Who will start for Atlanta United in Wednesday’s game against Miami in the U.S. Open Cup?
Who the heck knows?
Manager Gerardo Martino said when deciding the lineup they started the five international players that can be used, and then built the team with a mix of experienced and less-experienced players.
The other issue is the team is coming off a game Saturday – a 1-0 win over Colorado that moved them into sixth place in the Eastern Conference – and have a game at Columbus on Saturday. Getting at least a point there would be a huge morale boost considering the team’s recent poor form on the road.
So, here’s my best guess at who will start at Miami:
Goalkeeper Alec Kann, continuing his streak of starts.
The fullback will be Mark Bloom and Mikey Ambrose. The centerhalves will be Miles Robinson and Anton Walkes.
The holding midfielders will be Carlos Carmona and Chris McCann.
The attacking midfielder will be Kevin Kratz.
The wide midfielders will be Julian Gressel and Andrew Carleton (though I’m pretty sure I’m going to be wrong on this one), and the striker will be Brandon Vazquez. I chose the 17-year-old Carleton because there’s not really another left-sided midfielder on the roster. I suppose the team could experiment with Greg Garza or Ambrose there, and play the other at fullback, but that seems unlikely.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Gressel at striker, a position in which he finished the Colorado game that may have been a piece of foreshadowing, and Vazquez at right midfield, where he seems to be thriving.
