Soccer <\/p>\n
Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire heads to The A, where the hosts are desperate for a good performance or \u2013 best yet \u2013 a good outcome against high-flying FC Cincinnati<\/a> (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n So, what\u2019s gone wrong for Atlanta United<\/a>? I\u2019m of the mind to just wave an arm in their general direction and say \u201call of it.\u201d It\u2019s been that kind of season, one in which they\u2019ve managed just 11 points from 14 games and are seeing their Audi MLS Cup Playoffs hopes grow slimmer before the calendar has even hit June.<\/p>\n Cincy are at the other end of the spectrum. Things haven\u2019t been perfect, but they\u2019ve shown enough talent and fortitude to plant themselves at or near the top of the Supporters\u2019 Shield race all year long. And since they\u2019re finally getting fully healthy, I think they should get used to that view from the top.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Atlanta United<\/strong><\/p>\n FC Cincinnati<\/strong><\/p>\n They enter Matchday 15 eight points out of the Wild Card spot, and 13 points below the fourth seed \u2013 which would mean home-field advantage in Round One of the playoffs. Given how much they spent on their attack over the past two windows (reportedly close to $50 million), the fourth seed was just about the floor for expectations. The Wild Card? That would\u2019ve been almost unthinkable.<\/p>\n The good news is there\u2019s at least some precedent for a team digging out from this kind of hole: Atlanta were in 12th at the end of May just last year, but climbed into the final Wild Card slot, won at CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a>, and then pulled off a historic upset of Inter Miami<\/a> in Round One of the playoffs. So it can happen.<\/p>\n The bad news is their 2024 team had much more promising underlying numbers than this year’s group, which neither defends nor attacks too well. They really, really need to show some life or the season\u2019s gonna get away from them.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Cincy have gotten used to competing for trophies since Pat Noonan arrived as head coach a few years back. They\u2019ve only managed to win one \u2013 the 2023 Supporters\u2019 Shield \u2013 but they\u2019ve come close multiple times, and were one of the fashionable picks to win another Shield entering this season.<\/p>\n Thus far they\u2019re living up to it. Even if a lot of their wins have been of the brute force variety (they have more talent than most of their opponents, and are thus able to achieve peace through superior firepower), those still count.<\/p>\n And so they\u2019ve racked up the points, and with the halfway mark of the season rapidly approaching, they find themselves right in the mix of another Shield race.<\/p>\n Trophies matter. Adding to that lonely one they\u2019ve got in the cabinet matters. Every single point matters, whether it\u2019s May, October or any stop in between.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Atlanta United: What on earth is going on after halftime?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our crack Sunday Night Soccer producer Brad Mertel dropped this stat in the group chat the other day:<\/p>\n Atlanta United\u2019s goal differential in the first 15 minutes of the second half is -9 (10 goals against, 1 goal for). Meanwhile, their goal differential in all other segments of the game is -1 (14 goals against, 13 goals for).<\/p>\n That is\u2026 stark, especially at a moment when you should have tactical clarity and the legs to attack games. Keep a close eye on that period of the match on Sunday.<\/p>\n FC Cincinnati: Can they hurry up\u2026 by slowing down a beat?<\/strong><\/p>\n This quote, from Pat Noonan following last weekend’s Hell is Real draw<\/a> in which Cincy had 32 percent possession and were completely under it for the entire second half, stood out to me.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know we’ve done a good job of getting points, but it’s not just about surviving,\u201d Noonan said. \u201cIt’s finding more ways to have more control of games and play in a more composed way, so that we can have more clarity in everything we’re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t take Noonan\u2019s words to mean he simply wants more possession. I took them to mean he wants his team to better use the possession they have. Against the Crew<\/a>, letting your opponent advance up the field with the ball means you\u2019re pinned back with little means to escape. Against Atlanta, it means there\u2019s space and time to carve them up on the break\u2026 if you make the right decisions when the ball turns over.<\/p>\n The Union<\/a> did just that last weekend in Atlanta, and Cincinnati have better attacking talent than Philly. Make the right play and attacking momentum will follow.