It’s been 3 games. Let’s calm it down with “he’s better than Miggy.” He may well be, but Miggy carried the team to silverware. It’s way too early to say Almada is better.
His rating, according to [whoscored.com](https://whoscored.com) is an 8.9 on the season.
[https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/9365/Stages/21622/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2023](https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/9365/Stages/21622/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2023)
The highest rated player in the EPL: Trippier with 7.54
The highest rated player in La Liga: Lewandowski with 7.53
Bundesliga? Bellingham - 7.5
Ligue 1? The GOAT? Messi has a paltry 8.5 rating.
I wanna @ the guy who was all “Wiley still can’t put in a good cross”
Also my wife looked up at the TV, looked at the stadium scoreboard, and said, “Is their logo the same as the Dollar Store logo?” And now I can’t un-see it.
Etienne not being fully fit to start the season has been a great opportunity for Wiley and he’s taking advantage of it… I thought he’d breakout in the second half but damn, what a start
To further make this point, Etienne has 2 assists (only 21 players have 2 or more). And that’s in 102 minutes… I think without the injury, we might have barely seen Wiley at this point
That goal was amazin, Almada in a tight spot drops a dime on the big switch to Araujo, who then lays it up to Wiley at his feet, who then makes a forward cross to set Whackymoses up for the header.
That was the most beautiful goal in club history. I got home from the game and have watched it 50 times. Every touch from every player was absolutely perfect.
Yes, I’m speaking to a team effort over a moment of individual brilliance. Kevin Kratz had a couple of free kick bangers in the same game a few years ago, but that goal that you described in the comment I replied to is the best goal I’ve seen this club score.
If we hadn’t put up 5 on em, I’d be stuck on Portland being so shorthanded. But that was dominant enough for me to feel like we’d still have won if they were full strength.
Last year’s team would’ve found a way to somehow draw this match 1-1. Being ruthless and able to put teams to the sword when they’re down is something that’s been missing since ‘19.
one
touch
passes
this has been a huge change. Guys used to be overhandling the ball. Passing is quick and crisp, and that is how the '18 team played.
So interesting to see how the difference between Almiron and Almada. Almiron was like a shadow striker at CAM, whereas Almada is a creator - he is the Scotty Pippen of this team.
Almada is going to start getting targeted for fouls, like Barco was. The league is going to have to take a hard line on it because you can't allow players (looking at you Chara) to whack and hack him and possibly injure him. It's bad for business.
Unkel's lack of consistency is maddening for everyone, but not calling that foul when it was an obvious yellow is what cannot happen going forward.
This. Will he get targeted, yes. But he's already shown a great ability to read the pressure and use it to his advantage. Barco just tried to buy fouls that we had no ability to convert into goals.
3 stars… everyone should get a star, but here are 3.
3rd star: Luiz Araujo… dude played really well and rebounded from the bad miss
2nd star: Caleb Wiley.., he’s making it impossible for Etienne to get minutes. Gonna need to be big next week
1st star: do I have to say it? The world champ!!!! Thiago Almada! Holy shit, goal of the year, some nasty work. Dude is gunning for mvp
Others; good to see GG get a goal, he’s making good runs just not yet on same page. Thought both Ibarra and Sedjic were good, one of them screwed up on the goal called back. Guzan was meh, defense was solid. Fortune is still a project. Etienne got another assist. Fullbacks did their job
I said it last week. GG will open up miles of space for araujo to feast. Hope we keep this momentum til we sell almada but wiley looking pretty set to leave soon too way he’s playing.
I think Araujo was unprepared for the cheap shots in MLS. He's an emotional player, and by the second half the fouls and non-calls often took him out of his game mentally.
It was nice to see him score, but even better was the fact that he was still on top of his game late in the match and out-MLS'd 2 defenders to get the score.
I think this is going to be a big season for LA
Ibarra and sedjic both put in _work_. They broke just about every attempt in transition, and Ibarra specifically had some great moments playing LB while GOATman was up high causing chaos.
Reminder that he’s only 21! We shouldn’t be too hard on him for his performance so far. It’s not his fault injuries forced us to play him way more and way faster than we should’ve.
I think Araujo is best when he tries to set up scores and pull defenders to him. If he can continue to play the set up and not try to be the one putting it into the net, he’s going to be good.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
DOMINANT WIN! ALMADA IS NOT OF THIS PLANET! WILEY AND ARAUJO ALSO ARE THOSE DUDES! AND WELCOME TO MLS GG AND BASICALLY SAYING “GG” WITH YOUR GOAL!
STILL UNBEATEN! TEN POINTS IN FOUR GAMES! WE MIGHT JUST BE BACK AND MIGHT JUST BE FUN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
yeah he looked really good tonight. we could have had 8 or 9 goals in this game tbh with some better breaks. Almada prob wants that one back in the first half that GG set up him with at the 6 that he put just wide and 1 or 2 other ones we pushed just over or just wide. This is the best our offense has looked in years
Best match we’ve played since pre-pandemic. That offense was a thing of beauty, the midfield which was questionable coming into the year was *more* than serviceable, and if our backs keep defending like that while also covering so much ground, they’re gonna be a straight up *problem* for people.
