Having already dropped five points from its past two matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United faces a three-match homestand knowing it needs to improve its form in order to get as many points as possible.
Atlanta United, 12th in the East, will host NYCFC on Saturday. Atlanta United (5 points) will then host Dallas (7) and New England (1) to complete the homestand.
“That’s very important,” manager Ronny Deila said Thursday. “When we look at the whole performances, we get what we deserve in the end. Maybe we should have a point or two more, but I see in the first half we should have 15 points now. So it’s about what we do over time in 90 minutes, and I think the performances are getting better and better overall.”
Deila said there are many reasons the team hasn’t played well for more than 30-45 minutes. He said a lack of familiarity between players is a reason. The team has not yet been able to use its first-choice lineup. Injuries and international call-ups have forced Deila to use five different starting lineups in five matches.
“We want to win every game, and especially for our fans at home,” midfielder Mateusz Klich said. “We want to show that we are good, but we had couple of games, and we weren’t good for 90 minutes, and we have to improve. That’s why I said we need more time.”
Centerback Derrick Williams explained that as the players get to know each other, when they have the ball they will know where the others should be.
But if one of the others decides to try to drift five yards in a different direction, it can lead to a turnover, which can cause a breakdown. That’s happened a few times already this season. As the first-choice starters strain together more, it’s improving, he said.
“You can ask most of us here now, when Klich gets the ball, I know where everyone’s going to be now,” Williams said. “And I think everyone’s getting on that wavelength, which is massive, because the best teams I’ve seen, everyone knows each other’s jobs.”
Deila said another issue is load management: the players are running out of energy in the second half, which is when a lot of the breakdowns have occurred. The past few weeks the team has used lighter sessions Thursday to try to keep the players more fresh for matches.
“These boys, they give everything, everything,” Deila said. “If I ask them to do almost jump through the wall, they will do that, you know? And that’s very, very good. So it’s again, to find the right freshness, mix and pushing and training.”
Deila should have available his preferred first team Saturday. That lineup would be Emmanuel Latte Lath at striker, Alexey Miranchuk, Saba Lobjanidze and Miguel Almiron in the midfielder, Bartosz Slisz and Klich as deeper midfielders, Brooks Lennon and Pedro Amador as fullbacks, Stian Gregersen and Williams as centerbacks and Brad Guzan in goal.
Deila has learned that he has depth, too. Will Reilly played so well in last week’s 2-2 draw at Cincinnati that Deila said he was like a “new signing.” Matthew Edwards normally a fullback, showed that he could play centerback. Miranchuk showed that he could slide down from attacking midfielder to a central or defensive midfielder. Deila said good players can play many positions.
Because the team is confident that it can score, staying focused on defense will be key to defeating NYCFC, particularly if Atlanta United continues its pattern of playing well in the first half. It’s not as simple as playing well defensively. It’s a mix of that, keeping the ball by following the tactics, being in the right positions … just being disciplined.
“It’s more mindset because every first half we’ve had, we’ve dominated the games,” Williams said. “And it’s obvious the teams are going to change at halftime. So we have to be aware of those changes and just adapt during the game.”
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Atlanta United’s 2025 schedule
Feb. 22 Atlanta United 3, Montreal 2
March 1 Charlotte 2, Atlanta United 0
March 8 Atlanta United 0, New York Red Bulls 0
March 16 Miami 2, Atlanta United 1
March 22 Atlanta United 2, Cincinnati 2
March 29 vs. NYCFC, 7:30 p.m., Apple
April 5 vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m., Apple
April 12 vs. New England, 2:30 p.m., Apple, FOX
April 19 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m., Apple
April 26 at Orlando, 7 p.m., Apple, FOX
May 3 vs. Nashville, 2:30 p.m., Apple, FOX
May 10 at Chicago, 2:30 p.m., Apple
May 14 at Austin, 8:30 p.m., Apple
May 17 vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m., Apple
May 25 vs. Cincinnati, 7 p.m., Apple
May 28 vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m., Apple
May 31 at Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 12 at NYCFC, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 25 at Columbus, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 28 at Miami, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 5 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 12 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 16 vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m., Apple, FS1
July 19 vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 26 vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 30 vs. Necaxa, Leagues Cup
Aug. 2. vs. Pumas in Orlando, Leagues Cup
Aug. 6 vs. Atlas, Leagues Cup
Aug. 9 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Aug. 16 at Colorado, 9:30 p.m., Apple
Aug. 24 vs. Toronto, 5 p.m., Apple
Aug. 30 at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Apple
Sept. 13 vs. Columbus, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Sept. 20 vs. San Diego, 4:30 p.m., Apple
Sept. 27 at New England, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Oct. 5 at LAFC, 10:30 p.m., Apple
Oct. 18 vs. D.C. United, 6 p.m., Apple
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