Atlanta United finds themselves in a must-win situation, again, after a 3-0 loss to Monterrey in Leg 1 of the CONCACAF quarterfinal. Much like their first loss to Herediano, the Five Stripes must now get the job done on their home turf if they have any hopes of advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.
United radio analyst Jason Longshore told John Fricke and Hugh Douglas that while the pressure's on Atlanta, the team needs to play much better than they did last night.
“The sky isn’t falling, but there’s definitely some concerns," he said. "It was such a strange match. The third goal was the backbreaker, and it makes it really difficult next Wednesday. And you have a league match on Sunday as well, and it's not going to be easy at the moment. They need a better feeling in the final third right now."
It seems like they're lacking some chemistry at the moment?
“I think that’s a lot of it, to be honest. You can tell this team right now is very reliant on Pity Martinez to create anything by himself. You've not seen the combination play we've seen in the past. It's a little one-dimensional at the moment, and that’s not going to cut it against top teams. You could see Atlanta United, in my opinion, start to get a little tired, and they could not keep Monterrey off the board.”
With a busy schedule, playing in five different cities, a new coach and mix-and-match lineups, will they make the right adjustments soon?
“I’m not sure which way it goes at the moment because it’s a different team than it was last year. You always had a simple out (under Tata Martino). And that was play it over the top and letting Miggy Almiron or Tito Villalba chase onto it. You’re not creating enough in the 18. Last night they had four touches inside Monterrey's penalty area. You're not going to win matches that way. You can hold up defensively (but) you're not winning matches with four touches in the 18. Something has to change whether it's the players adjusting more to what Frank de Boer wants, or Frank adjusting and making things a little more simpler in the short term."
Understanding that this is his first year with United, is de Boer on a short leash?
"No, I don't think so. He's here to take this team to another level, and I think he has that in him. It's just been a rocky start. The compressed schedule, the travel, playing all over the place and now the injuries...you’re thin in a couple of spots. It’s also tough for any manager to step into a championship team because where are you trying to take them from there as you're trying to put your stamp on it? It's a lot of difficulties right now."
One bright spot to Atlanta United is the fact they will play their first match since winning the MLS Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. How big will it be to play here on Sunday?
"They do need some of that comfort level and having three games in a row at MB Stadium all in the next week--which is match compression--but you're going to be at home and won't have to mix the travel in. Getting back home just changes it. It gives you that comfortable feeling that you need. These players haven't gotten worse. It's just not working right now. Getting home and getting into your own building, you need to take advantage of that."
While he expects there will be a lot of pomp and circumstance with Sunday's first match at the Benz, Longshore wasn’t sure if they would be dropping a championship banner at Sunday’s game.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I've been so crazy with CONCACAF, that I'm not sure of pre-match going on on Sunday. Even if they don't get the result they desire, they still need to put on a great show...agreed."
Evaluating MLS and CONCACAF, is it as important given what we've seen thus far?
“You’ve played a lot of tough minutes in a short period of time. But after giving up that second goal, they need to not concede in giving up the third. Even with the second goal, you could see the energy suck out of the team with that. You have to adjust to what's in front of you. Sometimes you have to be pragmatic. You have plenty of time to make up the one match you lost in MLS. Concacaf is a big mountain to climb, and it's not very likely that you turn it around. But you have to find that balance of resting players and putting on that good show for the fans."