Five Takes On The Five Stripes

The one where we are held together by duct tape and defiance

1: It’s very hard to be critical of the team’s play when they are just hit with injury after injury after injury. We’re so injured that Mikey is on the pitch. I mean we are coming to the point of not being able to have a full bench without 2’s call ups which truthfully, Mikey would normally be which truthfully is probably a big reason why the 2’s aren’t doing so well. However, what you cannot do is lose your head at the end of the match and make contact with a ref (who was crap). This was as emotional a game as we’ve played. So much so that cool headed Pineda got a red. It’s not good from Pineda and it’s really not good from Almada who has been outstanding and we really can’t afford to lose anyone else. 

 

2: Not just any set piece, but the first set piece. Plus an injury. Columbus got their boots to the 2nd as well. Would I still rather us be more shored up on open play defense? Yeah of-course. But damn are set pieces killing us. Teams are really taking their chances against us because I think they know it might very well be their best chance to catch us out. 

 

3: This is heartbreaking for Gonzo. We’re not getting a good luck at what he can really do. He’s in survival mode. This team is held together by duct tape and defiance. I think Pineda is a good coach. I think his tactics and style fits this team. I think he’s got the players (what’s left of them) playing for him. I just hope he gets just as much credit for keeping this ship afloat as he would if it was full sail and we were sinking everyone else. I hate this for him. 

 

4: I don’t know what it is about Atlanta that seems to bring the best performances out of lesser opponents, in particular their goal keepers, but it happens all the time. If that little combination and flick in the 30th doesn’t result in a goal, and the shot from Cisneros in the 68th, yeah….. it was gonna take a bicycle from Dom 😆. I don’t know what else to say. World class saves from Room who ironically enough, gave none for a goal. Man of the match performance from him. 

 

5: Admittedly, I’m getting a little frustrated with the turnout from the fans. I get when a team is crap and doesn’t play well, and you’re not putting an attractive product out on the pitch, your club isn’t going to bring in a crowd. But we’re not crap. We’re not playing badly. But I also get that the casual fan doesn’t care and only sees goals and results. Still, I think we have a really intelligent fan base in this city that understands the game intimately. Credit to the fans that are there. Big credit to the supporters section who can still be heard loud and clear. I just hope the majority understand what this team is right now and why, and support doesn’t waiver further. It would be one thing if we had everyone available to us and it wasn’t clicking. That’s quite clearly not the case. This team is giving us everything, including Josef for 45 which was in no way the plan. 

The one where we are off beat, but not beaten.

1: Not a good stretch for Alan Franco. Is his overall play horrible? No. Not really. But his mistakes are costing us goals and potentially points. Defending is a hard life. As a forward, you’ll make mistakes, but they’re not likely to cost your team the game. When a defender makes mistakes, it can be everythibg. Alan is making too many. And his mistakes are for the most part a result of not being switched on, and not a lack of technical ability or a miss-hit ball. 

 

2: Felt like two different matches after the restart. Prior to the delay we were closing down space, preventing service into the box and forcing turnovers. After the restart we were not sharp and Nashville exploited that. We really have not figured out how to defend against two strikers up top. Nashville has been a very difficult opponent for us. Feels more and more like a proper rivalry. It gets spicer each encounter. 

 

3: Once again, neither goal is really on Shuttleworth. Those calling for Roco to come in will be calling for his ousting the minute our back line makes mistakes that set him up to fail and he’s scored on. Truth be told, Joe Willis was the far sloppier keeper. It was infact, his mistake that lead to our 1st goal. Nothing Bobby did resulted in a goal for Nashville. I’m sure there’s a lot of cross over in the “Guz out” “Shuttleworth out” Venn diagram. 

 

4: We are badly missing Miles and George Campbell. The communication clearly isn’t happening on the back line and now when the mistakes are happening, Miles isn’t there to clean things up. With George getting healthier hopefully we will see him starting again soon. 

 

5: I think I was a little harsh in saying that the mentality of the team was fragile after last week’s match. Yeah I’d love to jump out to an early lead and then hold it, but this is now multiple games where we have come back from a trailing position to get a result. That’s not nothing. And this was a weird game. With the lightning delay, the inconstient officiating and then especially the whistle blow at the end when a clear 2v1 opportunity was developing, a road result here is a good result. We are still right in the mix despite being a far cry from our best. We are infact, scoring a good amount of goals. That actually speaks to the determination and no quit attitude of the team inspite of all of the circumstances and bad damn luck. 

