Atlanta United will have to score and advance without some of their best players

“Think of it as simple ideas, placing them in the best possible way where we think their strengths may be, whether it’s certain positions, or movements and things like that ” said Valentino. “I think we were trying to give them those ideas and let them know that you have the confidence to make mistakes. I want them to be careful, to make mistakes, but I want them to make new mistakes. If we make the same mistakes, we are in trouble.

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The team’s inability to score partly explains why they have managed just one victory in their last 11 league matches. He scored one goal or less in seven of those matches.

Tactically, Valentino worked to help the attacking players work on each other so they can create 2v1 or 3v2 situations. If they lose the ball, they can use their proximity to press, get the ball and turn that into another transition moment. Not all counterattacks need to start near a baseline and travel more than 110 yards in the other direction.

Valentino said they could also play on a lower line, which could potentially entice the opponent to move higher up the pitch and create space in behind that Atlanta United could attack into if they could create a turnover .

“I’m not going to get married here with just one answer,” he said.

Mentally, well, that’s a longer story.

Dax McCarty said he thinks the team’s problems at home, where they are winless in their last five games, date back to the Philadelphia game on April 14. The Five Stripes led 2-0 and were in control. The Union scored one. The Union scored again. The Union scored a third that was called back due to an offside call.

McCarty said the team was in shock.

“You think OK, we go from 2-0 down, we should win this game easily against the best team in the league, and then like we’re holding on here,” he said. “And then, since then, it’s just been a snowball. We haven’t been able to get things right at home. And so you just have to have a short memory, right?

But the team doesn’t have a short memory.

McCarty said players are sometimes afraid of making mistakes. Including the match against Union, Atlanta United scored 12 goals in their first seven matches. He followed that up with 10 goals in his next nine. There’s been too much talk about “keep the ball just to frustrate the opponent” instead of “let’s make sure we frustrate the opponents, let’s always be good in possession, but let’s try to have more goal and more finishing.” product in what we do.

McCarty said it’s not about fixing tactics. He said the players were among those responsible for what happened to Pineda. He said that at times things were too static, perhaps due to players not wanting to make mistakes. So it’s about repairing instincts and creating freedom.

“I think we have some really, really good attacking players and not just good attacking players, but athletic, fast, strong players who are really scaring the opposition back lines,” he said. “We were just a little too robotic in the positioning of our wingers and our forwards, and I’d like to see them have a little more freedom of movement. And I think that’s what Rob has done. He’s arrived and said, ‘I want you guys to take on the guys one by one.’ But if the space isn’t there, come in and find the game, be a little more fluid in the way we move.”

There is still one question: who will score?

Atlanta United will likely soon finalize the sale of top scorer Giorgos Giakoumakis (five goals) to Cruz Azul. The team has not responded to any legitimate offers for Thiago Almada, its most creative player and second-highest scorer (four goals), but he will almost certainly leave the team to play for Argentina in the Olympics. Saba Lobjanidze, tied for second top scorer, is participating with Georgia in the European Championship.

Atlanta United will have to find ways to score goals without some of their best players, either for the remainder of the season or at least for part of the remaining 18 league matches.

“It’s going to be tough, that’s for sure,” captain Brad Guzan said. “But this is what we signed up for, this is part of it. There is no time for excuses. There is no time to find a way out, it is only moving forward. We have to do it with the guys who are here and on the field. We believe in each other. We believe in each other as a group. It’s a busy summer in terms of international football for different competitions, for different reasons. The guys who are there, we are going to give everything.

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

February 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in US Open Cup

May 11 DC United 3, Atlanta United 2

May 15 Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United 0

May 18 Atlanta United 1, Nashville 1

May 21 Atlanta United 0 (5), Charleston 0 (4) in US Open Cup

May 25 LAFC 1, Atlanta United 0

May 29 Atlanta United 3, Miami 1

June 2 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 2

June 15 vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m.

June 19 at DC United, 7:30 p.m.

June 22 in Saint-Louis, 8:30 p.m.

June 29 c. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

July 3 at New England, 7:30 p.m.

July 6 at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.

July 9 against Indy Eleven in the US Open Cup

July 13 in Montreal, 7:30 p.m.

July 17 vs. NYCFC, 7:30 p.m.

July 20 against Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

July 26 against DC United in the League Cup, 7:30 p.m.

August 4 against Santos Laguna in the League Cup, 4 p.m.

August 24 at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m.

August 31 in Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.

September 14 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

September 18 against Miami, 7:30 p.m.

September 21 at the Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

September 28 in Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

October 2 c. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.

October 5 against Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

October 19 in Orlando, 6 p.m.