Atlanta United spent a lot of time hitting the ball out of the air Thursday.
Between warmups that trained short juggling and passes, a challenge that had players flicking the ball over their head and behind them twice before being allowed to hit a pass and, of course, soccer tennis.
At any given time on the pitch at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training ground, there’d be three, four, five balls in the air and many more players tracking them and hunting them down.
It was a games Thursday, a somewhat common training structure for the 5-Stripes in recent weeks. It’s less physically intensive to make sure players are fresh for the Saturday match, and it stokes the flame of competition.
“We need to see it there, that we are developing and that we are building that culture we want to have,” head coach Ronny Deila said after training Thursday. “I see that people really want that.”
Deila is looking for some fire from his squad ahead of a rivalry match against Orlando City SC on the road Saturday, April 26. Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. ET at Inter&Co Stadium. In the heat of the season, Deila’s options will be limited due to injuries and a suspension.
Thiaré time
The 5-Stripes will be without their leading scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath, who is suspended for yellow card accumulation. In his place, Jamal Thiaré is expected to start.
On Tuesday, our Sandy McAfee wrote about Thiaré’s history against Orlando, what he brings to Atlanta United’s squad and how he’s preparing for a likely start against the Lions Saturday.
The Senegalese striker showed his form in training Thursday, finishing chances comfortably in shooting drills after practice.
“I think we've all seen what he brings to our group when he's been counted on to go into games in terms of his tenacity, his determination, his willingness to put his body on the line,” Brad Guzan said after training Thursday. “We're going to be expected no different come Saturday.”
Core stability to combat injuries
Atlanta United has been bitten by the dreaded injury bug in the middle of a tough spell of results. Stian Gregersen and Tristan Muyumba both had to leave the Philadelphia match due to injuries and are set to at least miss the Orlando match according to Deila. The gaffer also said that Derrick Williams will still be unavailable with his hamstring injury.
Deila and his staff don’t take these injuries for simply unlucky happenings. They’re analytical down to the last detail.
“You test the players in different ways about their core stability,” Deila said. “If you have weaknesses, you get exercises and treatments to strengthen that up. I think we have been very general in that. Everybody goes through the same things. I think [we need to be] more specific everywhere, who needs what.”
Player-specific conditioning is going to be a bigger focus moving forward. Deila and his staff are hoping that will better prepare players physically for matches and catch more injuries before they happen.
For some players, it’s knowing when to focus their energy in the gym if a training session on the pitch would be more hurtful than helpful. Players like Brooks Lennon and Alexey Miranchuk stuck to the weights Thursday, attacking their weaknesses and staying ready for the weekend.
Deila cracked about his own lack of flexibility to prove his point. He also mentioned Lionel Messi as an example of what elite core strength can do, saying he’s always stood straight up no matter what position he finds himself in.
“Those that have [done] yoga, they know about it. You get flexible when you're strong. I'm quite strong, but I'm very weak inside [my core],” he said. “I’m not such a good dancer either. [The core muscles] are good, they control the movements.”
Similar production, different results
Comparing these sides statistically is an interesting exercise. You’d expect the numbers to back Orlando, the team in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with four more points than Atlanta United. But that’s not quite the case, at least on the attacking end.
According to MLSSoccer.com, Atlanta United is the ninth most accurate passing team in MLS. Orlando is 23rd. The 5-Stripes have produced 16.4 expected goals on the season — the Lions have 15.5. Atlanta even barely beats Orlando out in accurate shooting percentage, an area the 5-Stripes would admit they want to improve, 35 to 34.9.
All this to say, Atlanta United absolutely has a case to say they’ve been the superior attacking team this season, yet they have four fewer goals, and points, to show for it. That’s football.
Still, there’s one area on the defensive end where a huge gap exists: clearances. Orlando City is seventh in MLS with 82. The 5-Stripes have 40 fewer.
It showed on Philadelphia Union’s first goal last Saturday, where even after multiple attempts, the 5-Stripes couldn’t clear their lines and conceded.
“It was frustrating from a lot of different aspects, probably more than the transitional side of it,” Guzan said. “We have the ball, we turn the ball over and within one, two passes, they're inside of our 18-yard box. We need to limit these opportunities that we're gifting to them.”
Deila wants his players to command possession, and part of that mantra involves building out of the back as opposed to clearing the ball. That accounts for some of that clearance discrepancy, but Atlanta will need to be extra wary to get the ball out of danger quickly Saturday, especially without Gregersen in defense.
Deila, who has likely mulled over just about every number he can about his squad, knows it’s bigger than spreadsheets.
“Everybody can read the stats, and you can get the stats to get whatever you want,” Deila said. “At the same time, stats [are] not everything, because in the end it's about do you score more than opponents? If you don't do that, then you look behind the results, are you creating more than opponents? If you do, then why are you losing?”
Who blinks first?
Atlanta United and Orlando City both come into this match without a goal in their last two matches. For Orlando, it’s their last three, which have all been 0-0 draws.
If you’re only counting open play goals, the 5-Stripes’ scoreless run dates back to the New York City game, when Latte Lath’s goal in the 84th minute was the winner.
Atlanta United has the chance to not only break City’s shutout streak but end a goal drought of their own. In a rivalry match with recent history, the stakes are about as high as they can be for a late April fixture. One win could catapult the 5-Stripes right back into the playoff picture.
“We understand what it means to our supporters, to our fans, and so for us, it's a huge opportunity,” Guzan said. “I think we're going to go down there with the ability to say, ‘Right, let's turn this thing around,’ and there’s no better place to do it than Orlando away.”
