When Atlanta United 2 named Jose Silva interim head coach following Steve Cooke’s abrupt departure last summer, any improvement would’ve been considered a massive success after the 2s had been bottom-feeders in two different leagues throughout their history and were on track for another season of futility having won just three of their first 16 games in regulation before Silva’s midseason takeover.
The results the team got from then on far exceeded what most observers even thought possible. Silva doubled Cooke’s regulation win total in just 12 matches and brought the Five Stripes within a point of the playoffs, a goal that usually went out of reach after a month or two. Giving Silva the permanent job was a no-brainer, and he proved that his interim spell was far more than a “new manager bounce” when he led Atlanta to third place in MLS NEXT Pro’s Eastern Conference and the playoff berth that had seemed unattainable not even 18 months ago. For the first time ever, Atlanta could feel that success was a dream rather than a delusion.
Unfortunately, those dreams were crushed just as quickly as they materialized, as an inexperienced 2s side failed to capitalize on a barrage of chances and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs 1-0 against CT United on Friday.
Even though Connecticut are an expansion team and were naturally also making their playoff debut, they have a much older squad than Atlanta and aren’t pressured to provide development opportunities for an MLS club because they aren’t affiliated with one. The lights initially appeared to be too bright for a 2s side playing what could be argued is their first genuinely meaningful game ever, as CT United’s main man Barnabás Tanyi opened the scoring inside five minutes following Atlanta’s failure to hold their shape in the box.
To Atlanta’s credit, they remained unfazed after the early setback and actually had the majority of the quality scoring chances throughout the rest of the game. But inexperience once again reared its ugly head, as the young group lacked the composure and quality in front of goal to finish any of the numerous chances they had. Atlanta took 18 shots, only two of which were on target but eight of which were blocked, and forced CT United to make 14 clearances. But those stats don’t tell the whole story; far from it, in fact. There were plenty of instances that didn’t get recorded on the stat sheet where the 2s, who completed almost 250 more passes than their visitors, found themselves in a dangerous area but either made the wrong decision or took too much time to make one at all and spurned what likely would’ve been a quality chance.
While Atlanta’s comparative lack of experience proved to be their undoing in this match, it bodes well for the future because that means the team’s budding core is still very young, and getting this taste of playoff experience should accelerate their development even further. The experience has given the 2s justifiable ambitions for the first time, but Silva said the remarkable progress the team has made in such a short time has created a minimum expectation and is essentially meaningless if they don’t sustain it and use it to keep improving.
“I think this year was really important in establishing the standards for the seasons ahead and setting a benchmark that our players can aspire to reach,” Silva said. “We achieved our first playoff appearance, showing everyone what is possible. Now, we need to build on that success and set our sights even higher in the coming years.”
Atlanta’s long-awaited playoff debut may have ended in heartbreak, but the future is incredibly bright for a team that just a season ago seemed incapable of ever climbing out of darkness.