Atlanta United isn’t overcomplicating anything, even in the face of adversity.
It doesn’t matter that they’re coming off a loss, or that a polished FC Cincinnati stands in the way, or that the 5-Stripes will be without eight first team players. The job still has to get done.
As head coach Ronny Deila and his assistants led players through warmups and training Thursday, the instructions aren’t needlessly complex. The goal is the same. Be organized. Be disciplined. Know where to go with the ball.
No matter who’s on the pitch, the commands are the same.
“It’s simple demands from Ronny,” Alexey Miranchuk said after training Thursday. “First of all, just be 100% every time. Be together.”
Who’s going where?
The international break has called away eight first team players from Deila’s disposal for Saturday. It’s a good problem to have, proving the quality in the side and allowing for new faces to see the field. Deila gave some insight into who we might see in the starting XI and during the match.
The two big questions are at right center back and one spot in defensive midfield. Derrick Williams will likely still hold it down as the left-footed center back, but the right is a question. Could a 2s player come up as a short-term agreement signing? Would one of the fullbacks like Matt Edwards or Ronald Hernández slide over?
Deila said his team has the ability to play three at the back. That could give those three more cover while still allowing Pedro Amador and Brooks Lennon to join the attack on the wings.
One of the biggest areas of success on the pitch this year for Atlanta United has been that double pivot of defensive midfielders. Bartosz Slisz, Mateusz Klich, Jay Fortune and Tristan Muyumba have all started at one point and have all thrived. Now without Slisz, Fortune and potentially Klich, someone will need to slot in. Adyn Torres and Will Reilly are potential midfield options with first-team contracts.
Deila, obviously, wouldn’t show his hand on who will be where, but his confidence in his options is apparent.
“The good thing and exciting thing is that we have to use other players, and then they get the opportunity to show themselves,” Deila said. “[It’s] an opportunity now to get more players into the roster that can do a job.”
Miranchuk will likely stay in the starting lineup. He said he didn’t expect issues without some of the starters missing because Deila has everyone prepared.
“The tactical things and the offensive things, defensive things, it doesn't change,” Miranchuk said. “No matter who’s playing, who's coming in, in the game, he's going to know what to do.”
Urgently patient
Deila spent a lot of his media availability Thursday speaking about how his team can translate its positive play into results. It’s something that feels natural when things are going well and elusive when things aren’t. He mulled over how he can best approach coaching his players and facilitating the change.
“When you've been in football a long time, you understand that you cannot control the results; you can control the performances,” Deila said. “You have to do everything right through the week to get ready.”
It’s a fine line to walk. Patient urgency sounds oxymoronic, but it’s exactly what Deila and his team are trying to embody.
“When you come into a project, you have a lot of information that you want to get across,” Deila said. “Everything is very serious, and you train hard physically. Lots of changes. Then, it's about to finding that balance between putting demands and at the same time enjoy [it] and be patient.”
The players and coaches know better than anyone that attacking chemistry — a topic of interest these last couple weeks as the goals have dried up since the opener — can’t be rushed. What they can do, though, is communicate.
“We've been working on this,” Miranchuk said. “We will be speaking about this all the time, like, where you want to go, where you want to receive the ball, how you want to receive the ball and all of these small details. We've been creating some moments during these four games.”
It would be more alarming if the chances weren’t there. The team has accrued 6.54 expected goals this season and is averaging the sixth most xG per game in the league. Their differential between xG and actual goals is -0.63, the third-lowest in the league, meaning Atlanta United is creating well but not converting yet. That’s cause for optimism going forward if things progress to the mean.
But that’s not quite how the team is thinking about it. Miranchuk wouldn’t call it unlucky, but he knows that expectations were high coming into the season and that the team knows it can score more.
“I understand that everybody in the beginning wanted to see us straight [away score] three, four goals during the game,” Miranchuk said. “But sometimes it doesn't work like this. We’ve been working hard preseason, all the training and hopefully we can get there.”
It might be a tall task to pick up points on the road against a tough FC Cincinnati team, led by an MLS MVP candidate from last season in Evander. Still, Cincinnati will also be without a key player, their leading scorer Kévin Denkey.
It feels like the floodgates are bound to open sometime soon. Missing Miguel Almirón and others will change things, but there’s belief. If anything, this match could be a get-right game for Atlanta.
“[If we] do a good result there, we light up the whole place,” Deila said. “We like to win. This is a great opportunity for us. It's a tough game, but at the same time, we have shown in [preseason] that we can match them, and we are also a strong team.”
