Any parent can describe how a group forced into cramped quarters can test even the most harmonious family.
Atlanta United’s family feel and its impressive 4-1-1 start will be tested Saturday when it plays NYCFC on the confined pitch at Yankee Stadium, a place where it has never won a regular-season match.
The pitch is listed at 70 yards by 110 yards, making it the smallest in MLS. But that’s what it’s listed as, and anyone who has bought real estate knows that sometimes things are fudged. Other managers have said the pitch it more like 68 yards by 106. Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda guessed it as 66 yards wide Thursday. The pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is 75x115. The difference in area between the two fields is at most 1,629 yards. Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan may be able to reach out and shake hands with defensive midfielder Franco Ibarra.
It will be tough for Atlanta United to do what it likes to do – quick passes, big switches – because few such spaces will exist.
“You don’t have that amount of space, the width ... on each side compared to Mercedes-Benz,” Pineda said. “Maybe a little bit the spacing and the timing when you open up the field. You put players outside, normally, you have enough space to switch, and that is hard to cover with a back four, the whole field.”
The team practiced various drills this week to prepare for the narrow pitch while still playing its style.
Perhaps the most important thing the team will have is its sense of being a team. The players can be heard laughing at the beginning of training when they are doing rondos at the beginning of the session and the shooting contests they make up at the end.
Pineda said the players are finding the balance of knowing when it’s time to work and when it’s time to have fun.
“We have the ability to put our signature on this year so when people 15 years from now are going to look back at 2023, what they’re going to say about this team,” he said. “We are all here at the same time. That’s not a coincidence. And now how we can make this year unforgettable? And that’s for me coming here every day, pushing ourselves at times.”
Getting three points Saturday would be another huge step in leaving a mark, especially after doing so last week by defeating the Red Bulls for the first time in a regular-season match. A victory would improve the team’s road record to 2-1-0, giving it more than half the points (11) it earned away from home last season with 14 road games remaining.
“It’s one of those things (where) we go in trying to play our best,” centerback Miles Robinson said. “And in our style, it’s obviously a tough environment, based on a lot of different circumstances. But, I think if we stick to our game plan, I think we’ll get a positive result.”
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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule
Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1
March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1
March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0
March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1
March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1
April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0
April 8 at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
April 15 at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
April 23 vs. Chicago Fire FC, 4:30 p.m., FS1
April 29 at Nashville SC, 1:30 p.m., Fox
May 6 at Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.
May 13 vs. Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
May 17 vs. Colorado Rapids, 7:30 p.m.
May 20 at Chicago Fire FC, 8:30 p.m.
May 27 at Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m.
May 31 vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m., FS1
June 3 at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.
June 10 vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
June 21 vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
June 24 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
July 2 vs. Philadelphia Union, 4 p.m., Fox
July 8 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
July 12 at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
July 15 vs. Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m., FS1
Aug. 20 at Seattle Sounders, 10:30 p.m.
Aug. 26 vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2 at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 vs. Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 23 vs. CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 at Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 7 vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 at FC Cincinnati, TBA
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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