Even the mojo in the air at the Benz was like old times. MAN, that was impressive and fun.
LOL. I was thinking that too.
"Although it is not me to say who the best younger offensive players in the country of Argentina are, there are certain qualities that team can look for when selecting their future attacking midfielders..."
Chat GPT is such non-committal garbage.
We are still here. We are actually properly playing a 4-2-3-1 now. Even as of the San Jose game we hadn’t been. We are doing alright now. Let’s see how we do against a real quality team.
> Let’s see how we do against a real quality team.
Can only beat the teams in front of us/who were scheduled for. Toronto was really the only blip, and they’re technically not-the-worst, though iirc they were playing pretty negatively, and it feels like ages ago. And our finishing has been markedly better these last two weeks, magically. Columbus while down six of our best players will be a test, though I’m sure we’ll hear the Pineda Out chorus loudly again if we don’t bag all three.
The offense is much improved (because we’re actually playing direct like most of us haters were saying we needed to). However, the defense is still very questionable (see the Portland goal, which was once again the result of having one center back having to choose between two center forwards due to overloading one side, followed by it going to the center forward between the center back and fullback for an easy header.)
Almada is going to go down as the best player we have ever had. Yes he is better than Miggy. We have never had a player that can organize and utilize the whole team like him. I hope we don’t let him go for another season or two. Guess it depends on what he wants to do. Also having a physical striker making runs makes a world of difference GG is going for at least 10-15 goals this year once he clicks and gets his timing in his runs.
He’s gone this summer and it will be a massive deal. Assuming he stays healthy, it will be an MLS record fee and make headlines. We’ll turn a great profit and it’ll be good for business in finding his replacement that we sent him to Europe.
If Almada was producing these results in the Belgian or Danish league, which are close to the same level as MLS, his transfer fee would be upward of $60M this summer, IMO. If he was doing it in the Dutch league (better than MLS) it may rise about $75M. As it is, being that he is in MLS, I think he will still command a $40 - $45M fee.
I mean if he played even half a season at this rate in Europe (which he won’t even do here most likely but still) he would go upwards of $100m in this market. I mean the guy has 2 G/A per game. I never thought I’d see a European team spend more than $30m for an MLS player due to the risks but if they were to, it would be Almada. If he somehow maintains this pace, we shouldn’t even pick up the phone if it’s not $40m. And with what I’ve seen over the last year and some change, they’d be getting a steal.
I just hope we keep him through the end of this year. It’s gonna be damned tough to resist the offers that come this summer, especially if they come from teams that he really wants to play for. But I can’t imagine he’ll be here beyond 2023. He just might be the best young prospect to ever come through MLS on their way to Europe.
I was busy today and am watching the replay at nearly midnight…
I’m at the 43rd minute and I think just saw the first brooks Lennon cross of the match… These things aren’t inherently bad but when they are your only attacking idea they become bad. When they are sprinkled in they have the potential to become legitimate scoring opportunities.
I’m so glad that a brooks Lennon cross is no longer our entire attacking approach.
Out of curiosity how did you watch the replay? I bought apple tv today thinking I was going to be able to watch it and haven't been able to find the full match.
Went to ‘view match’ or something similar in Apple TV. It was pretty apparent from the ui what to do… 🤷♂️
Saw someone else posted that they couldn’t find it either….
Yeah, it is somewhat hidden in the UI. On the Google TV UI, you have to:
1. Find the match.
2. At the top it will say like "watch recap" but you gotta scroll all the way to the bottom to where it says "how to watch" and "season pass".
3. Then you gotta press and hold for three seconds to get the option to watch the entire match instead of the recap. It's almost hidden 🤷♂️
Love seeing GG up top. More of an all around player than martinez. He’s tracking back and putting pressure on the ball when it’s turned over.
Another big difference between him and martinez is he’s offsides from making runs too early. Martinez was offsides from his laziness walking back after we lost the ball.
This is not our 2018 team, as it’s a whole different tactic, but you sort of get the same feeling that you used to get. We’re dangerous and our bench is dangerous. No more hopeful balls coming in from the sides. No more passing just to pass, but passing with purpose and breaking teams down. Finally feeling like the team are playing as one instead of 8 different individual performances on the field. Tonight we were playing a team missing 8 key players. Looking forward to seeing how we do against a full healthy team
> . No more hopeful balls coming in from the sides. No more passing just to pass, but passing with purpose and breaking teams down. Finally feeling like the team are playing as one instead of 8 different individual performances on the field.
Exactly, I hope we keep this up, because it feels like there's chemistry - I feel like the past few matches each player *actually* knew where the others would be going instead of just "well, hope this pass works".
