Atlanta United looks to regain the swagger against Colorado
Last place Atlanta United host fellow last-place Colorado Rapids at Mercedes Benz Stadium this evening at 6:00 pm. The defending MLS Cup Champions have looked like a shell of their former self. They have yet to win at home where they have a pair of 1-1 draws and a loss.
Fortress MBS
The fortress of Mercedes Benz Stadium has become a place where an 18-year-old Brenden Aaronson scores his first MLS goal or an 18-year-old Jesus Ferreira scores in the first six minutes. It is clear the mystique and intimidation is not a factor when playing Atlanta United in Mercedes Benz Stadium so far this season.
Atlanta United Captian Michael Parkhurst talked about the players need to reestablish the ambiance, “Absolutely it’s on us. The fans have been great, the atmosphere is great. It’s more about fearing the team on the field, and what we are capable of doing. Especially at home, in front of our amazing fans and the motivation that they give us. It’s more of what the fans do for us and how it pushes us rather than the fear they put in the other team. The pace and the pressure that we put on other teams is the kind of tone that we need to set again.”
Elite Scoring
The team that scored 70 goals in the last two season is dead last in goals this season with a pathetic five goals in six matches. They have been shutout twice and have only scored more than once in the 2-0 win over a struggling New England Revs team.
They have improved as of late to create more chances however, how much of this has to do with them falling behind and then chasing the match? The improvements need to start translating into results, this is not a club where a good effort is going to be the acceptable measuring stick.
Playoff spot fading away
With the season almost 1/6 over and will be 1/4 over by Wednesday, there is a lot of talk about how Atlanta United is not out of the playoff race or it is too early to panic. Dropping points at home to the worst team in MLS will create an even greater deficit to overcome. With a very difficult stretch upcoming, playing seven matches in 25 days, the need to pick-up these points at home is crucial. Having already dropped 7 points at home, dropping three more would be devastating to the confidence of a team that is clearly shaken and lacking the swagger of a champion.
This team is looking a lot like the Toronto FC team from last year that struggled to contend with CCL play and was unable to regain form in MLS play. Unfortunately, Atlanta does not have the excuse of a deep CCL run. The team needs to turn its performance around.
Atlanta looks to defender Miles Robinson to continue his strong performance to start the 2019 season. (Photo: Jim Stapp)
Who is Starting
There are still a lot of unknowns about what head coach Frank de Boer thinks his best XI looks like.
Defense
He has stated that he would like to have a fit Franco Escobar in the back line, which he has not really had yet this season. Escobar did not play in the loss to FC Dallas on Saturday but was in training this week. This begs the question of who will be the two center backs. Is it most likely Miles Robinson, but who is he paired with? Leonardo González Pírez has made some significant errors that have led directly to goals, does de Boer give González Pírez a day on the reserve and go with reliable Michael Parkhurst?
Midfield
With the injury to Eric Remedi, de Boer inserted the ever durable Jeff Larentowicz paired with Darlington Nagbe. Does Larentowicz return to the 18 and Nagbe stay defensive, or does he keep Larentowicz in and push Nagbe up to function as the 10?
In what was an uncharacteristically middling performance from Julian Gressel, does de Boer use the combination of Tito Villalba and Ezequiel Barco with Nagbe? Or does he stay with Gressel paired with Barco with Nagbe in the middle giving Barco free range to drift and find the ball?
Forward
The 2019 Golden Boot winner, Josef Martínez, has had a very slow start. Coach de Boer spoke to the dry spell that Martínez is in, “Every striker has a spell like this sometimes. If he scores an ugly goal, or a simple tap -in, suddenly they have that feeling again. For me the most important thing is that we create those chances for him, I’m confident that when the first goal falls, a lot more goals will follow. I’m not worried about it. I was worried when we weren’t creating chances for him, but we are doing that now.”
After a scoring rate of almost a goal per ninety minutes, Martínez has really struggled to get anywhere near that same deadly clinical rate. So far this season he has only two goals, one of which was the PK against FC Dallas. His current goal rate is a goal in every 265.5 minutes.
