Things learned from Atlanta United’s draw with Columbus

Brooks Lennon, a dedicated goal-setter, practically scoffed when asked his thoughts on Atlanta United’s failure to achieve its preseason goal of finishing among the top four in the MLS East following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Columbus.

“No, we are not worried at all,” he said. “We have a good team. We are ready to win in the playoffs. We have the team to do it home and away. So, we are not worried.”

The team had already lost control of its fate by giving up three goals in nine minutes in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at Philadelphia. It lost all chance, even with help, of finishing among the top quartet and earning home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs by not defeating a very good Columbus team.

The team can take some solace that Miles Robinson’s goal in the final seconds secured the draw. The fight was there. But the team again didn’t win a game that was considered “must win” because of its immediate implications.

“I think that we understood that Columbus is a great team, they showed it today,” Robinson said. “But just to get a point out of that, it kind of shows some encouragement to some guys.”

This isn’t what manager Gonzalo Pineda envisioned last weekend when results lined up to create a path for Atlanta United to finish top four and get home-field advantage by winning out. He beamed on Monday about the challenge of facing three playoffs teams, Philadelphia, Columbus and Cincinnati, ahead of the postseason. The quality of the opponents and the stakes would help develop his team.

The team has a final chance to prepare. It won’t be seen how the team has improved until the playoff starts and Atlanta United can apply lessons learned.

“I think we tried,” Pineda said. “We certainly fought for that spot. Today, Columbus I think was better than us in many ways, and I felt that tactically we could have done a bit better on and off the ball. What I take from today’s performance and kind of summarize the season, is the fight. The team was always present. Always, many, many games where we were fighting until the end. Sometimes we were not playing probably at our best, but we’re fighting till the end and that’s a signature for a championship team.”

Here are things learned:

Tactics. Pineda didn’t say he and his coaches got the tactics for the game wrong. But Columbus got its right. The Crew would frequently bring their left fullback into the middle in attack, leaving Matheus Rossetto with no one to defend and Thiago Almada and Tristan Muyumba with a person each to mark.

Columbus penned Atlanta United into its own half for most of the first half. Fullback Caleb Wiley said it was frustrating to have to defend attack after attack.

Pineda said his team couldn’t make an adjustment until halftime.

It was an interesting admission because it’s a tactic that Atlanta United frequently employs with Brooks Lennon, so it seems logical that some of the team’s midfielders and defenders have seen this during training.

“Well, I take it on me this time,” Pineda said. “I think the players did everything we asked for. Everything. It’s just a tactical switch that Columbus did that we couldn’t fix until the first half and after that there was more of an open game.”

Playoffs. Atlanta United can’t finish higher than fifth and it’s going to again need results to go its way for that to happen.

To finish fifth, Atlanta United needs to defeat Cincinnati on Oct. 21 and for New England to earn no more than one point from its final two matches.

There are a couple of scenarios for Atlanta United to secure sixth. It either needs to defeat Cincinnati, or for Nashville to fail to win either of its two remaining games.

Pineda said the team wouldn’t be concerned about its seeding and possible playoff matchups when it faces Cincinnati.

Atlanta United will face either Orlando, Philadelphia, Columbus or New England in the playoffs. It is 0-1-1 against Columbus, 1-1-0 against Philadelphia, 1-0-1 against New England and 0-1-1 against Orlando.

Wingers. After combining for five goals and six assists in their first several appearances, neither Xande Silva nor Saba Lobjanidze have scored, had an assist, or looked as dangerous in their past two matches. Silva took one shot and created one chance against Columbus. Lobjanidze did neither. It was the same stat line for both against Philadelphia.

“This happens,” Pineda said. “I would say that they (the players) were doing everything I asked for. Saba I think was very incisive. At times, I think he was maybe a little too far outside. He was coming too far inside at times in the first half. But even there, there were quite a few half chances and yeah, for sure he didn’t have that final touch that was happening before but again, that happens. He (Saba) is a fantastic player and is going to be an amazing player for us.”

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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 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1

April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2

April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1

April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1

May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1