It’s like being a kid in a candy store. Except for chocolate bars, the shelves are full of sad facts and questionable tactical decisions. There is an overload of options when writing a piece that reacts to the Atlanta MLS Returning Tournament of Atlanta titled “___ Things that went wrong for Atlanta United in the MLS is the Returning Tournament.” Because there are so many things Then. Many. Stuff.
They range from incredibly obvious, to … also quite obvious. There are not many things to decode here. And when you don’t even have to dig deep into the subtext to explain why a failure occurred, it means that it is quite apparent to everyone why the failure occurred.
Josef Martinez did not appear
Josef Martinez falls with a torn ACL in Atlanta’s first game of the season against Nashville SC. The | Pictures of USA Today Sports
Because he was hurt. Unfortunately for Atlanta, other teams are losing their best player and they seem to be doing fine. LAFC, a club with which Atlanta United certainly sees itself in the same stratosphere and lacking 2019 MVP Carlos Vela, has scored nine goals and eight have come out of its top three. Many other teams found ways to score without Josef Martínez in this tournament. In fact … they all have. All teams except Atlanta scored without Josef Martinez in this tournament. So maybe this should start with …
Pity Martinez and Ezequiel Barco did not change the game
The other two Atlanta DPs would always be tasked with carrying the weight of the attack charge in Josef’s absence. For them, the tournament presented a tremendous opportunity for the couple to remind European teams of their abilities. Instead, they fought. But they have never been players who have shown that they can always take over a game. Barco has shown flashes, but both have always been supplements to an attack whose only piece capable of doing sustained damage was Josef. Elegant, largely effective (and expensive) handles that helped Atlanta wield its Josef-tipped spear. This tournament featured a spear with no point. What makes it a large and elegant stick.
Of course, Atlanta could have hit that stick and hit someone in the head, but no one else on the team did much to help Barco and Pity. So maybe this should start with …
No one played well …
Not a single player. A couple of players had passable tournaments. The signals from George Bello and Miles Robinson were encouraging, but they also sometimes struggled. I’m sure there were other brilliant moments from other players, but nothing that could be seen through a dense fog of selfless play.
The best performance in all tournaments came from Brad Guzan at the press conference after the tournament’s third loss in Atlanta against Columbus Crew on Tuesday. He had no doubts about the current status of each player who touched the field.
“There must be some kind of change in the field,” he said. “There must be communication, there must be conversations, but then there must be an answer to that. It cannot be just talking, talking, talking and then going back to the field and doing the same thing that we have been doing,” said Guzan. “Because this is not only It happened in one game. This just happened now for four games. And it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough as individuals. It’s not good enough as a group. “
As good as it is to hear about the redoubling of efforts, there is genuine concern about the overall makeup of this team. Maybe the talent isn’t there after an exodus of key players. So maybe this should start with …
Darlington Nagbe, Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez, Julian Gressel, Michael Parkhurst and Tito Villalba did not appear
Darlington Nagbe in action for Columbus Crew against Atlanta United on July 21, 2020. | Devin L’Amoreaux and Matthew Stith
Because everyone left the club this offseason. Well, Darlington Nagbe was there, but for the team that beat Atlanta last night. All he did was control midfield and complete 43 of 43 passes.
Not surprisingly then, the replacements haven’t hinted that they match Nagbe’s production, but they certainly didn’t seem like fit replacements for any of the others either.
But, to be fair, you must configure the players to be successful. So maybe this should start with …
The tactics were bad
I am not a strategist. I have read Invert the Pyramid. I did not understand. So people smarter than me will have deeper thoughts on this. But it is so clear that nothing was clicking, that even I could understand that there were problems in all facets of the game and I skipped chapter 48 of Inverting the Pyramid.
No one looked comfortable. No one seemed to … know what the plan was. The defense was caught napping, the attack could hardly make the ball work in the area. It got dark. But this team has felt differently for a while. And not in a good way. So maybe this should start with …
The team culture has changed for the worse …
“After the first game we talked about playing for this club it means that when you hit the field with the Atlanta United crest on your shirt, you are not just representing the club, you are representing the city of Atlanta and representing all of our fans,” Guzan said.
“We have set the bar so high for the last few years. You can talk about experienced players, you know, but there are also inexperienced players on the field and it is the role of experienced players to help those guys. It is the role of those younger players they can collect information quickly. There is a high level of frustration, disappointment, anger, because this is not what Atlanta United is all about. This is not who we are as a club. It is not a good feeling in the locker room by the minute. “
Right now, it seems like this is a team that lacks clear leadership and direction. And that is just now. This club obviously knows how to be successful. And some victories can change a lot. But this team went to Orlando and presented the worst of itself. And until Guzan spoke at the press conference, he seemed to lack responsibility within his own ranks. Which, to be fair, is difficult to have when you are missing one of your most vocal presences. So maybe this should start with …
Josef Martinez did not appear
Uh … UH oh. This is going to be long.
Atlanta can have a lot to work with.
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