The one where our forest is fire proof

1: Tremendous response after losing Miles. I’m absolutely gutted for him. Looks he he’s done his Achilles too and will then most likely miss out on the World Cup. I really didn’t see much different in terms of our attacking play today. We just finished chances. If you want to point to anything that’s different in this game I suppose being better positioned for opportunities in and around the box would be it. But the build up and chance creation was pretty similar. 

 

2: Set pieces are still an issue but at least we cleaned things up after that first goal. It’s still maddening to concede like that so often but at least we’re not consistently leaking goals from the run of play. 

 

3: There were some out there who wrote off Cisneros early on. It’s almost as if players shouldn’t be written off after just a couple matches in which they are playing with different teammates each time. He’s been getting better and better each game and then today he hits a hatty. They were all great finishes. Real striker goals. He was confident on the ball and positioned well to either receive the final ball and have a go or clean up a deflection or save. You might even say the goals were Josef-esque. Let’s be clear, it’s still Josef’s job but let’s be happy we’ve got our own Ronaldo in the meantime. 

 

4: Shuttleworth has been very good so far. He looks like a very calm presence in the back. His short distribution game is quite good. He’s got no fear in playing it short with defenders close by. Today he made good passes that got the attack going from our own end. He even hit on most of his long balls. He also made a fearless save towards the end of the second half. The front office deserves a lot of credit for going out and getting a veteran keeper as a backup. His experience and mentality is going to be very important for us going forward. 

 

5: If pressure makes diamonds, “we gon’ shine”. The goals were great today. Goals beget goals. It builds confidence. Thankfully we have a nice run of home matches. Now how we deal with the injuries I do not know. It’s massive. It’s never ending. They are serious real factors. We, as a fan base have got to understand how difficult it is to build consistency when you have none. Losing both Miles and Caleb is gonna suck. Hopefully Caleb is just a knock but he wasn’t able to continue. With Mulraney now gone, we’re gonna be a little thin. 

The one where Montreal still has an impact

1: 🎵Heyyy we’re 2/3 there! Ohhhhhh, this is hard to bare. 🎵 Over the past few matches we’ve seen progression. Today was a regression for me. That doesn’t mean we played like trash, but it wasn’t better. 

We played well in the first 45. We more or less had control of the match. We created the opportunities to create the opportunity. However unlike the previous three matches, it wasn’t the finishing that was missing today, it was the final pass. 

 

2: Some curious play from Araujo. I don’t know why he felt like trying to hit a 25 yard curler was his best option. I’ve got no problem with a shot on target from downtown. Thiago damn near had GOTW, but not when there’s better options to the left/right. We know he’s skilled. We know he’s got got wheels. He can be a real problem for the opposition. None of his immense skill was on display today tho. Perhaps he’s still coming back from injury, but in his own words, he said he’s 100% and we should be prepared to see a different version of Luiz. 

 

3: Alan looks better physically and technically. His situational awareness and decision making is still catching him out. He’s gotta be better at reading the game and being turned on in the big moments. The silly yellow card is another good example of just needing to play smarter. 

 

4: Oh good grief here we go with set piece vulnerability again. Credit to Montreal for the trickery they deployed but we HAVE to be switched on in these moments. I really feel like it has been better this year, but today was not good. 

 

5: You can see the players are doing what I think Gonzo wants. We’re not playing badly. But we are still lacking that killer mentality. Maybe we need to implement a policy of no more cake until we start burrying chances? There is no denying that the lack of results is ramping up pressure on everyone. There’s plenty of soccer left to play, hopefully with a healthy Josef, but goals build confidence. Results build confidence. Both have to come and soon. 

The one where we inHERRONly have bad luck

1: Cisneros’ best start by far. I really would not write this guy off yet. Is he gonna have double digit goals? No probably not. But can we get some production out of him until Josef is back? Yeah absolutely. I think I prefer him starting to Dom. I like Dom coming as a sub when the situation calls for it. Jackson is also still an option but his performance in MLS hasn’t been good enough to justify starting. He will get opportunities tho and he’s gonna need to capitalize on them big time to see more minutes. 

