A week ago, Atlanta United president Garth Lagerwey cited four reasons his club was underachieving on the field. One of them, tactics, is on first-year manager Ronny Deila. Lagerwey told Doug Roberson of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Deila’s job is safe. His reasoning — that the team needs continuity after employing three coaches in three years — wasn’t a ringing endorsement of Deila.
I was thinking about that Wednesday night while watching Atlanta United play a match that looked like too many others this season. It seemed the good victory over Cincinnati on Sunday was a one-off and Atlanta United had reverted to another uninspired effort with Deila as manager.
Then everything changed over the game’s final 20 minutes.
Atlanta United’s Bartosz Slisz scored with eight minutes left in regulation time. Teammate Jamal Thiaré scored the go-ahead goal in stoppage time. What looked like another bad loss had suddenly become the Five Stripes’ second victory in four days against opponents who are among the top five in the Eastern Conference.
“We kept believing and in the second half that we are so dominate that, in the end, they (Orlando City) couldn’t cope with it,” Deila said after the 3-2 victory. “This is a team I’m proud of, that we want to look like. Bring people in, react, get crosses inside the box, get (favorable) situations, and then be organized and aggressive.
“The day that we are going to have a clean sheet, it is going to be very, very good. Because we can’t score three or four (goals) every game. That’s too difficult.”
That’s the asterisk for this victory. It took too long for Atlanta United (4-7-5) to look like the kind of team Deila wants. The Five Stripes conceded a soft goal to Orlando early, evened the score 15 minutes later, then allowed an even easier goal before halftime. Cincinnati also didn’t have to work very hard for the two goals it scored during its 4-2 loss here Sunday.
Orlando, which had a streak of 12 consecutive MLS games without a loss, soundly outplayed Atlanta United over the next 30 minutes. Atlanta United didn’t even record a shot in the second half until the 71st minute. Meanwhile, Orlando’s forwards, especially Marco Pašalić, found plenty of space and time to create scoring chances near the Five Stripes’ goal.
It was another long stretch of bland play for Atlanta United, which has become a trademark for Deila’s team. When he was hired in December, Deila pledged that his team would play with energy, intensity and aggressiveness. The players have done that only sporadically, with nearly half the season in the books.
The spirited play came just in time against Orlando. Atlanta United trailed 2-1 when Deila sent in Pedro Amador, Thiaré and Mateusz Klich. The subs were key during Atlanta United’s surge from one goal down to one goal ahead over 20 minutes.
Moments after entering the game, Amador had a good chance to score in Orlando’s box. He missed the one-time attempt, but it was the first shot of the half for Atlanta United. Finally, they had something going, and Orlando didn’t handle it well. The visitors were on their back foots, and César Araujo was sent off for a red card in the 77th minute.
Slisz scored in the 83rd minute. That goal was created by Atlanta United’s attacking players crowding the box, as Deila wants. Klich put a shot on goal five minutes later. Soon after that, he fed Thiaré a pass inside the 6-yard box that Thiaré couldn’t finish. Thiaré did better work on the go-ahead goal. That was another score created with multiple Atlanta United players pushing forward.
Over the final 20 minutes, the Five Stripes put on an impressive display of lively and coordinated soccer. Supporters who’d been deflated by another flat effort by their team were hooting and hollering while leaving Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys to stick with it and continue to fight,” said goalkeeper Brad Guzan, the team captain. “I think you could see what it means to everyone to pull off a big win like this. It wasn’t perfect throughout the 90 minutes, but sometimes a win like this goes a little bit further.”
It won’t take long to see if that’s the case for Atlanta United. They are at the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. The Five Stripes have never won there in eight tries (three draws). That’s the first of six consecutive road matches for Atlanta United, who won’t play here again until July 16.
That stretch is why Deila wasn’t ready to say that Atlanta United’s first win streak of the season means that the team’s performance is meeting expectations.
“Let’s see,” Deila said. “We are (near) the bottom of the league, so I don’t take anything for granted. ... (Away games) will show really what kind of character we have. Can you keep the ball when you’re away? Can you defend under pressure like we put Orlando under pressure and Cincinnati? That is the next step for us (as) a team.”
If Atlanta United takes that step, then we’ll know they are the kind of team that Deila promised.
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