Báez, Jacob isn’t a bad player. Like Báez, he doesn’t show enough on his side of the pitch that can affect matches the way you need him to.

Jay Fortune – Staff rating – 5.5; Community rating – 4.7 (Man of the Match)

The fact that Jay Fortune received the man of the match award with a sub-5 rating tells you all you need to know. That said, the fact he even received a score under 5 is puzzling. Fortune was far from the issue with this team on Sunday.

Tristan Muyumba – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 3.94

This is an interesting score because the numbers show that Muyumba didn’t perform badly. For what it’s worth, he completed 58 of his 61 passes and was credited with five defensive contributions. But a bit more was needed from him, though.

Cooper Sanchez – Staff rating – 5.25; Community rating – 4.27

Not a terrible day for Sanchez, but not a great one, either. I felt he was trying to take on too much during this one, leading to his decision-making suffering a little bit.

Luke Brennan – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 3.44

Brennan had 13 touches in 60 minutes of action. I’m not sure that’s entirely his fault.

Saba Lobjanidze – Staff rating – 4.75; Community rating – 4.61

I can’t stop thinking about Saba’s free kick that led to a counter-attack the other way, and how he was completely turned around by a Columbus player when trying to defend. Not his best performance by a long shot.

Alexey Miranchuk – Staff rating – 5; Community rating 3.61

Miranchuk wasn’t nearly as active in this one, credited with only one chance created. Not good from the lone DP to start this match. We’ve had this conversation before about him, though.

Miguel Almirón (SUB) – Staff rating – 5.25; Community rating – 3.94

I’m not judging Almirón too much in this one. It was good to see him back on the pitch over a month after his knee injury against Chattanooga FC in the U.S. Open Cup.

Sergio Santos (SUB) – Staff rating – 5.25; Community rating – 4.06

I’d love to see more of Santos on the pitch. He actually had one of Atlanta United’s two shots on goal on the afternoon, in case you weren’t aware.