Atlanta United Gets Thumped In Vancouver

From the unlikeliest of sources, Vancouver pulled full points from home as one of the tallest players for the Blue+White created problems…

It turned into a tall order, figuratively and literally…

Especially, when someone who hadn’t scored in a while scored twice against the Atlanta United defense. The Whitecaps defense, on the other hand, handcuffed the highest-scoring offense in Major League Soccer with the Carl Robinson-scripted 4-1-4-1 attack.

Let’s break down the good and the bad…

The Good: Another example of Julian Gressel getting more “Rookie of the Year” love, and it only took seven minutes to get a pinpoint-accurate pass to Greg Garza…

(And, no that’s not a misprint…)

Garza cracks the score sheet for the first time this year…

"“It feels great,” Garza admitted. “It’s tough getting a first goal and then having everything turned upside down. But it feels good to get a goal with these colors, with these stripes, and hopefully I can get some more, and statistically more assists and goals in the future. But I think at the end of the day, our heads are down for the loss.”"

But, then the next twenty minutes or so, Atlanta United seems disjointed and on their heels as Vancouver kept the pressure in their offensive end. Vancouver went to the 31st until the first example of the same problem came to the fore in the form of 6-foot-5 inch Kendall Waston

With his feet…

In the box…

For the first time in a long time… by Waston’s own admission…

Waston would score later on in the Robinson-preferred manner to make it 2-1

"“I think Kendall’s been, I don’t want to use ‘absolutely’ but I will, absolutely excellent since the start of the season,” Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said after the match. “He’s been very mature, he’s 29 years of age and I think the responsibility he’s taken on board from being captain, I think he’s grown into that role. He’s been a monster for us, he really has and this was another strong performance from him, as well as Tim [Parker]. They’ve got a really good relationship there, back with David behind them. You might get side-tracked because he scores two goals, there’s other games where he’s been phenomenal for us. I wouldn’t want any other player when the ball is coming in the box, especially when you’re defending a lead, and time and time again today he’s shown how crucial he is for us.”"

And Waston drew praise from Atlanta United head coach Tata Martino:

"“We couldn’t control Waston. I think he was the difference in a game that we controlled and maintained possession, but he was a physical factor.”“There aren’t many players like Waston in the league. Waston is a player that causes problems for a lot of teams, not just Atlanta."

Vancouver’s third goal presents a different set of problems. Here’s the goal that Fredy Montero gets credit for that gave the final result…

"“Yeah it’s good,” Montero said. “Of course the feeling after scoring goals is good. I like to have that momentum, so I want to stretch it this time even more than the last game when I was scoring goals and I was on fire. But to be honest I’m happy for the team, we got another three points at home.”"

Now, let’s look at what went wrong…

First, it was a “tall order…”

Literally…

There wasn’t anyone on the roster that could match the height in the box of Waston. “Tata” Martino made the point, post-match, that there aren’t many players in the league like Waston, and he made the substitution of Kenwyne Jones to counteract that action on set pieces. But it is something that has to be looked at, case-by-case, going forward…

"“We didn’t do a good enough job obviously,” Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst said. “The first one we push out but we don’t stay organized and they get a second ball. Waston is a beast in the air on the headers, we try to have a guy in the zone marking him but he’s very good. Obviously we paid the price, we gave up too many set pieces to him, too many corners, too many opportunities to them. We knew that was a strength for them and a weakness for us and we got punished today.”"

Second, Miguel Almiron had a quiet day…

And there was a reason for that…

The defensive style for Vancouver clogs up the middle of the pitch…

Plain and simple…

That meant, or should have meant, that the wings should have been the point of emphasis for the Atlanta United attack. It was in the first goal (see above), but the plan seemed to go away in the following 83 minutes…

Credit to the Whitecaps for that fully…

Third, Atlanta United has to figure out how to chase… 

It’s not a position, thankfully, for Atlanta United and their fans that they’re used to being in. But, as the season gets longer in the tooth, it’s a viewpoint that the side has to learn to battle from as games become more important.

Chasing on the road is another level of chasing entirely than chasing when 45,000 or more people are behind you. Try it when that many are against you in September, those lessons start in the dog days of spring and summer.

Fourth, it’s NO TIME TO PANIC!

And that’s the bottom line… really…

The team is still learning as is everyone who is watching at present.

Next stop: Chicago, and they’re still smarting from a goalless draw with a two-man advantage in Orlando Sunday night…

Okay, everyone… We know it was a long Saturday in British Columbia, but what do you think about the #5Stripes right now?

Check in down below in the Comments Section and tell us your thoughts on Vancouver, Chicago, and the season to date…