Ronny Deila expected the preseason opener at Chattanooga FC to give him answers, and it looks like he got a few.
On Saturday, Atlanta United kicked off its preseason schedule on the road at Finley Stadium. Atlanta United fell 2-1 to the MLS NEXT Pro side after two 45-minute halves.
“I get irritated to lose in my body, but at the same time, I understand this is the first game,” Deila said. “We are here to practice. That’s where we are. But we want to win at the same time, and that’s why we’re a little disappointed.”
Although the result wasn’t ideal and there are things to work on 14 days into Deila’s tenure, we saw good performances out of this early first look.
The story of the match
Deila sent on two separate groups for each half. Each group mixed young, inexperienced players and returning starters. The young players, such as Luke Brennan and Matt Edwards who were in the first group, saw a lot of action and played a full 45 minutes.
After a scoreless first half, Atlanta United opened the scoring with a goal from Ronan Wynne. The SuperDraft pick was a standout on the pitch in his first appearance for the club and converted a header off a cross from Saba Lobjanidze.
But the match didn’t end there. Down a goal, Chattanooga answered with two of their own in the span of about seven minutes just after Wynne’s header. The equalizer came after a ball got in behind Atlanta’s backline. The second was after the ball bounced a few too many times on a set piece delivered into the box.
“Always disappointed when we lose, but the application was good,” Deila said. “They tried, and as we knew, there were going to be things we need to work on, but also a lot of good things. [Chattanooga] created almost nothing.”
What Ronny Deila liked
Deila liked what he saw out of his team in his first chance to observe them in a competition. After only two weeks of training, the team and new head coach are still getting to know each other. Saturday was important for Deila to know more about the players he’s working with.
Going into Saturday’s match, we were curious how the learning process was going. Is the team learning Deila’s concepts? How is the development under a new head coach?
“We played better in the second half than we did in the first,” Deila said. “The organization in the second half was very good. We had full control, but we gave away an easy ball in behind and a set play, so that was disappointing.”
Atlanta United put more balls into the box in that second half. Saba, who delivered the corner kick that Wynne scored on, was able to take advantage throughout the second half on the wing and created opportunities to put the ball into dangerous areas.
Although Atlanta United didn’t convert any, there were good moments created from the run of play, like Edwin Mosquera’s diving volley that nearly equalized the match in the dying moments. Timing in the final third will get better as the team gets more minutes on the pitch.
“The discipline, especially in the second half, was very good,” Deila said.
Where Ronny Deila sees room to improve
“We play too much backwards. It’s always safe, safe, safe, safe. I get bored watching it.”
It says a lot about not only where the team is but also Deila’s ideas. The Norwegian manager was aware of this trend of coming into Saturday. He has seen it in training and from watching video of the team’s matches last season. Deila wants his group to be aggressive and play faster.
Playing more through the middle, and applying pressure there, is another concept that is a work-in-progress. Deila wants to see more of that instead of always building up on the outside. Utilizing the center of the pitch will open up more space for playmakers who are good on the ball such as Alexey Miranchuk and Mateusz Klich.
Of course, the team also needs to learn how to close out matches. Atlanta United led 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes of play. Then, they conceded twice and lost.
“We have to kill the game. And win it,” Deila said.
What's next for Atlanta United
Chattanooga was an early stop in the preseason. There’s still a lot of soccer ahead for this group and more matches to work on these tasks and concepts.
The next preseason friendly will be Saturday, Feb. 1 at Protective Stadium as Atlanta United faces Birmingham Legion. This match will be the last one available to stream at atlutd.com/live. The remaining preseason friendlies will be closed to the public.
As captain Brad Guzan alluded to earlier this year, preseason is a buildup. The team is taking it day-by-day and wants to be better than the day before, which their head coach reiterated after Saturday’s loss:
“We need to learn from our loss here and try to improve the trends that are happening. It’s not worrying me. This is a change of attitude and the mentality. Over time, hopefully the way we train and the way we talk and the way we evaluate what we’re doing, then these kinds of things will be lessened.”
