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!
Am I tripping? I thought I saw a yellow card issed to either Maritno or a bench player early in the first half. Was Chapman just kidding?
I don’t want to put the blame on just one player, but have you guys noticed everytime Hernandez comes in, we give up goals? Very strange…
The Hernandez/Alonso pairing was deadly in this game – for us. Hernandez allowing crosses to whomever Alonso was pretending to guard.
Is it too soon to call Alonso another bad signing?
United is setting new standards for screwing things up in the Atlanta pro sports community.
I have thought offensively, we could do better in a 3-4-3 formation, but we need at least 3 MLS-starter level talent for that.
We need to start thinking about sacrificing small animals like our ancestors did to get rid of the bad mojo hanging over this team.
Clearly, one of our players stole Jobu’s rum.
Please do not rush buying stupid contracts. This season is lost. Get your shit together and build a better and sustainable roster. Patience. Please do not panic buy anyone like years past. (No, “we’re back, baby” nonsense)
At this point, let’s just go for the Woodenest Spoon and set a new record for fewest points
We’re down so many players due to transfer or injury that we’re regularly bringing in short-term players, and our bench was still short. Most/all of our highly paid players are dead weight. We’re playing our 4th away game in a row.
Then we go down a man in the 27th minute.
To expect anything other than a loss at that point is absurd. The fact that they managed to lead the game all the way to stoppage time is more than could be expected.
Totally agree that we were playing with house money, but to go from 2-1 up to 2-3 down in the last few minutes is just unacceptable no matter the context, imo.
I kinda saw it coming once Hernandez came in and he couldn’t figure out where he was supposed to be in relation to Edwards.
True. That side of the defense was particularly shambolic.
It was tough watching them give it all up and lose at the end but this game is hard to play down a man, especially for 63 minutes. And to have the lead for the majority of that is pretty uncommon. But Philly found ways to break us down, a very tired and overly pressed defense. Tata needs to sub people out sooner though.
And besides the obvious, holy crap our RB options are bad. Sorry Edwards, you’re not it. Sorry Hernandez, you need a supporting cast to hold anything over there.
And forget a 3-4-3, why not bring back the tried & true 4-2-3-1…sign Arif and give him minutes at striker, utilize a true 10, we already have a handful of 6/8 combos and a back 4.
I LOVE BEING AN ATL SPORTS FAN 😁😄😃😀😊