By Robyn Saghini // @robynsaghini
I’ve been gone for a minute, but life gets busy sometimes, right? Anyway, y’all didn’t miss much. NYCFC came to the ATL and got dished up some revenge in the form of a 3-1 loss, then two losses away at Vancouver Whitecaps and Chicago Fire have kept Atlanta United hovering just below the line in the Eastern Conference at 5-6-3 on the season. One thing to note from these games: set pieces have been our downfall. We have got to get better at defending them AND using the opportunity when we get them. NO MORE SHORT CORNERS, PLEASE.
#ATLUTD’s short corners are so criminal that we had to get the cops involved… https://t.co/PHKDXnEKTi
— Dirty South Soccer (@DirtySouthSoc) June 13, 2017
Things are just starting to get a little crazy schedule-wise for the Five Stripes. Last night was ATLUTD’s US Open Cup debut (more on that later), and the next three weeks before the Gold Cup break look like this:
- Saturday, June 17: home vs Columbus
- Wednesday, June 21: at DC United
- Saturday, June 24: home vs Colorado
- Wednesday, June 28: USOC round 5 at Miami FC
- Saturday, July 1: at Columbus
- Tuesday, July 4: home vs San Jose
Throw in a work trip next week for me and I’m exhausted just looking at this. I shouldn’t complain too much, though – this is nothing compared to what September looks like: SEVEN games in 20 days, six of which are home games. That doesn’t include the USOC final, should we make it that far, but an already rescheduled game vs LA Galaxy would have to be re-rescheduled for that. I may be in a coma by October.
In good news, Josef is back!! Martinez went in with about 30 minutes left in the Chicago game last weekend. He managed to make a couple of decent plays, but no goals and nothing spectacular to report. We’re all just SO happy to see him back on the pitch. The bar I was watching the game at got really loud when he stood up to be subbed in.
JOSEF ON THE BENCH! pic.twitter.com/g18nNEgpT1
— Dirty South Soccer (@DirtySouthSoc) June 10, 2017
Wednesday night was ATLUTD’s US Open Cup debut vs their USL affiliate, the Charleston Battery – and what a night it was. The players were announced and had just lined up on the field for the national anthem when the game was delayed because of lightning in the area. A two hour and 42 minute delay later, it was game on.
The lineup was mostly Atlanta’s B team, with a few regular starters (Larentowicz, Almiron and Martinez).
#ATLUTD‘s Starting XI vs @Chas_Battery pic.twitter.com/bnwJvBsEGw
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) June 14, 2017
Charleston did not come to Atlanta to lose. They played like it was a playoff game, even without a couple of their usual starters (including Romario Williams, who is on loan to the Battery from ATLUTD, but was called up to the Jamaican national team). Charleston went up early on a goal headed in by Forrest Lasso on a long throw in. ATL answered in the 30th minute with Kevin Kratz scoring his first ATLUTD goal. Charleston went up again just minutes after the ATL goal and almost got to 3-1 when a PK was called, but Woodbine skied the ball over the goal into the supporters crowd.
Down 1-2 at the half, coach Tata Martino was not happy, and he made a couple of subs at the half. Mikey Ambrose came in for Miles Robinson and Julian Gressel came in for Zach Loyd. Three minutes into the second half, we knew for sure Josef was back when he was sent a cross by Brandon Vazquez and headed it into the net. The go ahead goal was knocked in by Vazquez on a cross from Ambrose.
Delivery 👌 Finish 👌
All tied up here after this @JosefMartinez17 header ⚽️#ATLUTD 2 – 2 @Chas_Battery pic.twitter.com/MKwokL0F3N
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) June 15, 2017
This morning we found out that Atlanta will travel to Miami in a couple of weeks to take on Miami FC – who currently field former Atlanta Silverbacks players Jaime Chavez and Kwandwo Poku. Poku is an ATL fan favorite because of his heroics in the 2014 USOC tournament that let the Silverbacks to the quarterfinals where they lost at home to Chicago. Also, Miami FC defeated Orlando City SC, and I may laugh about that one for a long time – especially if we win vs Miami later this month.
A few random tidbits from the last few weeks:
- Andrew Carleton and Chris Goslin traveled with the U-17s to Argentina for a friendly earlier this month.
- Lagos Kunga played for the U-20s in the U-20 World Cup in South Korea; he did pretty well, from what I’ve read – including this goal.
- Kenwyne Jones was called up to the Trinidad & Tobago National team for their WCQs and was injured during warmups for their game earlier this week. :/
- Atlanta United announced this week that this weekend’s game vs Columbus is the sixth sellout this season (but soccer won’t do well in Atlanta, right?).
- It was also announced this week that we won’t get Brad Guzan in town permanently until after the Gold Cup in July. Jury is still out on whether he will start or not when he gets here. Right now, it’s Alec Kann‘s job to lose, according to Tata.
I need to go rest up for Saturday’s game vs Columbus Crew. I have a feeling it’ll be an interesting one after their USOC loss to FC Cincinnati (30k+ in attendance! Holy cow!) last night. I will leave y’all with this, though – Greg Garza and his wife welcomed their second son into the world today – and who doesn’t love some soccer babies?
What else could I ask for? An unforgettable experience to see the joy on one’s face and experience LIFE. This pic is MY life. 🙏🏻👨👩👦👦 pic.twitter.com/4rhqwHs6tT
— Gregory Garza (@gmgarza4) June 15, 2017
Featured image courtesy: atlutd.com
Follow and chat with me on twitter // @robynsaghini
Check us out on instagram @mlsfemale
Subscribe + get caught up: Weekly Dispatch 2017
