Loser – Frank de Boer
Michael Parkhurst at left-back. Honestly, Frank?
At times on Sunday, it seemed like Frank de Boer was more concerned with trying to match up to Philadelphia’s system rather than accentuating the strengths of his own, constantly switching between three at the back, midfield diamonds and other weird and yet not-so-wonderful set-ups.
And to cap it off, as he switched to a back four, he decided 35-year-old Michael Parkhurst was the man to fill his left-back void. To be fair to the veteran, he performed admirably but showed absolutely nothing going forward because, well, that’s just not what he does.
De Boer finally got two things right when he replaced Parkhurst with Brek Shea, an actual left-back, in the 58th minute, before bringing on Ezequiel Barco who went on to score the equaliser. But those changes were solutions to self-imposed problems and, if Atlanta are to push on this season and challenge for MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield or anything else this season, these fundamental tactical mistakes must stop.