Atlanta United, after an awful performance, faces Miami

Normally composed before journalists, Atlanta United interim manager Rob Valentino cracked just a little bit following Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Nashville at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Asked how he can guarantee, to use his word, that the team won’t play as poorly as it did again, he included an expletive in his answer.

“You’re right, maybe I can’t control that, so maybe I have to give up control of that, but it (expletive) won’t be from a lack of trying,” he said.

Valentino appeared to be simmering as he sat at the table answering questions about why the team played so poorly in the opening nine minutes, if he had an inkling this was coming, why the offense generated so little and who on the field does he look to try to snap teammates out of funks.

Atlanta United needed the points to improve the probability it will make the playoffs. It needed to put together its first two-match winning streak since the second and third matches of the season to increase self-belief and belief from its supporters, who are growing increasingly frustrated based upon the number of no-shows for what was billed as a sold-out match.

Instead, the team fell behind 1-0 after five minutes and it should have been 2-0. It didn’t get the ball out of its own half except for perhaps once in the first nine minutes. After that period, one of the worst for the team certainly at home and perhaps in franchise history, it continued to play with no visible urgency until it finally capitulated the loss-sealing goal in the 76th minute.

Both teams put five shots on goal. Atlanta United finished with an expected goals of 0.6, which means that few of its shots were of quality. Nashville, which hadn’t scored in more than 430 minutes before Saturday, finished with an expected goals total of 2.0.

“This type of performance completely shocked me,” Valentino said. “It’s not indicative of what this group is.”

Now, instead of possibly having two playoff spots it can compete for, Atlanta United likely has just the ninth and final one because it is five points behind eighth-place Toronto with six matches remaining. It would take a winning streak for Atlanta United to overcome that gap and it has proven this season that it lacks whatever ingredients are necessary to do that.

“Inconsistency, I think that’s the main thing that it boils down to this whole season,” centerback Derrick Williams said. “If you look at the Charlotte game and this game, it’s chalk and cheese. As a defensive group away from home, we always look solid, we look tough to beat. We come here, and teams are having chances for fun. So, I think it’s a mental thing. I think we get too comfortable at times. We need to have a look at ourselves deep down, realize what we’re good at and what we’re not, and kind of humble ourselves a bit and realize we might actually not be that good.”

Should Atlanta United make the playoffs as the ninth seed, it would face the eighth seed in its first match. The winner would advance to face Miami. Miami is Atlanta United’s opponent at home on Wednesday. The Five Stripes have two training sessions to try to wash Saturday’s performance and prepare to play the league’s best team. It may be the best thing for the team, according to Williams. Atlanta United defeated Miami in Florida 3-1 earlier this season. It was its best performance. It followed with a loss at home to Charlotte, which seemed familiar on Saturday.

“I personally think we, we always do better against the better teams,” he said. “I think it’s maybe because we have that mind frame of maybe they’re actually better than us, so we have to do the extra hard work. We have to, otherwise it could be a high score. So no, I think it’s definitely that mind frame is just realizing where we are in the table and accepting the fact that, all right, maybe we’re not as good as we people think we are. We need to really roll our sleeves up and outwork every single team and then go from there, because I don’t think we did that.”

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup