Afterthoughts: Atlanta United plays to 2-2 draw against Houston Dynamo FC

Going back to go forward. Once more. With feeling.

Atlanta United surrendered an 89th-minute equalizer to Latif Blessing and Houston as Rob Valentino’s second first game in charge finished 2-2. I have a few thoughts. 

Change comes slowly

We got our first glimpse at Rob Valentino’s tactical tweaks last night. They were small glimpses though. The structure looked largely the same. There weren’t major changes in Atlanta’s build-up phase or possession phase. They looked like the same team we’ve come to expect. The only tangible difference in attack came in the moments when Atlanta opted to play direct rather than keep possession. And even those moments were limited.

“I would have wanted to be a little bit more direct at times,” Valentino said post-match. “I thought we played backward too often. So we need to look at how we can be a little bit more pragmatic and a little bit smarter to go forward and how we can look at different rotations of guys to get them more comfortable.” 

It’s going to take time before we see what this team can look like under Valentino. Things were never going to move quickly here, especially with so many key players on international break. We got a taste last night. Not much more. And, on some level, it almost resulted in the kind of gritty win Atlanta couldn’t find the last few months. They certainly weren’t at their best. They were far from full strength. But, for a while, they found a way to jump ahead.

Only for a while though. They did enough to take the lead, but it’s hard to say they were the better team on the night. Atlanta played more direct in possession but were still wholly lacking when playing against the ball. Houston repeatedly made their way into the final third in possession and Atlanta’s defensive block never looked convincing. 

Even more concerning,