Soccer (General)

[pete]

Barco made his first start coming off of injury today for United, and looked dynamic with Pity and Josef. You can see Atlanta might be close to turning the corner, especially once Bello and Villalba are back as options. The movement in and around the box today in the first half against LA Galaxy was crisp, quick, and pretty special. By virtue of the 3-0 win they've moved into 1st in the EC for at least the next day until Philly plays.

Tuesday in Orlando: semifinal of the US Open Cup.

[pete]

Atlanta played subpar without Josef Martinez and still beat Orlando 2-0. Orlando has still never beaten Atlanta in United’s 2.5 years of existence.

[Hoek]

Nice, Atlanta United defeats Club America 3-2 to take the first Campeones Cup, a matchup of the MLS and Liga MX champions. Cue the excuses from the Mexicans.

[pete]

Originally Posted by Hoek

Nice, Atlanta United defeats Club America 3-2 to take the first Campeones Cup, a matchup of the MLS and Liga MX champions. Cue the excuses from the Mexicans.

They have no excuse. None. Holy God, I can't believe Atlanta won that game let alone played as well as they did. Atlanta played a scrub lineup against what was, with just one exception, Club America's first choice guys. Kann's a nice backup, but if Guzan's in, Club America doesn't get that second goal. Atlanta's best defender (Miles Robinson) didn't even start the game (Pogba played amazing, btw). Barco barely played, and if he's not Atlanta's best player this season he's their second best player behind Josef. Josef even pee'ed it down the leg on the first PK he took. And until Bello comes back to the first team (probably next week) Atlanta still doesn't have a left footed wing back who is worth a shit. Their choices are Perreira (not ready for prime time) and Meram (who is wrong footed and can't put a good cross in without cutting back to his right foot).

That's a helluva a win, and I believe in about a week they've got Minnesota for the US Open Cup Final and a chance to get a second trophy this month and a berth in next year's CONCACAF Champion's League. And, I'll say this: now that they understand what FdB wants and they have experience with the CCL format, they're a much more serious threat to win that tournament if they can get in it again.

People misunderstand what FdB is and what he was brought in to do. It isn't about boring possession football versus flowing South American attacking football. He wants his teams to play more cerebral situational football. Adapt to the game you're playing as opposed to Tata just wanting to impose his will on an opponent. And people will tell you, what FdB wants is the way you, pragmatically, win continental competitions and trophies. That's ultimately why Eales picked FdB... Atlanta has designs beyond MLS. They want to be the bullies of North American club soccer.

[pete]

And btw, for shear entertainment value if you were a sidewalk fan with no rooting interest, that match was AMAZING.

[pete]

So Atlanta played like crap in Orlando last night and still won again 1-0. Orlando still hasn’t beaten Atlanta in the three years of United’s existence, managing just two ties in nine lifetime matchups.

IMO, Atlanta’s real rivalry will be with Nashville once they come into the league. Orlando doesn’t seem to have the resources or the plan to seriously compete.

Atlanta has US Open Cup Final on Tuesday against Minny.

Also, evidently there’s strong rumors United’s getting a NWSL franchise, too, and announcing it soon.

[Hoek]

Orlando City fans talk so much trash to Rowdies fans on Twitter but they still don't have an MLS team.

[pete]

I'll give them credit, they're a lot more talented than they were at this time last year, especially with the Uruguayan DP they debuted last night. But, they just can't beat Atlanta to save their lives.

My only concern is Atlanta exerted too much energy in the humidity and it'll hurt them on Tuesday in the US Open Cup Final. If Atlanta wins Campeones Cup and US Open Cup, it's kind of already a successful season and anything else they do in MLS Cup Playoffs is gravy.

[pete]

Atlanta wins US Open Cup 2-1. Had to hold on for dear life at the end of the game after LGP got his dumb ass thrown out of the game. Atlanta clinches a spot in CCL again next season. Third trophy in less than a year for the club.

[Hoek]

LGP sure loves getting stupid reds. All of the trophies!