Atlanta United at Philadelphia Union: I, too, like broken hearts

Atlanta United took a jaunt up to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on Philadelphia Union in a battle for the bottom of the barrel Saturday night, and honestly, what did we just watch? The Five Stripes went down a man early when Enea Mihaj took a late chance on a tackle and was sent straight to the locker room, but Miguel Almiron would capitalize on the universe’s silly sense of humor moments later when he quite literally fumbled a ball into the back of the net. The half would come and go, and Philly would drop another goal before scrounging one back and forcing Atlanta United into a heart stopping final few minutes…in which they handled shot after shot until they could no longer. Philly grabbed those two goals in stoppage time to win 3-2, and here are the final whistle thoughts from a weird one in the city of brotherly love (lol).

3-4-3

I ain’t mad at the attempt. I wish fans would’ve been given a much longer opportunity to see Tata Martino’s full tactical tweak, but in the 25ish minutes before Mihaj was sent off, it wasn’t terrible. There certainly needed to be more consistency and danger in the final third, but what else is new? The change seemed to make the defense a tad more confident while allowing the width to be totally in control of how Atlanta tried to progress the ball. It’s no secret that Atlanta’s midfield is a far cry from being able to control a match, so Tata Martino made the conscious effort to just move a man back and make the build-up happen out wide.

I’ll take it, because in the absence of any incoming attacking transfers at the moment, Tata is clearly doing everything he can think of to change the match. My only gripe, which I stated before the match, was not running out Arif Kovac for a time early on. Atlanta United started this match at the bottom of the table, so what would’ve been the harm in placing the Next Pro Golden Boot leader in the starting XI? I’m glad he got his moment at the end of the match, but it would’ve been wonderful to see him integrated earlier.

Transfers

It’s pretty obvious this team needs reinforcements yesterday. Tactical changes and tweaks are all fine and good, but this team needs wholesale changes. I truly enjoy the fact that this team figured out a way to go up 2-0 while down a man, but there was no way any result in this match was going to erase the fact that Atlanta needs help. If anything, it’s an encouraging sign that Tata Martino’s squad hasn’t totally given up, but Philly is in the bottom of the barrel, too. They had an encouraging couple of matches, but this wasn’t an Atlanta United that found a way against Inter Miami or Nashville.

Also, spoiler alert, the lead didn’t last.

We’ll continue to scream from the rooftops the need for a defensive midfielder, a dynamic winger, and a striker. The dead horse has been beat, but there’s nothing else to say. Fix it.

That’s all for this one, let us know down below what you thought of the match!