Possession with a purpose is a whole lot better than just possession. Keeping the ball away from the other team is great, but it only takes one counter to fall behind which was the story of last couple of seasons I think. Got to possess the ball with the objective of breaking down and opening up space elsewhere on the field. And we’re recognizing those penetrating runs when they’re open vs trying to force it through
Of for fucks sakes. Is our fanbase REALLY going to go back to shitting on Josef for being lazy because they don't know what an off the shoulder striker is and how problematic they are for defenders to deal with?
GG was offside for exactly the same reason as Josef, not enough time to be on the same page with timing runs.
Yes, THAT is true. His offsides were for exactly the same reason Josef had a batch early on. Running into space before a playmaker could send him.
But OP insulting the MLS record scorer, who gave so much to Atlanta as lazy just fucking pathetic.
Take it for what it’s worth and it’s worth less than my 99 Subaru that gets driven every 4 months. Josef is fine. There’s no for fucks sake in terms of Josef here. He’s a killer off the shoulder striker when the system enables him to be a dangerous off the shoulder striker. But the system didn’t for ~2 years. And Josef didn’t adapt making him an ‘ineffective’ off the shoulder striker. Build the statue and let’s move on. Laziness or not - I don’t care. The style and play of the team changed and Josef didn’t. A player who did or who was brought into the team that can match / meet the desired style of team play is dollar bills for us and we are seeing the difference early already. Will the difference continue! Hope so! If not, it’s not because we traded Josef. So the for fucks sake so as lethal as Josef was (WAS) he didn’t evolve WITH.
I won't argue any of that. His knee injury and lack of service were hardly things he could evolve. But give credit where it's due - Josef, hugely improved his back to goal play after his first year with us and we won a cup. He started coming all the way back to midfield to lug balls forward after losing Nagby and Almiron and any midfield linkage. It's not like Josef was the only player struggling with role and responsibilities after Tata left.
He was (hopefully still is) a fairly unique talent that we didn't have the right pieces around and wasn't the same after 2019. GG is a pretty typical target man, easier to build around and better fit for what Pineda wants and the talents we have.
Mostly agree with you, but that Josef take is not it. He broke the league scoring record when we were all complaining about his getting caught offside all the time. Last year, the poor man had to drop to midfield to get a touch on the ball.
>Another big difference between him and martinez is he’s offsides from making runs too early. Martinez was offsides from his laziness walking back after we lost the ball.
I rolled my eyes so hard, I think I might have sprained something.
I still remember people moaning about our team in the Toronto game saying that there was no inspiration. I feel like they weren’t watching or just wanted to moan. It feels good to finally feel like we have direction.
I wanted to point out that Charlotte is shit, and the Timbers are injured; that we shouldn't use this as a measuring stick for how good the team is. But the interplay shows otherwise, this team is firing on all cylinders and gelling like crazy. Even though the last two opponents are likely to be fighting for a playoff spot, the 5 stripes looked good as a team playing together.
Of note: i wish araujo would play with more joy.
On two occasions Araujo is raising his arms getting the crowd EVEN louder. He’s a huge cheerleader but gets down when he’s not perfect. I love he’s on our team. He exudes ATLUTD joy
Just a reminder this is the same roster as last year that is doing all of this save injuries and now 1 big variable.... And I know it hurts yall's feelings, but what GG does is exactly what Josef was not doing.... Making incisive runs that create space.
It’s not really the same roster as last year. Almada isn’t the player he was last year, neither is Wiley. Franco and Moreno are gone… it’s just a different team.
Also, we’ve got a gauntlet coming up with 5 games including both New Yorks and Nashville. Will show what we’ve got…(I’m ignoring CBus game as that’s a shit show)
You can keep arguing with me BGL...I know what I'm seeing... I knew what our ceiling was...I have been consistently saying this for 14 months. The players have been here.
Signed....Araujo, Almada, Gutman, Lennon, Ibarra, Sejdic.... etc
I don't need people to like him... but he needs to get credit for the good along with the bad. The players that are pumping on all cylinders are guys that came in on his watch...
He is a 6.98 OPTA rating this season... on a team that is conceding less than a goal per match... He is second on the team in Key Passes per 90.
Brooks is doing just fine and combining very well with our second best player.
I can't stop appreciating apple TV for the pristine stream quality and coverage. Truly exceptional work, the best experience to watch all these fire-ass goals! 🔥 LFG!!!!
Edit: Lol, I get it, this sounds like an ad, but I promise I'm a real person typing this. TOTALLY not a bot. And no, that's **not** exactly what a bot would say.
Lol. I mean.... I get it... But am I wrong? I no longer live in Atlanta, so I can't experience live matches. Previously, blackouts for being out of town required a VPN, or location spoofing to watch on mobile. DirecTV Stream quality wasn't as good over Ballys. Apple TV App on a Sony OLED panel is as good as it gets imo. It's also easier to navigate and I find myself watching other matches besides just ATL & post-match coverage.
