After the scheduled portion of training ends, players will often stay to get some extra work in. Attackers take shots at keepers, wingers and fullbacks play crosses, and defenders get some aerial work in. Sometimes, competition takes over. As players lobbed shots at Brad Guzan and Josh Cohen in the net on Tuesday, they couldn’t help but keep score.
Guzan chirped at each shooter, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Jamal Thiaré, Tristan Muyumba, Rodrigo Neri, Xande Silva and more if they missed. Latte Lath drilled one into the bottom right corner and let out a yell. Muyumba tried to chip Cohen from a ridiculous angle but just missed, and of course Guzan had something to say about that.
It’s all friendly chatter, but it’s driven by that competitive gear the players share. As Muyumba headed over to speak with media, Guzan called out “Trist, let ‘em know, keepers on top!”
Atlanta United is upping the intensity in search of a breakthrough performance. The 5-Stripes host the third match of their three-game homestand against New England Revolution Saturday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET. It’s a game they want to take control of and drive, from start to finish. They want to leave no doubts.
Synching the phases of the game
The path to consistent performance for Atlanta United starts with getting on the same page in attack and defense. Some of the squad’s best performances defensively have come when the attack hasn’t scored enough — the 0-0 draw with Red Bulls, the 1-1 tie with Dallas. Conversely, the 5-Stripes have had their best offensive outputs align with defensive instability — 4-3 with NYCFC, 3-2 with Montréal, 2-2 with Cincinnati.
Yet to win a game by more than a goal this season, Atlanta United could use an emphatic win to kick start some momentum. The New York City comeback win felt that way, but drawing with Dallas brought the 5-Stripes back down to earth.
Deila and his staff have established consistency in their training sessions. Often in recent weeks, the team starts with a passing drill, splits up for attacking finishing and defending buildup and ends with a scrimmage of some sort.
The midfield was suffocating in those scrimmages Tuesday, quickly pressing attackers like Miguel Almirón when he turned to receive the ball deeper. Jay Fortune made a couple of crisp tackles as he looked to establish his place in the midfield.
Aggression is something the Atlanta United defense could absolutely use more of to stop the flow of goals. Luis Abram, who started just his third game of the season Saturday, made a risky yet successful sliding tackle in the first half when an FC Dallas attacker was about to fire a point-blank shot at goal.
“If you know you’re going to get the ball, then there’s no doubt,” Abram said in Spanish after training.
That tackle, however risky it may have been, felt like a fresh breath of zero-hesitation for a defense that has given up 12 goals in seven matches this season. Those moments can create energy going forward, where the 5-Stripes want to possess and play the game their way.
Abram used the word “manejar”, in English meaning to drive or to handle, to describe what he wants the team to do when they’re playing well.
“That’s something that we’re working on in training. We have to be able to maintain that advantage for the whole game,” Abram said.
Muyumba becoming more of a lock to start by the week
Tristan Muyumba didn’t miss a beat Saturday in his return from injury.
The progression was much quicker than originally anticipated. Muyumba couldn’t leave the field under his own power against Cincinnati, and just two weeks later, he was back out on the pitch excelling again.
“Sometimes you live some difficult moments, you get injuries, you have some issues,” Muyumba said. “Sometimes you do not play, you’re not involve as much as you want, and your rhythm can get too low. I'm happy because I'm in good condition physically and I know, when physically I'm good, I'm able to do some good performances.”
Muyumba’s performances have been instinctual, driven by a sense for the game of football.
“Sometimes when you try to think about the game too early, or play the game in your mind before, the game is never what you prepare for,” Muyumba said. “You have to be ready to be locked in and focus on every situation possible, but you also have to adapt to the game and what the opponent is doing.”
He’s quickly becoming one of the first names on the team sheet each week. Deila has started Muyumba for every match he’s been available since his first start March 8 against New York Red Bulls. He’s played a full 90 minutes twice in those four starts.
“I think the movements that he makes when we have the ball, but also when we don't have the ball, are very important,” Abram said.
Who plays next to him — between Bartosz Slisz, Mateusz Klich, Fortune and Will Reilly — is the tough decision.
So far, it’s been Slisz and Reilly that have started a match next to the Frenchman. Would another pairing be even better?
Let’s look at the profiles. Muyumba is a ball-winner but is most effective in possession and distribution. Slisz firmly fills the defensive requirement, so that pairing makes sense. Reilly started when the other options were unavailable, but his performance against FC Cincinnati made him hard to drop from the XI. Klich is a more physically imposing, aerial-winning option, and Fortune provides more connectivity going forward.
“No, it's just a simple conversation. He says he wants us to win duels, regain balls, play forward, play simple,” Muyumba said of what Deila tells his defensive midfielders. “Stay central and talk with our defender or attackers and try to drive the people around us. As a midfielder, you’ve got everything around you, and you can see everything.”
Deila’s got options, and it provides him flexibility based on the state of the match. Still, starters set the tone for the match, and getting that pairing right will be instrumental. One thing’s for sure, Muyumba is growing more and more irreplaceable by the week.
