1. Radically different opponents
During this past weekend, Cincinnati beat Montreal by bunkering, earning Ron Jans his first win with Cincinnati. There is no guarantee that they will take the same approach this Wednesday against Atlanta, but it is certainly possible. Back in March, in Atlanta, Cincinnati sat back and dared Atlanta to beat them with the ball. The Five Stripes were unable to do so.
If Cincinnati attempt to bunker again, Atlanta will have to use their wide players to create width on the pitch and stretch out Cincinnati’s backline. This match will start and end with Atlanta’s most important wide players: Justin Meram and Julian Gressel. Meram is coming off one of his lesser performances with Atlanta. Even Gressel put in a less than stellar shift against Columbus. Both must be on top of their game, as they will be responsible for receiving the ball in the wide areas and either crossing the ball into the box for Josef Martinez or finding the open space in the middle to spread the ball around.
San Jose is a completely different type of opponent. They will present something Atlanta haven’t faced all season. Under Matias Almeyda, the Earthquakes man-mark their opponents all over the pitch. It is a unique style in today’s game and one that Atlanta will have to figure out quickly.
To beat San Jose, it starts with finding specific match-ups to exploit. This past weekend, NYCFC figured out how to beat one of San Jose’s full-backs, Marcos Lopez. The 19-year-old had his hands full with New York’s attackers. And given their man-marking scheme, once you beat a San Jose player, you create a man-advantage, since a different San Jose player has to cover to press the ball. Once that second San Jose player slides over, the rest of their players have to adjust.
If Atlanta United can exploit San Jose’s marking, they should come away with the win at home in front of their supporters and close out a busy week with a strong performance. If they harbor any hopes of a top seed in the seed, that is the least they must achieve.