On Sunday against Atlanta United, the Fire will look to string together their first back-to-back wins in the Raphael Wicky era coming out of their 4-0 win over Tab Ramos’ Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.
Here’s how they’ll look to take down Atlanta, who are coming off a 1-0 midweek win over FC Dallas.
IT’S JUST…DIFFERENT
The Atlanta United team that will take Soldier Field on Sunday night is a far cry from the teams we’ve seen in past seasons from a stylistic and personnel standpoint.
Since 2019, Atlanta have seen 17 players depart and 18 players (including new DP signing Marcelino Moreno) enter the fray…sound familiar?
Frank de Boer, the second coach in franchise history, was fired after Atlanta went 0-0-3 in July’s MLS is Back tournament without scoring a goal. This is the same Frank de Boer who led Atlanta to a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup trophy and the second seed in the Eastern Conference in 2019.
In addition, star striker and 2018 Golden Boot winner Josef Martinez went down with an ACL tear in Atlanta’s first game of the season.
All that said, Atlanta are not the same team we’ve gotten used to seeing since their inaugural season in 2017, and the results certainly speak to that.
The Five Stripes (4-7-2) have lost seven times in 13 games this season. To put that into perspective, they only lost seven times in the entire 2018 season en route to their MLS Cup crown.
Interim manager Stephen Glass is still trying to figure out how to maximize the potential of a group that has not played all that much together and is missing one of the best goal scorers this league has ever seen.
FILLING GAPS
Let’s start up top. The initial choice to start as the lone striker was Adam Jahn. The former Columbus Crew man had bounced around the USL Championship for the past couple years, but had a breakout season with Phoenix Rising FC and was sold to Atlanta for $100,000 this past off-season.
Jahn is a tall, cerebral, and physically imposing center forward who doesn’t possess a lot of pace, but he is great at shaping out a press and is a real aerial threat. His hold-up play is solid, and he isn’t afraid to get into those nitty-gritty battles with opposing center-backs.
However, it has been Jon Gallagher who has gotten the nod as of late, having started three of the last four matches. Gallagher is a very different look from Jahn. He’s much more mobile, and has a lot more pace. He isn’t as much of a threat in the air, but is a bit more technical and likes to run at players if given the opportunity.
Gallagher made his debut for Atlanta’s first team this season. Prior to that, he was under the tutelage of Stephen Glass as part of Atlanta’s USL Championship side, Atlanta United 2. Gallagher is an absolute workhorse and - like Jahn - is great at leading a press and applying pressure on the opposing centerbacks. Fire tandem Francisco Calvo and Mauricio Pineda will have to be pragmatic but quick when making decisions and playing out of the back no matter who starts on the day.
The back four seems to be set with Bello and Franco Escobar as the outside backs, while Fernando Meza and Miles Robinson occupy the centerback positions.
In the middle of the field, Designated Player and two-time MLS All-Star Ezequiel Barco has had some injury problems and has missed the last few games as a result. Emerson Hyndman and Eric Remedi will normally play as more defensive midfielders, while Matheus Rossetto is at the top of a point-up, 4-2-3-1, similar to what the Fire play. Jake Mulraney and Brooks Lennon are the on the left and right side of Rossetto respectively.
Replacing the likes of recent departures Darlington Nagbe, Julian Gressel, Hector Villalba, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, etc. is no easy task, but Atlanta have been making moves during the transfer window and getting performances from the likes of Jahn and Gallagher. Their 1-0 result against FC Dallas is a clear indication that things might slowly but surely be turning around for a franchise that has sky high expectations after their first three seasons of existence.
TO THE LEFT, TO THE LEFT…
As my broadcaster partner, Tony Meola, always like to ask when he’s watching a team play: “What are they trying to accomplish?”
In this caretaker manager situation, it’s been difficult the past few weeks for Atlanta to try and figure out what they are trying to do.
However, against FC Dallas on Wednesday night, it was at least somewhat clear that Atlanta wanted to utilize the pace and delivery of the left-hand side of their attack with George Bello and Mulraney. Bello is extremely fast and eager to get forward. He will get caught on the wrong side of the ball from time to time, but his pace and sheer athleticism allow him to recover in most situations. Mulraney is a crafty winger who has a great left peg and can whip in a very dangerous ball. The Irishman connected with Jahn for a stoppage-time equalizer against Orlando City a few weeks ago for one of Orlando’s few dropped point outings of the season.
The Fire’s Boris Sekulić and Djordje Mihailović (should they continue to start) will have their hands full in trying to deal with these two. The press will be clear from Atlanta, and being able to play out and force Bello and Mulraney to make 40, 50, 60 yard runs to get behind the ball will be crucial to success.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Just two points separate these two teams in the standings, and - if FC Cincinnati draw or lose at NYCFC on Saturday - Chicago can leapfrog Atlanta and FCC into a playoff position.
It will be a physical battle between two teams who are looking to gain momentum heading into the final nine matches of the season.
Chicago showed the entire league what they were capable of on Wednesday when they have their finishing boots on. They played through and over the Houston press more-or-less at will, and have shown that they can break you down in clear possession throughout spurts of 2020.
I imagine Atlanta will have watched the Houston match a few times and understand that they can get punished if the press isn’t used properly. I think Glass’ group will sit a bit deeper and try to make life difficult for Chicago if the Fire start the way they did on Wednesday.
The Fire have plenty of confidence going forward, especially with Robert Berić having scored three goals in his last three games. The back-line will also be feeling good about the clean sheet. Sunday night could very well set the tone for the rest of the season for the Fire (and Atlanta) and the nature of the 90 minutes will reflect that.
