As he has done no matter what position he has played, Atlanta United's Julian Gressel received compliments after his work in Saturday's 4-0 win against Orlando City on Saturday at a packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Playing mostly as a right wingback, right fullback or right midfielder this season, the reigning MLS Rookie of the Year was moved to the center of the pitch to replace the injured Darlington Nagbe as a holding midfielder alongside Jeff Larentowicz. The duo helped Atlanta United to its fifth shutout this season and Gressel picked up an assist on the opening goal.
“Losing D is big for us, he’s been so important for us this year,” Larentowicz said. “But it’s kind of a testament to the squad that there’s always somebody ready to step in. You can put Julian maybe in goal and he would do a good job. He did a fantastic job for us tonight.”
Gressel said he thought he and Larentowicz communicated well when deciding which player would stay back and which would go forward to aid the attack.
Gressel found himself forward, and on his familiar right side, on the first goal. He whipped in a curling cross that was missed by three Orlando City defenders, but not by Josef Martinez, who slid into the ball’s path for his league-leading 15th goal.
“I was lucky it went through one of the defenders, but it worked out,” Gressel said.
Manager Gerardo Martino said after the game that Gressel is important to the structure off the team, which indicates that he will likely continue to fill in for Nagbe, who is expected to miss the next 2-3 months. Gressel’s next opportunity may be Wednesday at Dallas. It’s the first of back-to-back road games for the Five Stripes, which will also play at Philadelphia on July 7. The team leads MLS with 37 points.
Playing holding midfielder is a position Gressel played a few times last season. He also played as an attacking midfielder, striker, left midfielder, and at fullback. He made 32 appearances, including 25 starts, finishing with five goals and nine assists. This season, he has two goals and six assists.
Playing in the middle of Atlanta United’s formation can be a tactical challenge because, as goalkeeper Brad Guzan noted, Miguel Almiron and Ezequiel Barco, who play ahead of the holding midfielders, have a license to wander all over the field. The holding midfielders have to be aware of where Almiron and Barco aren’t so that they can position themselves should that space be exploited by an opponent.
Gressel said that communicating with Larentowicz is one of the things that he wants to improve.
“I just need to get a little more comfortable with the pieces around me, being a little more center oriented instead of just having to work with Franco (Escobar),” Gressel said. “Now, I’m playing with Miguel (Almíron) and Jeff (Larentowicz), so there’s a few more pieces. I think I did a pretty good job today, and we’ll continue that.”
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