Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Marietta, GA – One moment during training on Tuesday stands out. Atlanta United manager Ronny Deila got the team together in the middle of one of the practice pitches. It was hard to hear what he was saying, but it might have worked.
“I think we can do things better,” said striker Jamal Thiare after training. “We need everybody. We have to stay positive and keep going.”
And it looks like everybody will be available for Saturday in Orlando with wins being few and far between this season for Atlanta United. The last time the Five Stripes picked up three points from a match was almost a month ago during a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over New York City FC. That was on Saturday, March 29. However, the month of April has brought nothing but spring showers their way. Beginning with a 1-1 draw at home against FC Dallas, followed by a 0-1 loss to New England at home, and most recently a 3-0 loss at Philadelphia Union last Saturday.
Heading into another road match at rival Orlando City FC, the Five Stripes are far from playing their best soccer at the moment. This year’s team is off to the worst nine-game start in franchise history.
The good: There are 25 more matches remaining on the regular season schedule.
The bad: Atlanta United is 12th in the Eastern Conference standings with nine points in nine games.
Atlanta United striker Emmanuel Latte, who has scored five goals this season, has not scored in either of the past three matches. He earned a penalty kick during the draw with Dallas and allowed Miguel Almiron to take the kick, which led to him scoring his second goal of the season. Against Philadelphia on Saturday, both Latte Lath and Almiron took several shots at the opposing goal without success.
At training on Tuesday, Atlanta players went through their normal paces with the occasional moments of frustration and brilliance. The feeling is that they all know winning will cure a lot of ills, but you have to win first.
“I think we need to convert our chances and we have to score more goals,” said midfielder Mateusz Klich after training on Tuesday. “In general, we have to be better. It’s not good enough.”
Orlando City has also had problems scoring goals this season. The Lions haven’t scored in their past three matches against the Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls, and CF Montreal. Atlanta has played all three of those teams this season and only defeated CF Montreal (3-2 in the home opener) in the process.
“Football is pretty simple, we have to score goals and we don’t,” Klich said. “There are things on the pitch that no one can influence except us.”
What’s Next: Atlanta United will play seven matches during the month of May, so there could very well be a much different conversation taking place a month from now.
Veteran defender Derrick Williams, who missed the match against Philadelphia, was seen lightly jogging with a team trainer during training on Tuesday morning.