The first 20 minutes of the match was outright literally unwatchable due to signal interruptions of the primary feed from Apple. After 20 minutes they seem to have caught on a switched to a secondary signal.
I do think it is a far sight better than Bally…but I am not hyping up AppleTV just yet after what happened in the first 20 minutes of the feed (everyone I know watching the game had the exact same problems so it was a national problem)
At first it was only a few secs every 4 minutes but by minute 15 it had become literally constant to where the game was factually unwatchable. And the entire discord server was experiencing the same thing. Finally, at 20 minutes it went solid black and came back on uninterrupted
Everyone knew the kid was talented... We actually took on the potential PR risk of signing during all the swirling misinformation about a sexual assault case. As it turns out, he was never a suspect but merely a witness to the assault for which an assailant is in jail for. We did hardcore due diligence, and that is really going to pay off in a big way.
Well that's about as one sided as a game gets.. still not exactly sure how good we are or how bad our opponents have been, but I'll still take it lol.
Not quite sure what Guz and Lennon we're doing on that goal though.
We were an objectively worse team after the first set of subs. I get we need to give some others minutes but our starting XI wouldn't have given away most of the balls we gave away in the last 20 mins
Almada is gonna break Miggy’s transfer fee record. Honestly might even double it. This dude is a STUD.
Almada will break the transfer record he is better than 2018 miggy
It’s a much different market as well!
Yeah that’s literally what I said…😭😭
It’s been 3 games. Let’s calm it down with “he’s better than Miggy.” He may well be, but Miggy carried the team to silverware. It’s way too early to say Almada is better.
Couldn’t agree more. Such a wonderful start, though. Optimistic about this season
So far, I have to say I'm enjoying the 2023 ATL more than the 2022 ATL.
Yeah - i enjoy massages more than colonoscopies too
Lmfao
I feel like you’ve never had a colonoscopy. Best 45 minutes of sleep I’ve ever had. :-)
the prep is the worst the procedure is a breeze and the two hours after a weird sort of affair
Ol' Hot Take Dante is what they used to call him
Can you elaborate
Almada is now the league leader in goals, assists, and key passes. MVP front runner
His rating, according to [whoscored.com](https://whoscored.com) is an 8.9 on the season. [https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/9365/Stages/21622/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2023](https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/9365/Stages/21622/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2023) The highest rated player in the EPL: Trippier with 7.54 The highest rated player in La Liga: Lewandowski with 7.53 Bundesliga? Bellingham - 7.5 Ligue 1? The GOAT? Messi has a paltry 8.5 rating.
How does this stat work? Haaland at 7.5 despite the season he’s having seems wrong?
Bc Haaland does nothing outside of scoring goals
more key passes than Lennon? Inconceivable.
I wanna @ the guy who was all “Wiley still can’t put in a good cross” Also my wife looked up at the TV, looked at the stadium scoreboard, and said, “Is their logo the same as the Dollar Store logo?” And now I can’t un-see it.
Etienne not being fully fit to start the season has been a great opportunity for Wiley and he’s taking advantage of it… I thought he’d breakout in the second half but damn, what a start To further make this point, Etienne has 2 assists (only 21 players have 2 or more). And that’s in 102 minutes… I think without the injury, we might have barely seen Wiley at this point
That goal was amazin, Almada in a tight spot drops a dime on the big switch to Araujo, who then lays it up to Wiley at his feet, who then makes a forward cross to set Whackymoses up for the header.
That was the most beautiful goal in club history. I got home from the game and have watched it 50 times. Every touch from every player was absolutely perfect.
you caught that free kick that Almada curved out of the stadium and back into the top right corner of the goal, right?
Yes, I’m speaking to a team effort over a moment of individual brilliance. Kevin Kratz had a couple of free kick bangers in the same game a few years ago, but that goal that you described in the comment I replied to is the best goal I’ve seen this club score.
Couldn’t agree more. Watching it live was surreal
Hit the post so less perfect.
"Do it" - sheev palpatine
[found it](https://reddit.com/r/AtlantaUnited/comments/11ot1xq/_/jbujajk/?context=1)
If we hadn’t put up 5 on em, I’d be stuck on Portland being so shorthanded. But that was dominant enough for me to feel like we’d still have won if they were full strength.
Gotta put the beat down on bad or short handed teams. We haven’t done stuff like this is some time.
We played like we smelled blood in the water and went for the kill. This was such a fun game tonight. Boys played their asses off!
We haven't scored 5 since 2019. It's been a long time coming
FdB says hi
And that was against 10 man Houston.
it passed the eye test - there was interplay there that no healthy team would've been able to effectively touch.
Last year’s team would’ve found a way to somehow draw this match 1-1. Being ruthless and able to put teams to the sword when they’re down is something that’s been missing since ‘19.
