Even with the probability of playing without injured centerback Miles Robinson, Atlanta United's Jeff Larentowicz said a more pragmatic defensive approach will be needed to succeed in the team's MLS playoff game against New England on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
With no Robinson, whose speed, athletic ability and vision helped Atlanta United post 14 shutouts this season, Atlanta United will need a similar approach and effort as last year when defending as a team was the focus during the playoffs, which ended with Atlanta United winning the MLS Cup thanks to four shutouts in five games.
"The reliance on a guy like him is something that goes out the window," Larentowicz said. "If you have 90 minutes and make one mistake and it leads to a goal, you can lose 1-0. You have to defend as a team. You have to defend as if you don't have someone back there sweeping things up, even if he's there. If he's there great, because then he can do that job when he's called upon, in space. But you have to defend as a group and get behind the ball."
To emphasize the point, Larentowicz pointed out that New England created three quality chances in the opening minutes of the regular-season finale between the teams, won 3-1 by the Five Stripes, which played with Robinson.
In a good sign, Larentowicz, who takes training very seriously, said he thinks the team had one of its better sessions Tuesday at the facility in Marietta.
“The group as whole looks sharp,” he said. “Out of nowhere something can happen where you need someone. I think top to bottom everyone was ready to go.”
That may be because he said the players appear to have re-charged from the its finale against the Revolution, played Oct. 6.
Larentowicz said he thinks the two-week break between the finale against the Revs and the coming playoff game has re-charged the team. He said August, which featured playing in two Cup games -- the U.S. Open and Campeones -- as well as five league games may have taken a toll on the team in September. The team went 2-2-1 and never looked quite right.
“Now we are ready to roll into this next chapter,” he said.
It’s a chapter that may not include its most consistent defender, Robinson, who is among the three finalists for MLS Defender of the Year.
Larentowicz said he is willing to step in at centerback if that’s what manager Frank de Boer decides. Larentowicz has played centerback several times for Atlanta United, including during last year’s Cup run for previous manager Gerardo Martino.
“If that’s where I’m at, there’s where I’m at,” he said. “It’s about helping the team. I’m not going to help out by scoring a couple of goals. I’m going to help by helping the guys around me, whether it’s in the midfield, the back, the sidelines; I’ll do what I can.”
Among the other candidates is captain Michael Parkhurst, who anchored the line last season. Robinson’s development contributed to Parkhurst’s playing time being reduced. After finishing in the top 5 last year in voting for Defender of the Year, he has just 17 appearances this season.
“We know Parkie hasn’t played a lot of minutes in a while,” Josef Martinez said. “Captain is still the captain. What we might lose in speed, we make up for in experience. These are the types of games where experience is what matter. Experience can win games.”
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