Atlanta United: Build from the back

Football starts from the defence. Atlanta United and Frank de Boer seemingly forgot that in Thursday night’s 3-1 defeat to CS Herediano. It’s time to go back to basics and build from the back once again.

There was an old belief in English football that was especially prominent in the 80s and 90s that stated that all good teams, especially title-winning teams, are built from the back. A strong defensive structure is established first and then everything else is added to that foundation.

Whether that is in fact true is somewhat debatable, particularly given the offensive explosion of the modern game. But an underlying sentiment of defensive stability being important does still remain. You cannot win much with a leaky defence. The New York Red Bulls were the best defensive team in MLS last season. They also won the Supporters’ Shield.

Sadly for Atlanta United and Frank de Boer, they seemingly forgot how to defend on Thursday, falling 3-1 to CS Herediano in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League tie.

The collective performance was poor. There was little impetus and intention in possession, the midfield was overrun numerically, unable to gain a foothold in the match, and the mobility and athleticism of Herediano on the attack caused the back three major problems. But their specific problem was their defending.

Herediano’s first goal stemmed from a puzzling George Bello chest to Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and then an even more puzzling header from Gonzalez Pirez back to Brad Guzan which was intercepted and converted. The second saw the Atlanta defence part wide open and play a weirdly high line, three Herediano players all scampered into the vacant space in behind as a result.

Even the final goal came from a set piece. It may have been a brilliant delivery, but the high line chosen by the Atlanta defence was curious given the position of the freekick and the decision of Guzan to stay on his line — usually, when you play with a high line from a set piece, it is to provide the goalkeeper with space to come out from his goal and collect or punch clear the cross.

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These individual and collective errors were not present under Tata Martino. It is easy to forget, but Atlanta United won the MLS Cup in large part because of their defence. They may have been the highest-scoring regular season team, but it was their stifling defence and successive clean sheets that ultimately saw them through the playoffs.

Building a stable and consistent defence has also been a criticism of de Boer’s in the past. He comes from the Holland-Barcelona heritage of total football. Pass and move, free-flowing, all-out attack. It is amazing to watch when done right, but it has major shortcomings at the other end. Those shortcomings came to roost here. Obviously, that does not mean that they will be present throughout the season, but the early signs are hardly the most promising.

Atlanta United can still win this tie. They can still win the CCL. They can still win MLS Cup and the Supporters’ Shield. But for all of their offensive brilliance, it might be their defence that determines just how far they can go, and on this showing, the results are not especially bright.