Lack of consistency crushes Atlanta United this season, Deila says
Atlanta United’s season was undone because it lacked consistency in, well, just about everything, manager Ronny Deila conceded after Saturday’s 5-4 loss to Columbus eliminated it from playoff scenarios.
It was the earliest that the team was removed from playoff computations in the franchise’s nine seasons.
Deila said the team lacked consistency in personnel, style, staff, its work in both 18-yard boxes, mentality … the picture was clearly muddled.
Saturday’s loss in which Atlanta United gave up five goals in the first half and reacted by scoring four to make the match interesting is an example, one Deila used.
The expected goals show that Atlanta United should have dominated the match, 4-2. Instead, Columbus scored on five of its seven shots. Atlanta United scored on four of its 17.
“We should have scored more than four or five goals, so those are the two areas where we have really got to improve,” Deila said. “We need to be better when defending our box and attacking the box.”
To its credit, Atlanta United didn’t capitulate as it watched its slim hopes of making the playoffs undone by giving up the most goals in franchise history.
All of them were scored in the first 39 minutes. None were defended particularly well.
Still, Atlanta United came back with a goal from Miguel Almirón, two by Jamal Thiare and another by Pedro Amador.
It missed several chances to tie the match at 5 in the final minutes, including a header by Enea Mihaj, who stayed on the ground slapping the turf after his header went inches wide of the far post.
“It’s one more thing to be sad about the game because I could at least help the team get one point,” Mihaj said.
Even if Mihaj scored and the game finished a tie, Atlanta United would have still been eliminated from MLS Cup playoff possibilities. It had to win and hope that Chicago lost, which it did.
There are still five matches remaining so an Atlanta United autopsy is not yet warranted.
Deila said starters will not be rested for the remaining matches. Some, such as Almiron and Emmanuel Latte Lath — who didn’t play Saturday because he is recovering from an injury — haven’t had a break in more than a year because they came from Europe into MLS in the winter transfer window earlier this year.
“We will attack with full energy,” Deila said. “We need to use the (rest of the season) to get ready for next season, and to give ourselves confidence and belief from the fans. We need to go to win matches. That is what we want to do, and we want to play the way we are going to play, like we did today. But we still need to get better in every phase of what we are doing.”
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