Atlanta United has things to work on vs. Toronto

The team’s shape, its awareness and its ability to take advantage of opportunities and to close games will be the things to watch for Atlanta United when it hosts Toronto on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The team, which has a chance to clinch a playoff berth this weekend, has three games remaining to strengthen its weaknesses before the postseason in its last regular-season home game.

Those three areas were issues two games ago, which resulted in a 1-1 draw with NYCFC and two missed points, and almost cost the team three points in Wednesday’s 2-1 win against Miami.

Time is running out.

“We reflect on that today on the field and a couple of individual actions, but overall I like the mentality of the team,” manager Gonzalo Pineda said. “We were always trying to attack, which is something that I praise the team for doing that. I really like when we are trying to be on the front foot home or away.”

Taking advantage of scoring chances while trying to attack is one issue. Neither Pineda nor Josef Martinez said they thought the team played poorly in the first half against Miami. But Martinez said the team needs to better jump on opportunities so that they aren’t suffering at the end of the games. The team created only three chances in the first half against Miami. After a tactical switch necessitated by the insertion of creative midfielder Marcelino Moreno, the offense started flowing in the second half. The goals came from a free kick by Luiz Araujo, and a goal by Martinez that was assisted by Araujo that came from a pattern the team trained.

“The intensity in the second half was key,” Martinez said. “And that’s how we should be playing at home.”

After Atlanta United put its foot on the gas and got leads, closing out games has been the most glaring issue. NYCFC’s tying goal came from a free kick in the final minutes. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan needed to make two saves in the final minutes to preserve the Miami win.

Guzan said the issues can come down to awareness. One of the required saves against Miami came when two defenders were trying to mark four opponents. While Pineda prefers zonal marking to man marking, Guzan said defending in those situations comes down to knowing situations. Guzan said when the cross was hit, too many people were looking at the ball and not looking around to see what was happening.

“There needs to be an understanding and an awareness of what’s happening inside the box, what’s happening on the top of the box, what’s happening around the box, and not just worrying about the guy crossing ball because there’s gonna be one guy that that can affect the cross,” he said. “But then everyone else has to deal with what happens after he crosses it.”

Pineda said the team watched the sequence on film, which he described as a reflection instead of a review, and asked questions of the players about how they can do better in that situation. Pineda said he asked for three options, which led to good discussions and arguments.

The issues on offense and defense sometimes were the result of the team losing its shape, which led to space for NYCFC and Miami to attack. As Guzan said, when that happens it’s good for them and bad for his team. Against NYCFC, it was leaving a gap between the midfield and the back line, which led to the foul that led to the free kick. Against Miami, it was sometimes both fullbacks being too high up the field, with a midfielder not covering, or someone leaving the formation to press a centerback in its own half when there were just a few minutes remaining.

And sometimes it’s just a poor pass that results in a turnover and gives the opponent the ball. A turnover started one of Miami’s late scoring chances.

“It’s those key moments offensively and defensively,” Pineda said. “Always the balance.”

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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