After a 4-1 dominant win against the New England Revolution, Atlanta United prepare for their third match of the season and second one at home against Orlando City SC on Sunday, March 17. For the 7:00 p.m. match, the team hopes to replicate the strong showing they showed against New England.
MLS veteran Dax McCarty and familiar face Xande Silva both spoke to local media on Tuesday to discuss the win over New England, the difference in mentality for the club this year, and what to expect for Sunday’s match.
Xande Silva
Xande Silva is back with the 5-Stipes after the club exercised the transfer option to bring him back. He is signed through the 2025 season with an option for 2026. After having a strong Playoff showing with two goals in the postseason, Silva is a thrilling addition to the team’s attacking style.
Marrying both a strong offense and sharp defense is a goal the club in this coming season.
“If we defend good, we attack better,” said Silva.
Silva mentioned that the group feels more well-rounded in their approach to team oriented play, and that comes with help of the new faces on the team. New players like Derrick Williams, Bartosz Slisz, Stian Gregersen, and Dax McCarty.
“They have a lot of good qualities,” said Silva. “I think they help us be more solid.”
Dax McCarty
Now entering his 18th year in MLS, the veteran midfielder Dax McCarty is no stranger to the adjustments that come with not only starting a new season, but also what comes with acclimating to a new team and system. Though Atlanta United is known for their fast, offensively driven playing style, the importance of defense has been stressed by both Coach Gonzalo Pineda and the club alike.
The lopsided victory against New England is just scratching the surface of what the 5-Stripes want to do in the 2024 season.
“I think a big emphasis for us this whole year is going to be – the better we can defend, the more we compact we can be, the more can keep goals from going into our own net, the better off we will be,” said McCarty. “Because as you saw [in Saturday’s match], our attacking players are quite dangerous. They do not need many chances to bury a team.”
Though Saturday’s victory had plenty of highs to look back on the club is still hard at work to continue good habits. After relinquishing a late goal, Pineda was vocal in his post-game press conference that clean sheets are important to him. When asked about how to go about a achieving a clean sheet, McCarty mentioned the importance of everyone being on the same page communication wise, and how that will transfer into their defensive play.
“The more compact we are, the better,” he said. “Not allowing teams to penetrate down the middle. Not allowing teams to, essentially, do to us what we want to do to them. Let’s make sure that we move them side to side until we can find gasp to exploit in the middle of the field. It takes a lot of communication. That is one key point of emphasis for us this year.”
On Sunday, Atlanta United will put the adjustments learned at practice to the test against Orlando. There is a storied history between the clubs with Atlanta claiming 9 victories out of the 20 matches they have played against each other.
“There have been some spicy affairs in the past, so it should be another challenge for us.”
