Breaking down what was said after Atlanta United's second straight home loss to Minnesota United

Offering context and opinion to remarks from Gonzalo Pineda, Brooks Lennon and Tristan Muyumba in the wake of tumult for the Five Stripes.

via Atlanta United

Let’s start with Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda and hear his thoughts before we turn to how the players are feeling about this moment in the season for the club:

Gonzalo Pineda on recent results:

“There were some mistakes, specifically defensively, but I think the effort was there and there was full commitment from the team and some good plays. I think the first half was really good, but it was a difficult game, with an opponent who came [to Mercedes-Benz Stadium] and played a 5-4-1 tight block and stayed compact, which is hard to beat. Even with that though, I thought we created enough good chances to score goals. When you are not clinical in the boxes, commit mistakes in the back, and commit some mistakes in front of the goal that lead to us not scoring, it is difficult to win games like that. We need to fix that, but I think performance-wise, in many parts of the game, we were the better team.”

There’s going to be a theme here with Pineda’s commentary in which I will agree with one portion and disagree with another. So let’s sort it that way.

Agree: The fight and willingness to win was there from Atlanta United. This is not a matter of not caring enough. If it were, there would be obvious clips of lack of effort from multiple players, and that simply doesn’t show up on film. And being in the locker room, players were clearly bothered by the result. It would be worrisome if they weren’t.

Also, a 5-4-1 is indeed tough to break down. But,

Disagree: I don’t think it’s acceptable to say you created enough good chances to win the game. In the press conference, Pineda can look at the stat sheet and see most aspects statistically in Atlanta’s favor. But those stats strip the context that Atlanta played right into Minnesota’s hands as a team set up in a defensive structure. Tactically, Atlanta was timid in pushing numbers forward and creating numerical overloads, which is how you end up with two shot attempts in the first half at home. I questioned Pineda on this particular statistic (and Atlanta having had only 7 shots through 75 minutes) directly.

Pineda on chance creation:

“Yeah, we got the clear chances - we were 2-1 in the first half. So especially the high value chances, high, high value. we're talking about the cross from Edwin in the first half, is  solid from the goalkeeper, the other one is inverted cross from Thiago to GG, those who are high-value chances. And then the second half, I think again, I told you for 75 minutes I felt like we created more than them. We were more dangerous, but there were 15-20 minutes where we gave away a couple of chances. And yeah, honestly, it's tough against this type of team that are 5-4-1 really compact. It's not easy to create 20 chances. I think all [creating] seven high value chances I think should have put us in a better place in terms of results.”

Agree: It’s true that Atlanta created two decent chances in the first half, and those were more “clear-cut” or “big” chances than Minnesota produced.

Disagree: That doesn’t make it a satisfactory half of attacking soccer. What I think Pineda is generally missing – and I’m not sure if it’s purposeful or not – is something we refer to as “game state.” Yes, it’s difficult to run over teams in a defensive posture like Minnesota was in Saturday night. They were very comfortable for the game to remain 0-0 as long as possible. And that’s all the more reason to apply more pressure earlier in the game in an attempt to take a lead and force the opponent out of the type of game they want to play. Ultimately, this went perfectly to script for Minnesota despite them ultimately losing the xG battle by game’s end. They were happy to sit in their own box for the final 15 minutes with their 2-0 lead and focus on denying shots long enough to survive and leave town with three points. 

Pineda on actions where the team needs to improve its sharpness:

“I think there were certain moments where we were half-asleep. From a throw-in, [Minnesota] runs a simple check-and-go, and they get in behind, almost into our primary assist zone, and from there we give away a corner kick. On set pieces, we should be more dominant on those… Another one is the mistakes in the build-up. Again, it feels like we are not allowing our opponents to just build from the back or create good combination play to score goals, it seems to be more self-inflicted. We are either losing balls in areas where we shouldn’t, and it’s not like the opponents are pressing great, we just seem to be missing passes, or it comes on a set piece, or it’s a lack of concentration, but I haven’t seen a goal in a while where the opponent just makes a good play, good counterattack, or a good combination play to hurt us. It has been self-inflicted most of the time, so that is what I mean when I say we need to correct certain behaviors. Overall, in the last four games, aside from Cincinnati where we were more even, we have been superior to most of those teams, but we didn’t win in the last four games, especially two at home, where we lost two, so we must correct something.”

Agree: Pineda is completely correct about the way this team concedes. They only have themselves to blame – sometimes even their own lack of sharpness in possession – as direct cause for leaking goals, and thus points. What Atlanta has done recently with their defensive shape and solidity is something that can hopefully be built upon because it’s exactly what they lacked last season and prior.

Disagree: I disagree with nothing here.

To wrap on Pineda’s quotes (and he said a lot more, which you can see in its entirety here), I don’t think he’s wrong about everything that he says that defends the team’s playstyle and effectiveness so far this season. But this particular game was beneath the standards that fans expect to see when they buy tickets to see Atlanta United play. 

Now, let’s go to Tristan Muyumba and Brooks Lennon:

On team togetherness and mentality:

Muyumba: “I think the most important thing right now is to stay together, to review some video from this game, and try to work together. Of course it’s tough for everyone, but we have to find some positive things and go in that direction. So, I think it’s most important right now to try to rest well because we have a game on Tuesday and Saturday, and I know after this loss these two games are going to be important for us.

“I’m not worried about this team because we’ve got a lot of quality. We’ve got an amazing coaching staff, an amazing head coach, and amazing talent. I believe in everyone in this locker room. I’m not really worried about these few games, but we have to work hard, stay positive, and like I said, stay together.”

Lennon: “It just takes adapting and maturity and leadership to understand what we need to do to break them down and create chances. I think that’s one thing we’re struggling with right now… every single team in the world is going to concede a goal but it’s about how you react and respond. I think we can grow a little bit in that area and be more mature in regrouping after conceding a goal. I think at a lot of times this season when we’ve conceded it’s actually been when we’re controlling the game. A loss of focus happens like that. Like I said, it’s just maturity. Maturity and leadership on the pitch at times and understanding the right times to go forward and control the tempo.”

“To be honest with you guys, this isn't a time where we need to panic and go against each other and have a big ordeal. I think we need to stick together, we need to get back on the training field, work even harder. We've been putting in so much effort into the preparation for each and every game, the coaching staff does such a fantastic job of getting us ready for each and every game so it's just taking it that one step further, and I think the results will come eventually.”

These players clearly believe they have the talent on the roster AND on the coaching staff. So we can dismiss with the notion that Pineda has “lost the locker room.” This is the kind of response that you want to see from key players in the squad, so it’s good to hear.

It’s important to remember that this team has been without its starting CB pairing for all but three games this season, and that matters a whole hell of a lot in the way that the team builds their attacks, and how other teams try to attack Atlanta. When Stian Gregersen entered Saturday’s game late, we could see just how drastically he changed the game with his physical abilities and technical gifts. So it’s worth holding out some of the deepest darkest takes until we get a better sample of what this Atlanta United team actually is rather than the patchworked version we’ve seen over the last month.