At this point in the season, Atlanta United not only needed to win every game but be the recipient of some spectacular failures by a few teams above them in the conference standings. But it really isn’t about that, is it? The Five Stripes are not a complete product, so fans realistically just want to see the team head into the offseason with a group of players who look as if they train together often. They want a team that wins inside their own stadium, and doesn’t concede silly circus goals. Saturday night’s match didn’t do a whole lot to provide hope for those fans, but it did provide a smorgasbord of goals. It just so happened that Chicago Fire had more of them. Here are the final whistle thoughts from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Do it for the fan
Everyone’s aware that this team’s chances of actually pulling off a miracle and squeaking into the playoffs is minimal, so the least the team could do is pay off the fans who’ve actually continued to show up to the Benz. It all began well enough, as Miguel Almiron and Tomas Jacob combined for an early open-play goal, and it was legitimately a fun one to watch. Miggy looked honestly like vintage Miggy for a while. It was nice.
Then came the lull, as Atlanta slowly but surely conceded possession and looked more disorganized as the minutes passed. Chicago would equalize in the 30th minute off a corner given up by a collision in the box that didn’t go Lucas Hoyos’ way. Despite Atlanta’s best effort to go ahead a short time later, Embolo’s potential goal would be foiled by none other than the keeper’s chicken nuggets.
Ultimately, the best play of the game was the team and the Georgia Lottery giving out like $200,000 worth of cars and vacations. I could do a lot with a cool 50 grand, even.
Play spoiler, be difficult
This final stretch of matches isn’t about forcing some misguided notion that the team will click and end the season on a cool high with hollow victories. The players that the front office knows will be returning next year need to develop their chemistry. The rest don’t need to see minutes anymore. Whatever identity Tata wants to instill in his guys needs to get a full head start, because this club has quite the distance to cover before the word “good” even becomes part of the conversation again.
In the meantime, this group needs to look inward and figure out what it truly wants to be. At minimum, be annoying and obnoxious to play against. Be the bad guys, and make other teams hate Atlanta United. Embrace it, and let it become the common denominator that gets these players working as a full unit.
Lucas Hoyos
I never like singling out one player for a bad performance, but this one was rough for Atlanta’s keeper. All three Chicago goals were directly due to decisions he made in his own box. An indirect free kick in the box is one of the rarer events in the game of football, and yet Hoyos picking up a back pass is exactly how Chicago scored their final goal. The one prior to that was a terrible pass off a goal kick leading to an immediate turnover and shot. The only one that’s sort of excusable is the first, with the aforementioned collision, but he absolutely has to be better there.
Jayden Hibbert should be getting minutes. A goalkeeper isn’t the position a coach, front office member, or fan wants to worry about, and yet Hoyos hasn’t been good enough all season. The indecisiveness in and around his box is unforgivable.
Let us know below what you thought of the match.