Miguel Almiron created a turnover. Alexey Miranchuk swooped in and squared the ball to Emmanuel Latte Lath, near the penalty spot. Or was it to Saba Lobjanidze?
Lobjanidze ran into Latte Lath’s back, causing his shot to be scuffed in the 54th minute of Atlanta United’s 2-1 loss to Inter Miami at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday night.
All four of Atlanta United’s attacking players, including its three Designated Players, created a moment that should have finished with a goal. Instead, it was another missed opportunity and exemplifies the lack of production and issues affecting Atlanta United’s attack this season. The team has scored one goal in the past 275 minutes.
The production hasn’t yet come close to matching the expectations. Three goals, all from Latte Lath, two assists, one from Miranchuk and the other from Lobjanidze, in four matches with Cincinnati next on Saturday.
“We are doing good, but mistakes are normal, but we need to learn from a mistake and just keep going because the team is right,” Latte Lath said Tuesday.
It doesn’t seem right, at least not right now.
For a transfer outlay of more than $50 million, the attacking quartet have combined for 3.5 expected goals. Latte Lath has 2.2 of those. Miranchuk, Almiron and Lobjanidze, who led the team with nine goals last season, have combined for 1.3 expected goals.
Latte Lath said the chemistry is developing still, and he’s learned that he needs to put himself more into the match. He doesn’t know how long it may take for everyone to gel.
“We will never know,” he said. “Maybe sometimes it takes one week, two weeks, one month, five months. So the only thing I can say, we just need to keep going do the right things and just listen.”
It may just become a matter of patience. Latte Lath said he doesn’t think the front four are clumping up in the middle, despite what happened in that moment against Miami.
They should be scoring more. They have taken 35 shots, putting 16 on goal. They have combined for 24 key passes.
Strangely, most of those moments are coming in the first 20-30 minutes of matches. After that, the offense loses steam.
“If you don’t achieve what you want to achieve in those 25 minutes, we get disappointed, we get frustrated,” winger Xande Silva said. “I think we just need to keep going. Even if you don’t score, we want to play well.”
Manager Ronny Deila said after the Miami match that he is not worried about the attack, but perhaps he needs to help the players feel more free, less worried about consequences. Silva said he doesn’t see that from his teammates, but understands what Deila is saying.
“You cannot be afraid,” Silva said Tuesday. “Football is like life. You know when you work hard, you succeed. So I think you need to go into the games aware that we can make mistakes. We then fix it.”
Silva may play an important part of those repairs. Almiron is one of five regulars who will not be available for Saturday’s match because they were called up by their national teams. With Edwin Mosquera week-to-week after suffering an ankle injury against Miami, Silva seems likely to start on the left wing, with Lobjanidze moving to the right, where he played last season. Silva may be one of will be several new starters Saturday.
“To be in Atlanta, you’ve got to be a good player,” Silva said. “I think everyone is ready for the opportunity. For me, just a matter of time and chemistry between all of us, and everyone be there to help each other.”
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