‘We know we’re a good team’ | Atlanta poses key test for Eastern Conference as season enters second half

The loss to the Crew was probably tough to take, but in the end, it may have been due to individual mistakes more than anything else. Those mistakes can be corrected, and Buck was confident the team would fix them in time for Wednesday’s game.

“We have to take our chances and correct some mistakes,” he said. “Sometimes a simple lack of concentration can cost us goals and games. As a team, we are looking to correct that and continue to improve as a team.”

Likewise, Porter said his takeaway from the game came down to precision on offense and focus on defense, two areas where mental improvements can be made.

“I don’t think it was the tactics that cost us, it was the finishing,” he said. “We had four really good chances to score. We didn’t score and that would have changed the game. Defensively, there were moments where we needed to be sharper, more focused, hungrier. It’s not so much the tactics that we made a mistake. In fact, at the start of the game everything was going our way and we should have been 2-0 up. That’s the other thing, you have to take your chances. Against good teams, they’re going to have chances, you’re going to have chances. It’s going to come down to who takes them. I just think on the day they took theirs and we didn’t.”

Porter added that one loss doesn’t define the team – certainly not against the defending league champions – and said he’s urging his players not to lose sight of how well they played during their four-game winning streak in June.

“I reminded the guys that we’ve won four games in a row,” he said. “We’re playing really well and we can’t forget that. But we have to use this last game as a little wake-up call and keep reminding ourselves that we have to keep getting better.”