Post by bogan on Sept 14, 2020 19:54:22 GMT -5
The Underdog-Matthew Doyle
Miles Robinson gave Nashville SC some bulletin board material and those of us who live behind keyboards some narratives to focus on ahead of Saturday's Southeastern showdown (do we have a name for Nashville vs. Atlanta yet? Does it deserve a name?).
"We should win this game against Nashville. We have better players than they do."
I think that is debatable at best. While it's probably fair to suggest that Atlanta have a few more high-upside youngsters than Nashville, I think it's equally fair to argue that nobody on Atlanta, young or old, has delivered in 2020. And so the Five Stripes, following a 4-2 loss in which Nashville clearly took Robinson's words personally, are now squarely aimed toward rock bottom.
Nashville, who have at times been an effective pressing team, took advantage of Atlanta's... well, took advantage of their everything. They were all over the Five Stripes from the jump:
Dax McCarty and Anibal Godoy had a decent level of chemistry together back in March and that's only grown over the course of this season. If you don't have that chemistry, then the double-pivot causes the very problem it's supposed to solve: leaving the center backs exposed and allowing the opponents to dominate in the most important parts of the pitch. If you do have that chemistry your defense will rarely be exposed (Nashville have shipped just 11 goals in 10 games now) and you will also get the chance to send an extra runner forward later, from deep, as we saw on McCarty's goal.
Atlanta have none of that. It doesn't matter what formation they're playing or who they're playing against. They are a team of strangers.
"The performances need to be consistent as a team. It starts with doing the simple things. For a few games now we haven't done those things," said veteran Jeff Larentowicz afterward. "I'm in the middle of the field. I'll put my hand up."
Larentowicz shouldn't be the only one shouldering blame. And he's not wrong about the little things adding up into giant calamities game after game.
"Just winning first ball, second ball, being on the front foot to start the game," Larentowicz said when asked to explain. "We didn't do it tonight."
This is a team that defends low, takes space slowly and isn't sure how to use the ball when they're on it. Beyond that there's no longer any sense of allelon, either in their play or in their body language. Atlanta weren't just a great team with great players under Tata Martino, they were a team that went out with a collective identity and played for one another*. That is gone.
(*)I know this sounds like a cliche, and I'm not sure how to show it with numbers. But you know it when you see it, and Atlanta fans clearly know it when they're not seeing it, as has been the case throughout 2020.
That is the first thing the new coach (or interim head coach Stephen Glass if he manages to win the job full-time) will have to re-infuse into the entire team. Robinson might be right about the talent level of this side, but talent alone doesn't win games.
With the victory Nashville are unbeaten in four and climbed ahead of Atlanta into ninth place. The Five Stripes are winless in five and have just one win in nine since play resumed in July.
Miles Robinson gave Nashville SC some bulletin board material and those of us who live behind keyboards some narratives to focus on ahead of Saturday's Southeastern showdown (do we have a name for Nashville vs. Atlanta yet? Does it deserve a name?).
"We should win this game against Nashville. We have better players than they do."
I think that is debatable at best. While it's probably fair to suggest that Atlanta have a few more high-upside youngsters than Nashville, I think it's equally fair to argue that nobody on Atlanta, young or old, has delivered in 2020. And so the Five Stripes, following a 4-2 loss in which Nashville clearly took Robinson's words personally, are now squarely aimed toward rock bottom.
Nashville, who have at times been an effective pressing team, took advantage of Atlanta's... well, took advantage of their everything. They were all over the Five Stripes from the jump:
Dax McCarty and Anibal Godoy had a decent level of chemistry together back in March and that's only grown over the course of this season. If you don't have that chemistry, then the double-pivot causes the very problem it's supposed to solve: leaving the center backs exposed and allowing the opponents to dominate in the most important parts of the pitch. If you do have that chemistry your defense will rarely be exposed (Nashville have shipped just 11 goals in 10 games now) and you will also get the chance to send an extra runner forward later, from deep, as we saw on McCarty's goal.
Atlanta have none of that. It doesn't matter what formation they're playing or who they're playing against. They are a team of strangers.
"The performances need to be consistent as a team. It starts with doing the simple things. For a few games now we haven't done those things," said veteran Jeff Larentowicz afterward. "I'm in the middle of the field. I'll put my hand up."
Larentowicz shouldn't be the only one shouldering blame. And he's not wrong about the little things adding up into giant calamities game after game.
"Just winning first ball, second ball, being on the front foot to start the game," Larentowicz said when asked to explain. "We didn't do it tonight."
This is a team that defends low, takes space slowly and isn't sure how to use the ball when they're on it. Beyond that there's no longer any sense of allelon, either in their play or in their body language. Atlanta weren't just a great team with great players under Tata Martino, they were a team that went out with a collective identity and played for one another*. That is gone.
(*)I know this sounds like a cliche, and I'm not sure how to show it with numbers. But you know it when you see it, and Atlanta fans clearly know it when they're not seeing it, as has been the case throughout 2020.
That is the first thing the new coach (or interim head coach Stephen Glass if he manages to win the job full-time) will have to re-infuse into the entire team. Robinson might be right about the talent level of this side, but talent alone doesn't win games.
With the victory Nashville are unbeaten in four and climbed ahead of Atlanta into ninth place. The Five Stripes are winless in five and have just one win in nine since play resumed in July.