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Atlanta United<\/strong><\/p>\n Let me go back to the early days of the season, back when I had hope that the Five Stripes\u2019 winter transfer window moves would pay off:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Miguel Almiron is so good. Just a problem-solver for Atlanta out there in so many ways. pic.twitter.com\/TolgtXmdMu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n This came at a point where I thought Deila would use Almir\u00f3n in more of a free role \u2013 just orient your team around your most talented player, right? Let the dude find the game and make stuff happen, and ensure the structure around him is good enough defensively so he doesn\u2019t have to worry about taking risks. You want your best player to take risks; that\u2019s the only way to unbalance most teams.<\/p>\n But it hasn\u2019t worked out that way. Almir\u00f3n’s been more lost than free, and a big chunk of that comes from the fact that Atlanta seem committed to building out via right back Brooks Lennon<\/a>. He\u2019s getting a ton of touches in his own defensive third, and while Lennon\u2019s really good on the overlap, he\u2019s really not in the build-out. So Atlanta are kind of a mess there, which has had Deila tinkering between his preferred 4-2-3-1 shape and more of a 3-4-2-1 over the past month.<\/p>\n Neither approach has worked, and neither has Miranchuk. The Russian No. 10 was billed as a through-ball artist upon his arrival, but he\u2019s literally yet to complete a through-ball this season, as per Opta. Atlanta, as a team, have completed only four. As you may be able to guess, that\u2019s one of the bottom marks in the league.<\/p>\n The fact that Latte Lath \u2013 who might be the fastest player in the league, and who was brought in specifically to get onto the end of through-balls \u2013 has remained productive and engaged anyway is a tribute to his mentality and individual quality.<\/p>\n But that only takes a team so far; you eventually need cohesiveness and a blueprint. Thus far, the Five Stripes have neither.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n FC Cincinnati<\/strong><\/p>\n Noonan\u2019s plan for Cincy has been evolving. Initially, the idea was to pair Luca Orellano<\/a> with Denkey up top in a 3-4-1-2 with Evander stirring the drink as the No. 10. But Orellano was slow to report to preseason camp and slower to get up to speed, and Evander himself missed a little bit of time, so Noonan had to tinker.<\/p>\n That tinkering was mostly based around flipping between the 3-4-1-2 and a 3-4-2-1 with two half-space merchants instead of a pure No. 10, but he\u2019s also had to toy with the wingbacks (inverted or not?), the center backs (three pure center backs or a fullback hybrid in one of the wide CB spots?) and the central midfield balance (it\u2019s \u201cball progression by committee\u201d when Pavel Bucha<\/a>\u2019s not out there).<\/p>\n This would have ended lesser teams, but Cincy have fought through all of it, and here\u2019s where Noonan has landed: It\u2019s a 3-4-1-2 with Evander pulling the strings, but Orellano has moved out to play as an inverted right wingback while Sergio Santos<\/a> joins Denkey up top. It\u2019s actually Santos who stretches the field now, which leaves Denkey time and space to figure out if he needs to be a secondary playmaker, target forward or just pure poacher.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t all been smooth sailing \u2013 they held onto a point for dear life in their Hell is Real clash vs. Columbus last weekend \u2013 but the attack has looked smoother and more balanced, and Orellano looks much more comfortable. He’s a wide player who excels at coming inside, but struggles when he has to play inside-out.<\/p>\n The other good thing about the new deployment is it lets both Orellano and left wingback Lucas Engel<\/a> play a little bit higher, which puts pressure on opponents. It’s become a virtuous cycle, as the on- and off-ball strengths of the attackers and wingbacks resonate with each other.<\/p>\n Understand, through all of it, Cincy want to play in transition. In that way, it\u2019s all a story of opportunistic moments (high pressing, counters, midfield turnovers, whatever) and defensive structure that leads to those moments.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll point out here how Atlanta tend to turn the ball over in bad spots. A lot. A lot a lot.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n I thought they played pretty well last weekend in a 1-0 loss<\/a> to Philly, so let\u2019s say they stay with the same 3-4-2-1. Saba Lobjanidze<\/a> comes in for the injured Lennon, while Latte Lath\u2019s back in the XI after getting the weekend off for rest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019ll be the 3-4-1-2, and my guess is Yuya Kubo<\/a> gets the nod in central midfield.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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