Atlanta United spent most of the previous two weeks improving its fitness in anticipation of the restart of the season Sunday against Philadelphia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That game will be the first of seven the team will play in the next 31 days.
Taking a page from the team’s preseason camp, manager Gabriel Heinze first gave the players a few days off after their 2-2 draw with Nashville on May 29, and then they began two-a-day sessions every other day for the next 10 days. The team began prepping for Philadelphia and going to back to single sessions Monday.
“Intensity of the break has been great,” fullback Brooks Lennon said. “Guys have shown up every single day and competed. To try to mimic that energy in practice is very important. When we do go back into games, guys are fit and ready to step back into MLS play.”
Atlanta United is 2-1-4 in its first seven games. Its 10 points put it in eighth place. The team is one point outside the playoff line, four points behind second-place Philadelphia and six points ahead of 14th-place Cincinnati. If it can go on a run in these next games, Atlanta United can firmly put itself in playoff scenarios. That ranks among the reasons that fitness has been a focus.
“I think my teammates and I have been doing a good job, and we are going to be good and be in better shape for the second part of the season,” midfielder Santiago Sosa said.
Lennon said many of the drills the team used during the preseason camp were used again and that because they experienced Heinze’s focus on fitness once, they were better suited for it this time.
Work on tactics began this week.
“There are times where we do Gaby’s tactics to perfection,” Lennon said. “He shows that on video. He will also pull up video where guys don’t do specific tasks. Guys can’t learn everything at once. It’s a growing process.
The team has been working on are tracking runners on defense and improving passes in the final third of the field. Atlanta United has scored nine goals in 10 games. Its expected goals average of 1.16 is in the bottom 25 percent of MLS teams.
“This week, we’ve gone back to what we have been doing, which is what we’ve always been doing,” Sosa said. “We will continue to do things the way we have.”
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Atlanta United’s 2021 MLS schedule
April 17 Atlanta United 0, Orlando 0
April 24 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 1
May 1 New England 2, Atlanta United 1
May 9 Atlanta United 1, Inter Miami 1,
May 15 Atlanta United 1, Montreal 0
May 23 Atlanta United 1, Seattle 1
May 29 Atlanta United 2, Nashville 2
June 20 vs. Philadelphia, 2 p.m., ESPN
June 23 at NYCFC (at Red Bull Arena), TBD, BSSO/BSSE
June 27 vs. New York Red Bulls, 3:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 3 at Chicago, 8 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 8 at Nashville, 8:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 17 vs. New England, 5 p.m., ESPN
July 21 at Cincinnati, 7 p.m., FS1
July 24 vs. Columbus, 3:30 p.m., ABC
July 30 at Orlando, 8 p.m., ESPN
Aug. 4 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 7 at Columbus, 7:30 p.m. BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 15 vs. LAFC, 4 p.m. ESPN
Aug. 18 vs. Toronto, 7 p.m. BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 21 at D.C. United, 8 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 28 vs. Nashville, 3:30 p.m., Univision
Sept. 10 vs. Orlando, 7 p.m., FS1
Sept. 15 vs. Cincinnati, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept. 18 vs. D.C. United, 3:30 p.m., Univision
Sept. 25 at Philadelphia,3:30 p.m., Univision
Sept. 29 vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m., FS1
Oct. 2 at Montreal, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Oct. 16 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Oct. 20 vs. NYCFC, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Oct. 27 vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Oct. 30 vs. Toronto, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Nov. 3 at New York Red Bulls, TBD, BSSO/BSSE
Nov. 7 at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
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