Going from playing the bunkered Cincinnati to the frenetic San Jose is like traveling to the other side of the world, according to Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer said.
Well, go and find your passports, Five Stripes supporters.
After busting Cincinnati’s bunker 2-0 on Wednesday, Atlanta United will host San Jose, with its man-on-man, flowing locks-on-fire, high-pressure system installed by the perfectly coifed Matias Almeyda, on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“You have to be so alert,” de Boer said. “Because they are playing this system for a long time. They believe in it, the strength, the adaption. That’s why they get more points, and they also have good players.”
Stakes are high for both teams.
Atlanta United is in third in the MLS Eastern Conference. It trails first-place NYCFC by six points and second-place Philadelphia by one point. Each team has four games remaining. Atlanta United has the advantage of playing a day before NYCFC, which will play at Dallas, and the Union, which will play at the Red Bulls. It can throw a mark down and, with a win, also clinch at least one home playoff game.
“We put the pressure on them if we get a good result,” de Boer.
San Jose, by far the worst team in the league last season with just 21 points, seven less than the next-worst team, has bounced back in Almeyda’s first season and are in sixth in the West with 44 points. They trail third-place Minnesota by four points but are just one point ahead of eighth-place Portland.
“I think he’s impressive,” Atlanta United midfielder Darlington Nagbe said of Almeyda, who formerly managed Chivas in LIGA MX. “He switched up the mentality of the entire group, which is difficult. Every coach, and all the guys have bought into it. They are playing for him. They are playing for each other. Lot of respect for him and the whole team.”
Almeyda’s system is what has proved the difference for San Jose this season.
It’s a high-press similar to that used by the Red Bulls, except San Jose never switches off. It can be exciting to watch, particularly when its creating turnovers and counterattacks, or it can implode because de Boer points out that as soon as one Quakes player is beaten, the opponent can dribble a long way.
“It’s a very vulnerable system because everyone has to be involved,” de Boer said.
San Jose is in the midst of poor form, losers of five consecutive road games with just three goals scored. However, the team has had a week to prepare for Saturday’s game, while the Five Stripes will be playing their third game in eight days.
Atlanta United didn’t get to properly train for San Jose, according to de Boer. He said they did a walk-through Friday and looked at images of what the Quakes typically do. He also said he hadn’t decided on the starting 11 yet because he is still sorting through which players are best suited to take advantage of San Jose.
Nagbe said a key on defense will be to stay tight to the opposing players and not let them switch fields with passes. On offense, he said they will need to mix attacks, switching between the patient build-ups that de Boer has stressed the past two games with some long balls to possibly isolate players one-on-one. Atlanta United has one of the best one-on-one players in MLS in Josef Martinez, who has scored in 15 consecutive league games and has 26 goals this season.
But throughout the game Atlanta United must concentrate, which has been a problem a few times in games.
“That’s why they score a lot of times in the first 20 minutes because people or players are not mentally prepared still,” de Boer said of San Jose. “You think, ‘OK, I will do that, I have time.’ No, you don’t have time. So we have to be switched on from the first second the referee blows his whistle.”
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