Whether Atlanta United is considering switching from its 3-4-3 formation, which is not delivering goals, to something else is possible but the team needs a jump-start.
The latest disappointment came in Sunday's 1-1 draw against expansion Cincinnati. Atlanta United led 1-0 only to give up a goal on Cincinnati's only shot on goal in the 86th minute. With the draw, Atlanta United is 1-3-1 to start the season with just six goals scored, four coming in one game.
“No matter the formation, we need to go out there and we need to perform better, each and every one of us on both sides of the ball,” captain Michael Parkhurst said. “We did some good things tonight. I know they only had one shot on our net, or their first shot on net scored. Still, that’s a bad one to give away. So, it’s a possible maybe it gives us a spark. Hopefully something does.”
In the 3-4-3, there are three centerbacks, two wingbacks on either side who are supposed to push forward and join the offense, two central midfielders and three players who are forward, one centrally and one on either wing. For Atlanta United on Sunday, the three players forward were Josef Martinez, who scored the lone goal, Ezequiel Barco and Pity Martinez.
As has been the case, Josef Martinez didn’t receive much service other than the pass from wingback Julian Gressel that led to the goal. Pity Martinez had just one shot on goal to continue his scoreless streak to start the season, and two chances. Barco had one shot on goal to also continue his scoreless streak and no chances created.
Manager Frank de Boer pinned part of the team’s issues on offense to Cincinnati’s tactic of sitting back with deep lines, taking away space on the field. It’s a tactic Atlanta United has seen frequently the previous two seasons, but typically found a way to solve.
“When a team plays like this, so compact, and they are playing between the lines, it is very difficult to find them,” de Boer said of Barco and Pity Martinez. “Sometimes, you have to be patient and suddenly you will stretch them out and get your best players on the ball. Last season, we won a lot of times in transition, not so much dominating games. A lot of times it was transition when (Miguel) Almiron gets the ball, but we are now the hunted and have to try to make the game. That’s a different approach and everyone has to learn from that, which is no problem, but we have to learn quickly.”
De Boer said he is always considering a change to a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, but he must consider the players available and the circumstance.
“They played all of last season, every important game, in this system, so they know exactly what to do,” he said. “I am not a guy who just suddenly decides to change, but you have to think about it.”
Both Darlington Nagbe and Julian Gressel said they believe everything will work out with patience and time.
Atlanta United didn’t use a 3-4-3 last season. It either used a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-5-2, which have similarities to the 3-4-3. In either formation used last year, there was a player, Almiron, who played underneath or beside Josef Martinez, giving him someone to work off or who could drop back, receive the ball and link defense to offense.
Almiron was a one-man jump-start.
Almiron’s speed made him a threat to beat opponents off the dribble, or to run through lines and onto passes over the top. Either way, his speed and skill were enough to occupy defenders for the split-second that Josef Martinez would need to get into a dangerous area from which he seldom missed last year in scoring a league record 31 goals.
Though the sample size of games is small and fatigue may be a factor, neither Barco nor Pity Martinez have yet shown the ability to consistently beat an opponent with the dribble nor shown the speed to beat defenders to passes over the top. While they do have the attention of defenders -- Pity Martinez was fouled 10 times by Monterrey -- they haven’t yet shown they are as threatening as Almiron.
And in the 3-4-3, neither are occupying the spaces that the freelancing Almiron would exploit last year.
The change in formation is interesting, and concerning to the supporters who are using social media to express their frustration, because part of the reason de Boer was hired was to continue the attractive style of football the team played under previous manager Gerardo Martino. It finished second in goals scored in its inaugural season (70) and led MLS last season (70).
“We have a style of play, a philosophy, a vision for the club,” Vice President Carlos Bocanegra said in December. “We think he will come in and continue to build on the club.”
At his postgame press conference Sunday, de Boer said he planned only tweaks because "what's good is good."
Even if de Boer wants to change the formation, or work on the tweak to the 3-4-3, he hasn’t had time because of the glut of games. The game against Cincinnati was the team’s fifth in 17 days that also featured more than 6,500 miles of travels. It will play two more this week, both at home: vs. Monterrey, which leads the Champions League series 3-0, on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Sunday.
“That’s the main problem right now,” he said. “When we had a week off, you can see we were quite good and I was very satisfied. However, we play a game every three days, so we can play one against one with the goalkeeper, play the ball to a striker who turns and shoots on goal, but there is no time to really play 11 against 11 because they have to recover every time. So that’s the problem with playing every three days, it is difficult to do a walk-through more about what we expect when you have the ball, when you don’t have the ball, when we recover the ball.”
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