Capping off a grueling three-match coast-to-coast week with a win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was quite a moment to celebrate. But for Atlanta United players and staff, it was just them keeping up the high standards they hold for themselves.
“I don’t know if it’s a confidence boost,” Jeff Larentowicz said after the match. “I think it was a goal that we set. Somehow, Wednesday, we achieved the three. Tonight, it made it nine. We set the goal. We reached it.”
But despite the tough schedule congestion, this wasn’t the Five Stripes limping over the line. It was Atlanta United at their best, with a suffocating press on defense and a lethal counter attack.
“What leaves me happiest is, first, that we took nine out of nine points, but furthermore that in the third game we were able to find our level of play again,” Martino said through a translator. “The level of play today and the victory.”
The key to that is versatility. Julian Gressel’s tactical flexibility may steal the headlines, but Tata has stockpiled several players who can play in different positions on the field. That was a huge advantage this week.
“Like we were saying about Julian (Gressel) and Tito (Villalba), Jeff Larentowicz is another player that has the ability to play as a holding midfielder or a center back,” he said. “Same thing goes for Eric Remedi, playing as an inside holding midfielder, or a bit on the right side of midfield. Not every player has the ability to play in different positions, and I think we have four or five players who can play different positions. That benefits us and allows us to move them around and to switch formations and try and do different things to put the best lineup on the field in each match.”
Most importantly, it puts the team in a strong position in the Supporters’ Shield race, with a four-point cushion over second-placed Red Bulls ahead of the crucial match in New Jersey this weekend. But the Five Stripes aren’t feeling the pressure, and aren’t settling for a draw when they hit the road up North.
“Never,” Tito Villalba said through a translator. “We’re going to go there and play our game. Be calm, and we’ll see what happens.”
“It’s kind of a big one, but I think the pressure’s on them,” Gressel added. “We’re the number one, and we’ll stay there no matter what the outcome is of that game. We have a nice and calm week to prepare and get ready, and why not go there and win and then kind of make it really tough for them?”
But the team is well aware of the challenge ahead of them against a strong New York team this weekend.
“We might have a hand on [the Supporters’ Shield], but the Red Bulls want to cut that hand off,” Martino joked.
That critical road match at Red Bull Arena kicks off this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST. If you can’t make it in person, be sure to tune in on ESPN.
