A handful of assorted reasons not to panic

don't do it

via Atlanta United

Look, I get it. There’s nothing to celebrate from yesterday. But there’s nothing to really worry all that much about either. You, dear reader, probably already know this. However, just in case you’re one of the folks panicking or fighting the urge to do so, I wanted to provide a few quick reasons to take this one a little more gently. 

1. Matchday One is hard

Atlanta clearly looked disjointed throughout this one. There were moments when you wanted to shout “SAME TEAM” at your TV like you were watching your nephew’s YMCA game. A full preseason without Thiago Almada will do that. Per American Soccer Analysis, Almada took 16.6% of Atlanta’s touches in the middle and attacking third yesterday. Only Lionel Messi and Carles Gil took a higher percentage of their team’s touches in Matchday One. When you’re that kind of focal point for the attack and you haven’t played with your teammates in three months, you’re probably going to need a moment to get rolling again. Throw in a new face like Bartosz Slisz, and you might end up with a moment or two like this.

It’s not the worst play in the history of soccer, but it’s also not one that’s conducive to bringing your team back from a goal down. Almada and Slisz nearly collide going for the same ball (I would have preferred Slisz just take it into space tbh), Almada ambles around looking for an option while everyone waits to see what Almada does and eventually he just dribbles into multiple men dressed like Charlie Brown instead of getting the ball off his feet. 

2. Road games are hard

MLS