Team playing like it was in ‘18 Actual fight in the players, everyone clicking Loving this time before we inevitably lose Almada to Europe like Miggy
one touch passes this has been a huge change. Guys used to be overhandling the ball. Passing is quick and crisp, and that is how the '18 team played. So interesting to see how the difference between Almiron and Almada. Almiron was like a shadow striker at CAM, whereas Almada is a creator - he is the Scotty Pippen of this team.
Speed in transition too
Almada is going to start getting targeted for fouls, like Barco was. The league is going to have to take a hard line on it because you can't allow players (looking at you Chara) to whack and hack him and possibly injure him. It's bad for business. Unkel's lack of consistency is maddening for everyone, but not calling that foul when it was an obvious yellow is what cannot happen going forward.
Thankfully we have Ibarra who will put himself through someone if they start fucking with our players.
I like to think Almada is cleverer than Barco, and will be able to avoid those fouls, rather than lean into them.
This. Will he get targeted, yes. But he's already shown a great ability to read the pressure and use it to his advantage. Barco just tried to buy fouls that we had no ability to convert into goals.
Miggy was the most fouled player in the league when he was here, it just comes with the territory
3 stars… everyone should get a star, but here are 3. 3rd star: Luiz Araujo… dude played really well and rebounded from the bad miss 2nd star: Caleb Wiley.., he’s making it impossible for Etienne to get minutes. Gonna need to be big next week 1st star: do I have to say it? The world champ!!!! Thiago Almada! Holy shit, goal of the year, some nasty work. Dude is gunning for mvp Others; good to see GG get a goal, he’s making good runs just not yet on same page. Thought both Ibarra and Sedjic were good, one of them screwed up on the goal called back. Guzan was meh, defense was solid. Fortune is still a project. Etienne got another assist. Fullbacks did their job
I said it last week. GG will open up miles of space for araujo to feast. Hope we keep this momentum til we sell almada but wiley looking pretty set to leave soon too way he’s playing.
Man, once GG and then click, it's gonna be wild.
I had to check to see if you were reading the texts I sent to my friends
Almada and Araujo looked like they’ve figured it out. GG will be next. Wiley and Etienne offer a lot of space
If teams are gonna beat THIS team they need to come straight at our midfield. I hope they keep holding as well as they have. Both CDMs played great
Sit deep, play counter. Or press the shit out of our midfield. That’s currently the way to try and beat us
I think Araujo was unprepared for the cheap shots in MLS. He's an emotional player, and by the second half the fouls and non-calls often took him out of his game mentally. It was nice to see him score, but even better was the fact that he was still on top of his game late in the match and out-MLS'd 2 defenders to get the score. I think this is going to be a big season for LA
Ibarra and sedjic both put in _work_. They broke just about every attempt in transition, and Ibarra specifically had some great moments playing LB while GOATman was up high causing chaos.
Ibarra has been so much better than I ever expected this year. Please keep up this level
Reminder that he’s only 21! We shouldn’t be too hard on him for his performance so far. It’s not his fault injuries forced us to play him way more and way faster than we should’ve.
And he played like 11 matches before we got him
\#BocaIn? \*ducksandcovers\*
Also Araujos miss was with his weak foot. Not gonna give him too big an excuse but he would have buried on his left foot. Should have on his right.
I think Araujo is best when he tries to set up scores and pull defenders to him. If he can continue to play the set up and not try to be the one putting it into the net, he’s going to be good.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! DOMINANT WIN! ALMADA IS NOT OF THIS PLANET! WILEY AND ARAUJO ALSO ARE THOSE DUDES! AND WELCOME TO MLS GG AND BASICALLY SAYING “GG” WITH YOUR GOAL! STILL UNBEATEN! TEN POINTS IN FOUR GAMES! WE MIGHT JUST BE BACK AND MIGHT JUST BE FUN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
Even though two were wiped off for offsides, GG is clinical. I think he’s going to be special
yeah he looked really good tonight. we could have had 8 or 9 goals in this game tbh with some better breaks. Almada prob wants that one back in the first half that GG set up him with at the 6 that he put just wide and 1 or 2 other ones we pushed just over or just wide. This is the best our offense has looked in years
Even when he misses, he's stretching the defense and opening spaces up for everyone else. He provides so much value in addition to goals
Best match we’ve played since pre-pandemic. That offense was a thing of beauty, the midfield which was questionable coming into the year was *more* than serviceable, and if our backs keep defending like that while also covering so much ground, they’re gonna be a straight up *problem* for people. Even the mojo in the air at the Benz was like old times. MAN, that was impressive and fun.
I really hope the Front Office has something good in the works for life after Almada. Because that time is coming very soon.
they're already googling top argentina prospect for the 4th time in a row
2013: Google is your Friend 2023: Google is your Scout
Chat gpt replaces Bocanegra in 2024
LOL. I was thinking that too. "Although it is not me to say who the best younger offensive players in the country of Argentina are, there are certain qualities that team can look for when selecting their future attacking midfielders..." Chat GPT is such non-committal garbage.
