Atlanta United manager implies no changes in starting 11

Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda said he needs to review video of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with New England at Mercedes-Benz Stadium but implied he likely won’t make any personnel changes after two individual mistakes contributed to the result.

New England’s first goal was mostly the responsibility of goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth because the shot by Adam Buksa went between his legs at the near post. The second goal was mostly the responsibility of centerback Alan Franco because he left Buksa onside and open at the back post, where he trapped a cross and put in a fairly simple shot to give the Revs a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.

ExplorePhotos: Atlanta United keeps streak alive at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

After the game, some of the team’s supporters took to social media to ask why Rocco Rios Novo isn’t being given a chance to start in goal and why Franco hasn’t been benched.

Pineda said goalkeepers and defenders need time to build chemistry. Their mistakes are magnified because they can result in goals, compared to attacking players – who can miss several chances but score one and be named Man of the Match.

“I’m not uncritical with them, but I also have to show them that I believe in them,” Pineda said.

Franco, making his eighth start, has been a solid player for the team but is prone to making an important mistake almost every game. Sometimes, the team is punished, such as Sunday, and sometimes it is not. Franco is very good in the air and with the ball at his feet and with his distribution. If Pineda were to decide to bench Franco for next week’s game at Nashville, the only healthy centerback remaining is George Campbell, a 20-year-old who has seven starts this season and 24 appearances in his career.

Pineda has a point. Shuttleworth is a 14-year veteran who made his fourth start because of the season-ending Achilles injury to Brad Guzan. Shuttleworth said he should have done better on the first goal. Rios Novo, just 19 years old, is on loan from Lanus in Argentina. He has yet to appear in an MLS game this season.

“There have been different moments where each of us can do better, or we can do a lot better on the first goal,” Shuttleworth said. “So silly mistakes right now that are costing us some silly goals when, if I take the first goal, we are dominating play, we have all the possession, it comes out of nothing. So it’s frustrating but just something we have to try to improve.”

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Atlanta United’s 2022 MLS schedule

Feb. 27 Atlanta United 3, Sporting KC 1

March 5 Colorado 3, Atlanta United 0

March 13 Atlanta United 2, Charlotte 1

March 19 Atlanta United 3, Montreal 3

April 2 Atlanta United 1, D.C. United 0

April 10 Charlotte 1, Atlanta United 0

April 16 Atlanta United 0, Cincinnati 0

April 24 Miami 2, Atlanta United 1

April 30 Montreal 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 4, Chicago 1

May 15 Atlanta United 2, New England 2