 

2: Everything everywhere all at once is the best way to describe injuries and bad luck with our club. Hopefully Dom isn’t seriously hurt and the staff is just being cautious (which is understandable) but man, we just can’t get anything to break our way. And yeah, title winning teams, on top of being very good, have things just go there way too and that isn’t happening for us. It really is the little things that are keeping us from results. 

 

3: Gotta be happy with set piece defending and productivity this season. We’re only a third of the way through season and we’ve already scored more off dead ball situations than we did the whole of the ‘21 season. We now look like a team capable and maybe even likely of scoring off set pieces, especially in swinging corners. 

 

4: Action around the box looked great. The passing was quick and crisp. We created space that created chances. Thiago and Moreno combined well. Passing around the box looke great. Once we were in the final third we were going straight to goal. Once again, the finishing is a problem. Thiago and especially Brooks are not natural finishers but regardless, they both had opportunities that have to be put away. 

 

5: We now lead the league in times fouled and apologies from PRO. 

The one where we need to finish what we started

1: There is no way, absolutely no way you can say Atlanta United played poorly. I’d argue that we looked better in the attacking phase (which was often) without Josef. We dominated the ball. We controlled the run of play. We could not buy a goal. We had an XG of close to 4. You’re gonna have to miss me with any Gonzo out takes. This game was crying out for Josef. It was custom made for him. Yup. It’s a factor that he wasn’t there. 

 

2: George Campbell is a fist choice defender. He’s earned that. He’s now had back to back to back games where he’s made saving tackles and blocks. He’s still making potentially costly offensive errors but those are becoming less frequent too. 

 

3: We gotta figure out Moreno and Almada. For me they’re still not combining like we need them to. Almada is still most productive centrally while getting frequent touches on the ball. So is Moreno. If that can get sorted out, and we have someone up top who can finish off what they create, well then we’ve really got something. 

 

4: A 👏 C 👏 L 👏 We now lead the league in fouls won and injuries incurred. Has to be. I don’t know if we need to do a sage burn over the whole of the city but we seemed to be cursed. When Guz went down it looked like an ACL tear to me and given his age, if that’s the case, the Guz Out crowd might get their wish sooner than expected. Thankfully we do have a veteran backup but we have also lost our third stringer, also due to an ACL. 

 

5: Kaaaaaaannnnnnnnn. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due and Alec deserves it. He’s always been a tremendous shot stopper and he showed it tonight. On top of saving the penalty he was solid all night. His distribution might still be lacking, but Cincinnati has to be happy with him thus far. I’m happy for his success. Just wish it wasn’t against us. 

The one where DC cannot stop the steal.

1: Thiago looked very good for his first start. Apart from producing another GOW, there’s not much more he could e done to get a goal tonight. He was very involved in the attacking play. He was eager to take players on, won his duels, stole balls and played several good balls into Moreno and Josef and Jackson. I think he’s going to develop into a big chance creator for us. He’s acclimated to the team very quickly and we’re all the better for it. 

 

2: Really happy that we’re getting more production out of our set piece opportunities as well as being able to defend them better. We’ve scored off a hand full now and we defended corner after corner tonight. Gressel out like 10 dead balls into the 18 and somehow DC didn’t convert on any of them. That’s impressive considering how often we have conceded from corners in the past. 

 

3: Guzan was massive again tonight and Alan Franco was at times a liability. Alan has been very up and down. Considering he was initially a DP signing we really need him to be more consistent and steady than he has been. 

 

4: I would like to see us be able to spring counter attacks quicker and more effectively. We can get an intiial ball out but then we hold up the play too often. We’re not a counter attacking team but we can do more with those opportunities. 

 

5: I love to see Moreno on the dribble, just maybe at better times. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes off it’s beautiful watch, but there’s just a few instances when he should lay it off instead. That aside, he was very good once again and had the game winner! Considering how often we was kicked and hacked at, he had a great performance. He’s the new Barco in terms of being on the receiving end of fouls. 

The one where we find our ”foot”ing late

1: When you strike a wounded animal it’s going to either roll over and die, or lash out one last time. Montreal came in full gas with the knowledge that a two week break to rest and recover awaited them. They looked lethargic at first, but after their first goal they played with a speed, fluidity and intensity they we simply could not match in the first half. 

 

2: In stark contrast to the March “Make your own luck” scarves, we made our own problems. So many of Montreal’s chances and virtually all of their goals started off from bad giveaways and errant passes. This is a mentality thing and it’s pretty shocking. Apparently we still don’t have that that step on your throat break your mentality that puts games away early. 

