Atlanta United blew a two-goal lead against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, conceding twice in second half stoppage time to lose 3-2 and cement themselves as MLS Wooden Spoon favorites.
An Enea Mihaj red card 30 minutes into the match shaped the complexion of this one, tilting the field in Philadelphia’s favor for the rest of the match. Despite Miggy bungling in a goal right after the dismissal and Muyumba scoring another banger away from home, the defense couldn’t withstand the onslaught while being outnumbered.
The loss itself, in this fashion, is a brutal way to see the team lose. But is anyone really surprised? Did anyone really think they would hold on after going up 2-0? After everything we’ve seen, I expected this to happen. So, when it eventually did, I felt numb to it. At no point during the 90 minutes, aside from being stunned by Muyumba’s great goal, did I feel any enjoyment or hope.
Tata anticipated it as well. He knows the team is in disarray and the squad needs to be overhauled. Yet here we are with just around 30 days left and all we’ve seen are vague rumors of departures and arrivals. Atlanta United is seemingly begging other teams take their mistakes off their hands and the only deal they can get over the line is selling a budget-friendly player with a history of being able to contribute that the current manager refused to give a chance.
The roster is in total shambles. The manager, who is notorious for not sticking around long, has no answers. They continue to try to patch gaping wounds with expensive bandaids instead of formulating an actual plan to rebuild the roster. No one seems to be on the same page as to whether this is a total re-do or a salvageable season.
Is sending out one DP and bringing in another going to fix things? No. Is bringing in 2 or 3 more players? Probably not.
This roster has 2 or 3 solid pieces from top to bottom, at most. Then your best and most consistent player is in danger of leaving the club after the season because you can’t reach a deal to lock him up for the future.
Losing sucks. Not being able to enjoy watching soccer sucks. But the worst part is, there is just absolutely no glimmer of hope right now because no one seems to be on the same page, from the front office down to the touchline. While supporters are left wondering why they should consider investing any of their time or money into watching an utter disaster of a club with no prospects of recovering any time soon.
One day I would love to be able to write about matches again and which players are doing well and which ones need to improve. Right now, there’s just nothing left to say that we haven’t said for the last six years.
Hopefully someone brings this post back up in 2-3 months and rubs it in my face about how wrong it was. But this is how I’m feeling right now and I don’t know how anyone who suffers through this week in and week out could feel any different. If this rant has upset you or you don’t like the honesty, I am truly sorry. But all I can do is write and say what I’m feeling like I’ve always done.
The wheels came off the wagon when the subs came in. Tata is pulling a Tata with Cayman. Bro, you need a striker who can run and press and disrupt, not one jogging around, waiting for his through ball. You’re not 11 v 11, playing for the winning goal. You’re emergency defending. Tata has blinders on, the way he had with Amador.
I will say I was entertained by this one. A couple great goals.