Atlanta United took a jaunt up to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on Philadelphia Union in a battle for the bottom of the barrel Saturday night, and honestly, what did we just watch? The Five Stripes went down a man early when Enea Mihaj took a late chance on a tackle and was sent straight to the locker room, but Miguel Almiron would capitalize on the universe\u2019s silly sense of humor moments later when he quite literally fumbled a ball into the back of the net. The half would come and go, and Philly would drop another goal before scrounging one back and forcing Atlanta United into a heart stopping final few minutes\u2026in which they handled shot after shot until they could no longer. Philly grabbed those two goals in stoppage time to win 3-2, and here are the final whistle thoughts from a weird one in the city of brotherly love (lol).<\/p>\n
3-4-3<\/p>\n
I ain\u2019t mad at the attempt. I wish fans would\u2019ve been given a much longer opportunity to see Tata Martino\u2019s full tactical tweak, but in the 25ish minutes before Mihaj was sent off, it wasn\u2019t terrible. There certainly needed to be more consistency and danger in the final third, but what else is new? The change seemed to make the defense a tad more confident while allowing the width to be totally in control of how Atlanta tried to progress the ball. It\u2019s no secret that Atlanta\u2019s midfield is a far cry from being able to control a match, so Tata Martino made the conscious effort to just move a man back and make the build-up happen out wide.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll take it, because in the absence of any incoming attacking transfers at the moment, Tata is clearly doing everything he can think of to change the match. My only gripe, which I stated before the match, was not running out Arif Kovac for a time early on. Atlanta United started this match at the bottom of the table, so what would\u2019ve been the harm in placing the Next Pro Golden Boot leader in the starting XI? I\u2019m glad he got his moment at the end of the match, but it would\u2019ve been wonderful to see him integrated earlier.<\/p>\n
Transfers<\/p>\n
It\u2019s pretty obvious this team needs reinforcements yesterday. Tactical changes and tweaks are all fine and good, but this team needs wholesale changes. I truly enjoy the fact that this team figured out a way to go up 2-0 while down a man, but there was no way any result in this match was going to erase the fact that Atlanta needs help. If anything, it\u2019s an encouraging sign that Tata Martino\u2019s squad hasn\u2019t totally given up, but Philly is in the bottom of the barrel, too. They had an encouraging couple of matches, but this wasn\u2019t an Atlanta United that found a way against Inter Miami or Nashville.<\/p>\n
Also, spoiler alert, the lead didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll continue to scream from the rooftops the need for a defensive midfielder, a dynamic winger, and a striker. The dead horse has been beat, but there\u2019s nothing else to say. Fix it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all for this one, let us know down below what you thought of the match!<\/p>\n
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