 

3: It’s hard to compliment the back line considering how often it got torched but I thought Alan Franco put in a shift. It probably isn’t going to be reflected on Sofa score because of the score line but he did have probably his best game of the season it terms of the duels and balls he won. 

 

4: And suddenly we’re lethal from 22 yards out 🤷‍♂️. All 3 goals are GOTW contenders. It’s great to see Josef score from open play and it was a vintage Josef goal with him receiving the ball on the edge of the box, taking one touch and putting it where no keeper saves it. Thiago probably takes it though. He cuts a defender, is off balance and puts it in the top corner. I still don’t think we quite know how to use him in Gonzo’s system but we’ll figure it out and it’s good to know he’s got that in his bag. 

 

5: I think this is a tough game for a coach. What exactly do you say in the locker room post game speech and presser? Great fight back, but also….damn. Well the fight back is good and that’s probably a quality we didn’t have over the last two years. 

The one where we experience new lows at new highs

1: Josef continues to be in good positions unfortunately he is missing that final touch. I’m happy to see him in the positions we want him to be in but if we get a couple more games of him unable to finish that is going to be a point of concern. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that these are chances he should absolutely be putting away. It’s not like he’s missing on low percentage shots.

 

2: The number of chances created were down in the first half and that is not surprising considering we are missing the people that create our chances. Missing Luiz and Moreno is massive and it showed. I would’ve introduced Dwyer to the match earlier than we did. 

 

3: We seem to have the worst possible luck when it comes to injuries and health for the players. We have heart and attack and apparently now we might also have heart attack. I’m not sure what’s going on with Ozzie but him being sidelined due to a cardiologist recommendation is really concerning. I don’t want to see another Christian Eriksen situation on the pitch. We have one of the most expensive and impressive lineups in the league. Now, if we could just have it all available at the same time.

 

4: Alan Franco was really really poor tonight. He was involved in the concession of the first two goals. He looked lackadaisical and disinterested. It was bizarre. 

 

5: We could be in for another slow-ish start. On paper we have the most talented, and expensive roster in the league. We just can’t get all the pieces together at the same time. We’re missing (at full starting health/fitness) Araujo, Moreno, Thiago, Sosa, Hyndman, Ozzie and Mulraney. Now we will be missing Miles for the Charlotte match. Couple all that with Josef not quite being able to put the team on his back when we occasionally need him to, and it could be a rough march through March. 

The one where we Dom-inate

1: I’m not trying to minimize what’s going on in the world right now but I feel really hopeful. If Dom Dwyer can score a goal in Atlanta United colors, anything is possible. I’m thrilled to have an additional attacking option up front THAT CAN SCORE. A very impressive start for DD coming off the bench way earlier than expected, playing on a position he’s not meant to and scoring. 

2: There’s a great Mark Twain Quote. 

There are three things a wise man fears. The storm at sea, a night with no moon, and the rage of a calm patient man. Ozzie Alonso is that man. He’s that intelligent controlling midfield presence we’ve been wanting, but he’ll also cut you if pressed. That aggression is something we have been missing over the last couple seasons. Grant it, I’d prefer the yellows to come a little later but I’m happy to see a little 😤 

 

3: Find you someone who loves as you as much as Gutman loves sliding into a challenge. I’d like to thank the NYRB for training him into a damn animal. You can tell he’s brought some that bull mentality with him and we are all the better for it. 

 

4: Anyone can score a hat trick on opening day but can you get an assist brace with one of your former sworn enemies? Josef looked great out there today. He was active in all the ways we’ve come to expect. He had a number of shots on goal and with a little more fine tuning, he’s gonna be putting them away with regularity. If the over under on goals for Josef is at 15, I’m taking the over. Easy.  

 

5: So Wiley were at it, let’s talk about how good our academy system is. It just keeps producing real talent and we will develop a record of consistently moving that talent on to big clubs around the world. Absolutely thrilled for Wiley. Campbell was also tremendous today and Tyler Wolff was excellent. That’s 3 academy players on the pitch tonight. All producing and providing. 

 

It’s extremely tragic that we lost one our academy prospects in a senseless drunk driving accident. Our hearts are with the family and friends of Christian Carrillo. He is gone far too soon and he will be missed.