Atlanta United put up a poor effort against the New England Revolution in a 4-1 loss in Foxborough, their fifth straight loss to the Revs and their sixth straight winless result (0-4-2). As you might expect, the community ratings were absolutely brutal to the Atlanta players.
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 – 4.75; Community rating – 2.48
This is going to be a controversial take but…Lucas Hoyos wasn’t terrible against the Revs. Sure, a four-spot is always a bad mark on your record, but when you take another look at the goals, they were either well-taken or saw Hoyos hung out to dry. I’m not sure Jayden Hibbert does much better, to be honest. (Hoyos did have a bit of a scary moment in the second half as he mishandled a shot from Griffin Yow.)
Elías Báez – Staff rating – 4; Community rating – 3.25
Another rough night for Báez. He’s had his share of those since signing for Atlanta United. I’d almost rather Pedro Amador at this rate.
Matt Edwards – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 3.48
Edwards failed to generate much from his crosses, going 0-for-4 in accuracy in that department. He also went 3-of-7 in ground duels on the night.
Stian Gregersen – Staff rating – 4.75; Community rating – 3.24
Stian Gregersen himself wasn’t exactly a standout performer, but he didn’t do much to call attention to himself for the wrong reasons. But that scoreline…
Junior Alonso – Staff rating – 4.75; Community rating – 3.52
Junior Alonso was brought in to help improve the Atlanta United defense. I’m not sure through two matches that he’s done that, but I’m going to withhold full judgment on him.
Tristan Muyumba – Staff rating – 4.5; Community rating – 2.92
Woof. A rough night all around for Tristan Muyumba. He’d actually shown some improvement for Atlanta United this season, I though.
Cooper Sanchez – Staff rating – 4.75; Community rating – 3.4
An off night for Cooper Sanchez, whose errant pass led to New England’s third goal that made it 3-0 and essentially put the match away.
Will Reilly – Staff rating – 4; Community rating – 2.76
Will Reilly’s worst performance by far. This team needs a strong option at the No. 6 and has needed one for a long time.
Miguel Almirón – Staff rating – 6.5; Community rating – 4.12 (Man of the Match)
He had two really good chances in the first half and finally scored a consolation goal in the second half. But I can’t help but think that prime Miguel Almirón would be walking off the pitch with a brace at the very least.
Alexey Miranchuk – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 3.52
Alexey Miranchuk finished with an assist on Almirón’s goal. As we’ve mentioned with him numerous times, though, he needs to be more of a threat all throughout matches.
Fafa Picault – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 2.84
Fafa Picault was somewhat unnoticeable in this one with just 36 touches. He’s obviously not a DP, so he can’t be judged by the same standard as one.
Ronald Hernández (SUB 69′) – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 4.08
Nice run from Ronald Hernández late in the second half to help set up Miguel Almirón’s goal.
Enea Mihaj (SUB 79′) – Staff rating – 5; Community rating – 3.42
Tough to judge Enea Mihaj’s performance, especially as a late-match substitute with the score 4-0. At least the Revs didn’t score again?
Cayman Togashi (SUB 79′) – No rating; limited involvement in match
Cayman Togashi entered the same time as Enea Mihaj, ending the night with just two touches.
While I agree the community rating of Hoyos was somewhat harsh it was closer than the staff rating. Sitting down on the first goal with no attempt to get up shows lack of heart. His distributions are abysmal and slow giving the team no chance for quick counter attacks. He is not a leader as keepers need to be. It’s just a paycheck for him without loyalty to the team, fans, and the city.
Actually I think it was the second goal where Hoyos stayed seated.
While some of the community ratings may be harsh, the staff ratings are a bit generous. The entire team played like crap and appear to be okay with finishing last. At this point a full reset and shakeup of the squad may be in order (keeper, striker, wings, 10, whatever) since it probably can’t get any worse. I’ll renew may season tickets, but I don’t know why I am doing so.
At this point I don’t know that I care whether Hibbert would do better than Hoyos (I think he would have a slight edge on saving some of those tougher-to-reach shots) – what I can tell you with certainty is that he will not become better sitting on the bench at 21 years old watching a 37-yo keeper on his way to retirement… And when that day comes, we will look around and ask ourselves “now what?” because our replacement options will be the backup with less than 1000 minutes or add another row to the ever-growing list of positions we can’t seem to fill properly.
Agree. In other sports, when the season is lost the focus of a team often shifts to player development – seeing what you have on your bench. I think it’s time for AU to start playing Hibbert to see if he can be the guy between the sticks next season. He seems to be pretty good at shot stopping, but is shaky with the ball at his feet. He needs game reps to improve in this area.
We also have a Golden Boot front-runner with AU2. Time to bring him up and let him play with the 1st team, to see how much of his success with the 2s can carry over. There are other young players we should be evaluating more at the MLS level.
It’s time to do it. We aren’t making the postseason this year.