Following a 2-0 defeat at D.C. United on Sunday, Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer expressed confidence that his players will be fully fit even after just two days of rest for Wednesday's CONCACAF Champions League game at Monterrey.
De Boer selected for the first league game this season nine of the 11 players who started in Thursday’s win over Herediano in the Champions League Round of 16. The two who started on Thursday and didn’t start on Sunday, Julian Gressel and Pity Martinez, came off the bench to try to spark the offense on a drab, cold, rainy night.
“Hopefully everyone recovers well,” de Boer said. “Of course they are tired. In these circumstances (rain and cold), it’s a tough pitch for us.”
De Boer said he will listen to the players to see if there are any issues ahead of Wednesday’s game. The team is practicing in the Washington D.C. area on Monday before it flies to Monterrey later in the day.
“We have to really take care of our bodies,” he said. “In 18 days we play six games. It’s unbelievable. It’s hard. We knew that. That’s why we have to modify some players. Every game is important but also the players are important.”
De Boer said he elected to not start Gressel and Pity Martinez for a few reasons. Pity’s inclusion in the 18 but not the 11 is part of a five-game plan the team has for him because of his late arrival to training camp. Martinez and Gressel also make a lot of explosive plays, which de Boer later described as long runs. Therefore they needed rest. He said the sports science group at Atlanta United provided information to aid in that decision.
Had Franco Escobar been healthy, de Boer said he likely would have started in place at right wingback for Gressel instead of the left-footed Mikey Ambrose.
“I think everybody wants to play,” Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst said. “No one was upset they had to play. We are upset we didn’t get the points.”
To Parkhurst’s point, and as evidence that de Boer doesn’t anticipate fatigue being a major factor in Wednesday’s first leg in Mexico, he noted that his players were fighting until the last second to get a good result against D.C. United.
It was interesting because the team, going back to the announcement of Josef Martinez’s contract extension in January, has lauded its depth. But, when playing the second of six games in a short stretch, and facing a crucial tournament game in three days, the team selection resembled one that would have been made by previous manager Gerardo Martino, who didn’t rotate a lot of players.
“Monterrey is going to be licking their chops,” Parkhurst said. “Home game for them. I don’t know if they rested their guys or not (on Saturday), but it doesn’t matter. If Frank wants guys to play 90 times three, that’s what it is and we have to be ready for that. Between now and Wednesday we have to get our legs back under for us and mentally get ready.”
The team has experience playing a lot of games in a short period going back to its first season when seven games were crammed into 21 days in the back-end of the schedule to maximize the number of appearances in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Six of those games were at home. Four of the six games Atlanta United will play in the upcoming stretch will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The first will be Sunday when the team hosts Cincinnati.
"We know that game is going to be tough," goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. "That's part of being in this competition. We are going to have to regroup, pick ourselves up. No time to feel sorry for ourselves."
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