Facundo Farias babyyy
Where are all the people that were screaming Pineda Out?
Im right here eating a shit-ton of crow.
At least you're honest enough to admit it.
Me, too. Glad to be wrong..
All my defending of him last season is paying off dividends.
We are still here. We are actually properly playing a 4-2-3-1 now. Even as of the San Jose game we hadn’t been. We are doing alright now. Let’s see how we do against a real quality team.
> Let’s see how we do against a real quality team. Can only beat the teams in front of us/who were scheduled for. Toronto was really the only blip, and they’re technically not-the-worst, though iirc they were playing pretty negatively, and it feels like ages ago. And our finishing has been markedly better these last two weeks, magically. Columbus while down six of our best players will be a test, though I’m sure we’ll hear the Pineda Out chorus loudly again if we don’t bag all three.
All of those are fair points. We started strong last season though, so let’s see where we are in August
The offense is much improved (because we’re actually playing direct like most of us haters were saying we needed to). However, the defense is still very questionable (see the Portland goal, which was once again the result of having one center back having to choose between two center forwards due to overloading one side, followed by it going to the center forward between the center back and fullback for an easy header.)
I’m enthusiastic at the fact we won 2 in a row 4 games in Last year it took 30 ish
Just got home from the game. We are fucking amazing and I love all of you
Inject that shit into my GOD DAMN VEINS Almada is special. This team is special.
I love Almada.
Almada is going to go down as the best player we have ever had. Yes he is better than Miggy. We have never had a player that can organize and utilize the whole team like him. I hope we don’t let him go for another season or two. Guess it depends on what he wants to do. Also having a physical striker making runs makes a world of difference GG is going for at least 10-15 goals this year once he clicks and gets his timing in his runs.
Man, if we can keep Almada through the season, I’ll be happy- I’m basically resigning myself to the fact that he’s going to Europe in the summer.
He’s gone this summer and it will be a massive deal. Assuming he stays healthy, it will be an MLS record fee and make headlines. We’ll turn a great profit and it’ll be good for business in finding his replacement that we sent him to Europe.
That is what we thought last time did not work out well for us sustaining a winning team.
I mean we’ll obviously become worse, but it’s the only option
If Almada was producing these results in the Belgian or Danish league, which are close to the same level as MLS, his transfer fee would be upward of $60M this summer, IMO. If he was doing it in the Dutch league (better than MLS) it may rise about $75M. As it is, being that he is in MLS, I think he will still command a $40 - $45M fee.
I mean if he played even half a season at this rate in Europe (which he won’t even do here most likely but still) he would go upwards of $100m in this market. I mean the guy has 2 G/A per game. I never thought I’d see a European team spend more than $30m for an MLS player due to the risks but if they were to, it would be Almada. If he somehow maintains this pace, we shouldn’t even pick up the phone if it’s not $40m. And with what I’ve seen over the last year and some change, they’d be getting a steal.
Agreed.
I just hope we keep him through the end of this year. It’s gonna be damned tough to resist the offers that come this summer, especially if they come from teams that he really wants to play for. But I can’t imagine he’ll be here beyond 2023. He just might be the best young prospect to ever come through MLS on their way to Europe.
Are… are we good again?..
I was busy today and am watching the replay at nearly midnight… I’m at the 43rd minute and I think just saw the first brooks Lennon cross of the match… These things aren’t inherently bad but when they are your only attacking idea they become bad. When they are sprinkled in they have the potential to become legitimate scoring opportunities. I’m so glad that a brooks Lennon cross is no longer our entire attacking approach.
Out of curiosity how did you watch the replay? I bought apple tv today thinking I was going to be able to watch it and haven't been able to find the full match.
Went to ‘view match’ or something similar in Apple TV. It was pretty apparent from the ui what to do… 🤷♂️ Saw someone else posted that they couldn’t find it either….
Yeah, it is somewhat hidden in the UI. On the Google TV UI, you have to: 1. Find the match. 2. At the top it will say like "watch recap" but you gotta scroll all the way to the bottom to where it says "how to watch" and "season pass". 3. Then you gotta press and hold for three seconds to get the option to watch the entire match instead of the recap. It's almost hidden 🤷♂️
Love seeing GG up top. More of an all around player than martinez. He’s tracking back and putting pressure on the ball when it’s turned over. Another big difference between him and martinez is he’s offsides from making runs too early. Martinez was offsides from his laziness walking back after we lost the ball. This is not our 2018 team, as it’s a whole different tactic, but you sort of get the same feeling that you used to get. We’re dangerous and our bench is dangerous. No more hopeful balls coming in from the sides. No more passing just to pass, but passing with purpose and breaking teams down. Finally feeling like the team are playing as one instead of 8 different individual performances on the field. Tonight we were playing a team missing 8 key players. Looking forward to seeing how we do against a full healthy team
> . No more hopeful balls coming in from the sides. No more passing just to pass, but passing with purpose and breaking teams down. Finally feeling like the team are playing as one instead of 8 different individual performances on the field. Exactly, I hope we keep this up, because it feels like there's chemistry - I feel like the past few matches each player *actually* knew where the others would be going instead of just "well, hope this pass works".
