Atlanta United's commanding performances throughout the postseason earned them the MLS Cup for the first time in team history. It's the ultimate team goal achieved, but it also comes with individual recognition, and Atlanta United got plenty of love from league writers, who named 4 Five Stripes players to the MLS Team of the Postseason.
Starting in the back, the red, black and gold have two representatives in the defense. Leandro González Pirez showed how valuable he is both as a player and a leader, showing the physicality and body-on-the-line dedication that's required to make a postseason run. Next to him in the back is Franco Escobar, who had a monster postseason of his own. His first goal of the postseason ended up as the tie-winning strike to move past the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals, and his second, in MLS Cup, all but sealed the first title in team history. That combined with his lock-down defending to shut down the right wing earned him a deserved spot on this list.
Further up the field are two players that are used to racking up individual awards. Josef Martinez and Miguel Almirón, who were both in the MLS Best XI for the regular season, took home the same honor for the postseason as well. Josef did what he did best, scoring in every round of the postseason to help his team win the Cup. Meanwhile, Miguel was his all-action self, controlling the game from the center of the park while adding the cherry on top: an unstoppable free kick that put the first round out of NYCFC's reach.
Here's the full XI:
The MLS Team of the Postseason is voted on by a committee of league writers.
