 |
| Plenty to go around, sadly. |
About the Game
Atlanta looked a (promising) mess over the opening ten minutes with balls played in behind to phantom runs and a full-field defensive shape that looked doomed to watch Cincinnati pull them apart; the two quality shots the visitors created – one a close solo run by Gerardo Valenzuela, the other a sparkling team effort – had the feeling of heavy knocks rattling a door. Next thing you know, Nick Hagglund went down and off on a hard charge by Emmanuel Latte Lath (“I'll show you soft, Ronny!”; weird injury, too; ribs and lung?) and, mere minutes later, Derrick Williams headed home what might have been Atlanta’s first competent pass of the game on a set piece and it was off to the races. Atlanta scored again, of course, with a tap-in by Ajani Fortune five short minutes later after Saba "Well Janice*" Lobjanidze bewitched and bedazzled Lukas Engel on Cincy’s left (* I get so much free delight from closed captioning). From there, a broadcast booth narrative developed that Atlanta had pounced on a defense still working out its assignments. That argument holds up better in a world where Latte Lath didn’t miss two massive, free-free-free opportunities (more on one of those later), all of which fell outside that crucial window. Atlanta had gilded chances at an even half-dozen goals - a rightly shocking note given Cincinnati's typically tight defense - but all those chances ran against an undercurrent of Cincy playing through them with relative ease. That's to say, this was a weird one.
No one knew the game would end where it did when Robinson’s goal finally came just after halftime, of course, especially with Taylor Twellman treating Atlanta’s woes over the first 15 minutes of every second half as a disaster to count on. That note came against the backdrop of some of the best attacking builds Cincinnati has produced all season; the chances rained and the shots poured until they piled up to nearly 30, with nine on goal. Not all of them made Brad Guzan sweat – I’d say Evander’s 60th minute effort gave his Old Spice the biggest workout – but his every save and the 21 shots off target (some of them more wise than good) meant more time playing catch-up for Cincy and with less time to get there. Another defensive breakdown – and on a set piece, again, and with the ball bouncing all over inside the six, again – restored Atlanta’s two-goal margin at the 66th minute, forcing Cincy back into a sprint. The Orange and Blue pulled within one a mere four minutes later when Valenzuela finally got his prize for a great game, but it wouldn’t take look for them to succumb to the game’s other defining feature, fully-bodied defensive breakdowns by the visitors. That hadn’t happened since the opening weeks of 2025 (e.g., the ass-kicking at Philly), but Jamal Thiare insured the win in stoppage time on what must have been Atlanta’s third clean break behind Cincy’s defense. Everything that could go wrong did, basically, and it was more than enough to erase a good amount of right.
An Aside on Atlanta
The first question is how much to read into their performance and the result. The second question: how well did Atlanta really do? Lead by Williams Man-of-the-Match-level performance, they get credit for battling, of course, and all those jailbreaks behind Cincy’s defense makes a case for the game plan (more later). Based on rumors and loose reportage, Atlanta got more out of Aleksey Miranchuk than they’re used to (was it two assists(?), plus the ball to Saba for his assist on Atlanta’s second) and the outlandish xG awarded to them by the Official Organ says they made sitters out of their chances. After ticking through the final stats for their past few performances (here, here, and one more below), I see that yesterday matches Atlanta’s broad, recent profile of getting a little more out of limited shots – i.e., the rarely produce a ton of shots, but get a good number on target. That had only translated to 14 goals in as many games coming into Sunday, so it’s likely that they owe some measure of their success to a crap/hungover day at the office by Cincy’s defense. The more concerning statistical pattern between yesterday and games past: Atlanta ships an unhealthy number of chances - good ones too, if judged by the shots on goal allowed – and that drags me back to how easily Cincinnati played through them. They don’t routinely give up 29 shots, as they did on Sunday, but they’re always good for double digits and even coughed up 17 (with seven on goal) to Austin. Whatever this did for Atlanta’s morale – and I’m happy to see them get a boost – I can’t see how this tracks as anything but an anomaly.
 |
| Bedazzled death. |
1) A Flaw Becoming a Hack?
The month opened with NYCFC throwing Alonso Martinez into one footrace after another with Matt Miazga and yesterday left me wondering whether Ronny Deila took note. I suspect the repeated jailbreaks were more a product of a high defensive line, but Miazga’s not the CB one wants to see scrambling after a fleet forward; that’s Robinson’s gig. Cincy gets plenty of upside out of Miazga, leadership and savvy to name two, but I would like to see Noonan manage the space behind with a little more caution any time they start him. There are some things you can’t fix – e.g., Miazga peeling off Latte Lath’s 48th-minute run on the assumption that Roman Celentano would meet him 35 yards from goal (wha?), or, say, a forward lurking near Miazga sniffing for a break as a game plan – but here’s to hoping discussions have commenced. It wasn't all Miazga, by any means; Robinson was on the spot for his share of slips, but the best way to avoid emergency defending is to head off obvious emergencies.
2) Bucha Blahs?
Is it just me or has the typically tight Czech midfielder been a little loose with his passing over the last few match days? Big, if true, not least because I don’t see an available improvement, never mind a like-for-like replacement in the event that Bucha needs a breather. Yuya Kubo’s willing, but doesn’t have the defensive savvy, while Tah Anunga lacks in the opposite direction.
3) A Theory for Cincy’s Right
I have accepted Luca Orellano in that deeper role on the right, even as I worry that Noonan’s asking him to play through too much clutter. He got inside more often yesterday, which gives him a shooting lane, but his very left-footed approach means defenders don’t have to put much thought into how to play him, i.e., keep him outside, therefore isolated. When DeAndre Yedlin came on for Miazga at the 83rd minute yesterday, I got to thinking about Cincy’s right with both Yedlin and Orellano out there. Seems like they could get a lot with Yedlin widening the field and opening space inside for Orellano…but starting those two opens the tricky question of who to pull out of the starting XI. Maybe this is a pipe-dream…maybe it’s a concept for an earlier substitution?
4) Closing on a High Note
I like this Gerardo Valenzuela kid and want to see more of him. I’m struck, and not for the first time, at all the attacking options Pat Noonan has at his disposal. Getting the most out of them…now, there’s a puzzle…
Well, that’s enough half-finished thoughts for a Sunday mor…afternoon. Despite the sum of those half-finished thoughts, I see more cause for some constructive yelling than handing out any major reassignments The loss sucked, obviously, but Cincy’s still in a good place (2nd!) and with plenty of time and options for optimal tinkering.
No comments:
Post a Comment