The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rematch will provide good measuring stick
First meeting earlier this month noted for lackluster effort.
It admittedly was their worst performance of the season, but Atlanta United’s 3-1 loss to NYCFC less than a month ago may have been just what the team needed.
Playing on the small pitch at Yankee Stadium, Atlanta United got away from the tactics that manager Gerardo Martino prefers: playing from the back, dominating possession.
From the defeat, the expansion team re-committed itself to doing what it was built to do and has a 1-1 tie at Portland and a 4-1 win at Houston to show for it since.
Atlanta United will get a chance to show NYCFC in Sunday’s rematch at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium that it’s not the same team that looked void of energy and ideas on that wet, dreary day at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a good opportunity to prove that we are a better team,” midfielder Kevin Kratz said. “We had a tough game in New York, and now they have to travel here in front of our home fans. I think we will have some ideas of how to play and keep the three points here.”
Neither Martino nor the players can definitively say why they played so poorly in the first meeting. Martino does know that it’s the only game this season where he thought his team was outplayed for the entire game.
“It was one of those games where we didn’t have the energy,”
captain Michael Parkhurst said. “I can’t say why that was. But looking at it and feeling it in the game, it just didn’t seem like we had the capability to go out there and sprint around and bring that level of energy that you need to bring in MLS. Who knows if it was the travel or the time of the game or what it was? But that happens every now and then.”
Atlanta United was outshot 16-8, including 11 on target to its four and gave up eight corner kicks to getting three. Though it had a slight edge in possession, it was seldom able to generate much from that advantage. The only positive memory was Carlos Carmona’s goal, which even Martino said after the game his team didn’t deserve based upon their performance.
“I think we all had a bad game against New York City,” striker Hector Villalba said. “Sometimes you wake up and things always go your way and sometimes you wake up and (have a) bad day. That was just one of those bad days.”
Though Atlanta United will play without Martino, who is suspended for this game because he was ejected against Houston, they will have a few things in their favor Sunday that they didn’t have in New York.
First, they seem to have found a formation that works better. Following that game, Villalba was moved into the lone striker role in place of Kenwyne Jones, who is being used as a sub. Julian Gressel, who has scored in two consecutive games, was moved into Villalba’s normal spot as the right midfielder.
Second, the field at Bobby Dodd is bigger than the field NYCFC calls home. If the boys in blue try to press, as they did in the first meeting, Atlanta United will have more space in which to work.
Third, Atlanta United will have a sellout crowd of slightly less than 45,000 in support. Fourth, they want revenge. “For us, it’s good we see it a revenge game,” Villalba said. “We want to go out and show that we can get a good result.”