1. Home form is not strong
Last week I wrote a sort of “State of the Union” address for Atlanta during the mini All-Star break. There are many positives with the team and the organization, but if there is one negative this season, it’s the team’s home form. Atlanta’s overall home record is decent, but it is not the best.
It is alarming when you take a deep dive into the pattern surrounding Atlanta’s home results. Their first set of home games yielded strong results. They started with four wins in five matches with the fifth match being a draw against a strong NYCFC. That’s 13 points out of a possible 15, which is great. Things have not been going well at home since then. In the eight matches since, Atlanta only has 12 points out of a possible 24, with it reading: LLWDWDWD.
Those results are extremely inconsistent, especially when looking at the last few weeks. The most frustrating part about these results is how close Atlanta has been to taking all of the possible points. Atlanta’s draws at home really underscore this point.
Those three draws came against Portland with a 1-1 score, Seattle with a 1-1 score, and Toronto with a 2-2 score. The Portland draw was well-earned since Atlanta had to come back and draw even after conceding the first goal. Against Seattle, they also conceded the first goal, however, Atlanta played with a man advantage for the better part of 20 minutes and did not capitalize. Against Toronto, the team gave up goals at awful times in the late stages of each half.
Again, on paper, the team is strong at home. They are undefeated in six-straight home matches and they are taking more points than not. However, they are inconsistent at best and have not won back-to-back home matches since their win over LAFC on April 7. Atlanta needs its home form to be strong and consistent if they want to make a run at the MLS Cup this fall, and at the moment, it isn’t.