One of the more interesting matchups in this week’s round of MLS games will be the battles between Atlanta United’s Miguel Almiron, Julian Gressel and whomever the holding midfielder will be and the Chicago Fire’s Dax McCarty and Juninho. The teams will play at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday.
With Almiron running the MLS expansion side’s offense, Atlanta United leads the league in goals (7) after notching six in last week’s win against Minnesota United. Almiron contributed two goals and an assist, his first in each category this season, to help Atlanta United win its first three points. The Paraguayan was named to the MLS team of the week for his performance.
McCarty, traded to Chicago from the New York Red Bulls in the offseason, and Juninho, on loan from Tijuana in Mexico’s first division, have solidified the Fire’s midfield, long a sore spot for a team that finished in the bottom of the Eastern Conference each of the previous two seasons. Chicago has picked up four points this season with a 1-1 tie against Columbus in the opener and a 2-0 win against Real Salt Lake last week, after which McCarty was named to the MLS team of the week.
“I think their leadership, their commitment and consistency in hard work and winning all these drills and battles we had in the midfield were rewarding,” Chicago coach Veljko Paunovic said after last week’s game. “They are contagious, Juninho and Dax, for the rest of the team. And that mentality, it’s getting all over the team, and it’s very important for us.”
Atlanta United’s Jeff Larentowicz, who may start the second consecutive game in the holding midfielder role, has more than 300 MLS appearances, so he has faced McCarty, drafted by Dallas in 2006, and Juninho, who joined MLS in 2010, numerous times.
“He’s an extremely talented player,” Larentowicz said of McCarty. “Whatever team he is on he runs the show from the midfield. He builds the play, a good passer, also breaks up a lot of stuff.”
Both McCarty and Juninho typically play from deeper roles, which means that it may be up to Almiron and Gressel, who serves as a hybrid holding midfielder/central midfielder, to harass the Chicago duo into making mistakes in their half of the field.
Should the Chicago duo break through the press, it will be up to Larentowicz, or Carlos Carmona if he starts, to break up Chicago’s attacks.
Conversely, when Atlanta United has the ball, it will be interesting to see if McCarty, who is 29 years old, and Juninho, who is 28, are quick enough to keep up with Almiron and Gressel, who each is 23. Atlanta United’s midfielders, which includes Hector Villalba and Yamil Asad, and forward Josef Martinez, were much quicker than Minnesota United’s midfielders Sunday.
“He’s (McCarty) a great player from what I’ve seen, but we will try to focus on what we do as a team,” Almiron said. “They have a lot of talented players, not just him.”
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