Atlanta United: Season review and Eastern Conference Final preview

 The tactics to win are easy: score more than the other team. Stop them from scoring completely, and half the war is won. But Atlanta must achieve a clean sheet cleanly, or risk going to the decisive battle without their blood-money game type players.

Brad Guzan held firm for 81 saves on 123 shots faced so far this season. Atlanta and Guzan have eight clean sheets to their name, having given up plenty of garbage time goals throughout the season. (Darren Mattocks for D.C. United comes to mind immediately.) And while Atlanta is not a dirty team from the Dirty South, their defenders are prone to some rough play.

Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez had 50 fouls this season. He missed a few games too, with eight yellows and one red card. Franco Escobar drew 32 whistles and seven yellow cards, while Chris McCann had as many fouls (22) as he did threatening passes into the opposition box. Six of those 22 fouls were card worthy.

So how damaging is a card? Well, yellow cards reset going into the final, but that just means no one will be worried about yellow cards in the second leg. A wrong foot in the first game and the second leg is a battle watched from the sidelines.

Atlanta’s approach will likely be to allow the New York Red Bulls to have the ball to begin the game, just to see their first chess move. About 15 minutes in, depending on if Atlanta has had any goalscoring chances, Tata Martino will step to the touchline and give someone directions to move their starting position a few yards. If he is right, Atlanta will take the lead. If not, Atlanta will likely be chasing at least one away goal.

After the seasons both teams have had, it is to be expected that a goal is nicked by the away team. Playing for the second goal, and the urgency behind finding it, is the key to the series. It is that second goal, at home, that could turn this successful second season into a magical cup-winning memory for the ages. And it is the only last chance Atlanta will get. Martino is gone with others soon to be looking at the city disappearing, behind the airplane as it heads to other leagues in other countries.

In what could be the last home game for this era of Atlanta United, Martino and his team must stick to the core principles and just play.