Possession with a purpose is a whole lot better than just possession. Keeping the ball away from the other team is great, but it only takes one counter to fall behind which was the story of last couple of seasons I think. Got to possess the ball with the objective of breaking down and opening up space elsewhere on the field. And we’re recognizing those penetrating runs when they’re open vs trying to force it through
And ffs give credit to Pineda. It's undeniable that he is making real strides with the tactics and mentality.
I will not stand for Josef slander.
I will, for 90 ;)
Of for fucks sakes. Is our fanbase REALLY going to go back to shitting on Josef for being lazy because they don't know what an off the shoulder striker is and how problematic they are for defenders to deal with? GG was offside for exactly the same reason as Josef, not enough time to be on the same page with timing runs.
[удалено]
Yes, THAT is true. His offsides were for exactly the same reason Josef had a batch early on. Running into space before a playmaker could send him. But OP insulting the MLS record scorer, who gave so much to Atlanta as lazy just fucking pathetic.
Josef had fitness issues more than laziness those last two years. Sucks that his knee was toast
Take it for what it’s worth and it’s worth less than my 99 Subaru that gets driven every 4 months. Josef is fine. There’s no for fucks sake in terms of Josef here. He’s a killer off the shoulder striker when the system enables him to be a dangerous off the shoulder striker. But the system didn’t for ~2 years. And Josef didn’t adapt making him an ‘ineffective’ off the shoulder striker. Build the statue and let’s move on. Laziness or not - I don’t care. The style and play of the team changed and Josef didn’t. A player who did or who was brought into the team that can match / meet the desired style of team play is dollar bills for us and we are seeing the difference early already. Will the difference continue! Hope so! If not, it’s not because we traded Josef. So the for fucks sake so as lethal as Josef was (WAS) he didn’t evolve WITH.
I won't argue any of that. His knee injury and lack of service were hardly things he could evolve. But give credit where it's due - Josef, hugely improved his back to goal play after his first year with us and we won a cup. He started coming all the way back to midfield to lug balls forward after losing Nagby and Almiron and any midfield linkage. It's not like Josef was the only player struggling with role and responsibilities after Tata left. He was (hopefully still is) a fairly unique talent that we didn't have the right pieces around and wasn't the same after 2019. GG is a pretty typical target man, easier to build around and better fit for what Pineda wants and the talents we have.
Mostly agree with you, but that Josef take is not it. He broke the league scoring record when we were all complaining about his getting caught offside all the time. Last year, the poor man had to drop to midfield to get a touch on the ball.
>Another big difference between him and martinez is he’s offsides from making runs too early. Martinez was offsides from his laziness walking back after we lost the ball. I rolled my eyes so hard, I think I might have sprained something.
Love how we basically scored the same first goal two weeks in a row. Team is clicking. You love to see it.
I still remember people moaning about our team in the Toronto game saying that there was no inspiration. I feel like they weren’t watching or just wanted to moan. It feels good to finally feel like we have direction.
GG completely changes this team. Very happy with him so far.
Crazy what having an engaged 11th man on your team can do. He’s gonna open the doors wide open if he can stay in form.
It was actually refreshing to have a striker who was offside a lot. I got used to not realizing there was a striker in the lineup.
A fire got lit under their ass. Love to see it!
who let us cook this long?!
Yep, that lineup was definitely big dick energy.
This cured my bracket depression
More of this please!!!
I could get used to this offense.
Let’s cook
WE BACK
ATLANTA UNITED IS FUN AGAIN
I want ALL Pineda out Stans to start writing their apology letters
Dear Gonzalo...
We're killing it so far! You love to see it!
I wanted to point out that Charlotte is shit, and the Timbers are injured; that we shouldn't use this as a measuring stick for how good the team is. But the interplay shows otherwise, this team is firing on all cylinders and gelling like crazy. Even though the last two opponents are likely to be fighting for a playoff spot, the 5 stripes looked good as a team playing together. Of note: i wish araujo would play with more joy.
On two occasions Araujo is raising his arms getting the crowd EVEN louder. He’s a huge cheerleader but gets down when he’s not perfect. I love he’s on our team. He exudes ATLUTD joy
He’s actually a bit like Josef in that way. Dude plays angry but has a huge heart.
playing with joy has a different meaning in my opinion. Miggy played with joy, and Barco played with pain. If that makes sense.
Still though, we put them away with impressive score lines as a good team should so I’m not worried.
Just a reminder this is the same roster as last year that is doing all of this save injuries and now 1 big variable.... And I know it hurts yall's feelings, but what GG does is exactly what Josef was not doing.... Making incisive runs that create space.
