Atlanta United likely to continue trying new things as season winds down
Atlanta United’s elimination from playoff consideration two matches ago allowed manager Ronny Deila to experiment with lineups and personnel as part of next season’s preparation.
He’s pleased with some of what he has seen.
Among the changes was swapping Miguel Almirón to the left wing and Saba Lobjanidze to the right wing, and partnering Stian Gregersen with Juan Berrocal in central defense.
Atlanta United went 0-1-1 with one goal scored and three allowed. It has three matches remaining, starting Sunday at LAFC.
“Get as much information that we can about all the players we have and how we can put them together, so that will be one of the things that we want to do,” Deila said Friday.
One of the changes for Sunday might be to pair Enea Mihaj with Berrocal in central defense to see how they work together. Gregersen has recovered from a minor ankle injury suffered in last week’s 2-0 loss to New England and is available, Deila said. Mihaj and Berrocal have yet to start a match.
The communication between Gregersen and Berrocal was good, Deila said. He wants to see more ownership from the fullbacks and central midfielders, particularly in transition moments. Both of the Revolution’s goals came from transition. San Diego’s lone goal came from an individual mistake in a 1-1 draw two weeks ago.
Improving transition defense will be important against LAFC, which ranks third in MLS with 60 goals scored. It has scored 15 in its past four matches.
Deila and attacking midfielder Alexey Miranchuk said a key to slowing down LAFC will be for Atlanta United to stay compact in the center of the pitch to force it wide.
“Away games, especially against good teams, we need to think first about defense, marking and then when we get a good, solid defense, we’ll try to find a way to score the goal,” Miranchuk.
That is where Almiron and Lobjanidze’s change of positions may help.
Almiron has one goal and produced nine key passes, including a season-high seven against New England, since the swap. Lobjanidze, typically more productive on the right than the left, has only one key pass in the past two matches.
Deila said Almiron has stayed higher up the pitch on the left than when he was on the right, which has helped him be more creative. Deila said he wants to see Almiron get into the 18-yard box more to increase his chances of scoring or helping teammates score.
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