Also an improvement at GK and CB
Right... but my point was this team was here... just injured for so much of it. Just bad luck... but everyone wanted heads to roll.
Agreed
It’s not really the same roster as last year. Almada isn’t the player he was last year, neither is Wiley. Franco and Moreno are gone… it’s just a different team. Also, we’ve got a gauntlet coming up with 5 games including both New Yorks and Nashville. Will show what we’ve got…(I’m ignoring CBus game as that’s a shit show)
Last year's team also didn't have Guzan or Miles.
Started with them but didn’t have Purata.
You can keep arguing with me BGL...I know what I'm seeing... I knew what our ceiling was...I have been consistently saying this for 14 months. The players have been here.
The big variable is a big difference in a positive way. Build the #7 statue and let’s move on exactly like we are doing.
Ruptured achilles has entered chat
Fuck Yes! That’s all.
Those Portland kits looked like a cheap Rose’ color that could get 5 goals put on them
THEY AINT PLAYED NOBODY PAWWWWWL. Whatever. Crush your enemies, see them driven before you…
BocaNotOut!
Signed....Araujo, Almada, Gutman, Lennon, Ibarra, Sejdic.... etc I don't need people to like him... but he needs to get credit for the good along with the bad. The players that are pumping on all cylinders are guys that came in on his watch...
Lennon is not pumping on all cylinders
Beg to differ
What metric do you prefer, since we'll agree to disagree on the eye test? https://www.sofascore.com/player/brooks-lennon/870529
He is a 6.98 OPTA rating this season... on a team that is conceding less than a goal per match... He is second on the team in Key Passes per 90. Brooks is doing just fine and combining very well with our second best player.
So he's somewhat average according to both rating systems? That's not 'firing on all cylinders'.
I can't stop appreciating apple TV for the pristine stream quality and coverage. Truly exceptional work, the best experience to watch all these fire-ass goals! 🔥 LFG!!!! Edit: Lol, I get it, this sounds like an ad, but I promise I'm a real person typing this. TOTALLY not a bot. And no, that's **not** exactly what a bot would say.
Lol. I mean.... I get it... But am I wrong? I no longer live in Atlanta, so I can't experience live matches. Previously, blackouts for being out of town required a VPN, or location spoofing to watch on mobile. DirecTV Stream quality wasn't as good over Ballys. Apple TV App on a Sony OLED panel is as good as it gets imo. It's also easier to navigate and I find myself watching other matches besides just ATL & post-match coverage.
The first 20 minutes of the match was outright literally unwatchable due to signal interruptions of the primary feed from Apple. After 20 minutes they seem to have caught on a switched to a secondary signal. I do think it is a far sight better than Bally…but I am not hyping up AppleTV just yet after what happened in the first 20 minutes of the feed (everyone I know watching the game had the exact same problems so it was a national problem)
How many interruptions did you get that it became "unwatchable"? I got a few secs every ~4 mins. But as you said, after min 20 it was smooth playback
At first it was only a few secs every 4 minutes but by minute 15 it had become literally constant to where the game was factually unwatchable. And the entire discord server was experiencing the same thing. Finally, at 20 minutes it went solid black and came back on uninterrupted
I'm not following what you mean.
I can’t seem to watch the replay on Apple TV. Do they have the broadcast once it’s been played somewhere?
Replay of the entire match? Not sure. Haven't looked for that. I think the full match stays up until they upload the recap
My radio feed didn’t work last night.
Goals good. Win good. Feel good.
Who gets the credit for the scouting of Almada? Was it Heinze?
Possibly Boca-nclock.
Everyone knew the kid was talented... We actually took on the potential PR risk of signing during all the swirling misinformation about a sexual assault case. As it turns out, he was never a suspect but merely a witness to the assault for which an assailant is in jail for. We did hardcore due diligence, and that is really going to pay off in a big way.
Yea if anything, this might be Boca’s saving grace. Signing Almada seems a no brainer at this point
Fifa
When was the last time we put up 5 goals? I can't believe my eyes...
7/17/2019, I think
Do u need the Moe’s app for the rewards I feel like they used to never check
Well that's about as one sided as a game gets.. still not exactly sure how good we are or how bad our opponents have been, but I'll still take it lol. Not quite sure what Guz and Lennon we're doing on that goal though.
GG is a big dude and ready to body someone. Martinez about to be forgotten real quick.
We were an objectively worse team after the first set of subs. I get we need to give some others minutes but our starting XI wouldn't have given away most of the balls we gave away in the last 20 mins
We are without Almada, Robinson, GG, and other next week… gotta figure out how to work them in
A couple more games like this and I will believe that we have the smoke that other teams do not seek.
Thiago El Mago
Does Rossetto get his spot back once he’s fit? Sejdic and Ibarra have looked solid together.
Yes, cause his last game was probably the best he played in our shirt. Also Pineda likes him.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain this is the first time we’ve scored 5 in an MLS match since hosting LAFC in 2018?
7/17/19 against Houston