The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Team hopes to stay positive, minimize mistakes tonight
Glass says a faster start may be helpful against Inter Miami.
The accent is Scottish instead of Dutch, but Atlanta United interim manager Stephen Glass is working to improve many of the same areas of concern that his predecessor, Frank de Boer, had during his time as the team’s leader.
Speaking Monday ahead of today’s game against Inter Miami at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Glass said when the team keeps its formation, it’s successful. De Boer was very focused on that, some might say almost too focused. Then there’s the task of trying to start games more positively. That was another unsuccessful focus for de Boer.
“It’s important that there are bits that are done well,” he said. “Things that have held us back … are individual little mistakes. Not trust- ing the shape. Not having a number of games to feel like this is the way forward. Some of the things that need fixing are minor tweaks that need to be a consistent hab- its. I think you will see it form the group.”
Glass has had only a few weeks and two games to work with the group. The first game was the mostly lackluster 2-0 win against Nashville in which the team needed two moments of brilliance from Pity Martinez to secure three points. The second was the 3-1 loss to Orlando City in which individual errors by several players contributed to the Lions’ goals on defense, and the offense mostly lacked imagination.
Glass said the group remains positive and wants to fix what it’s doing wrong. Mid- fielder Eric Remedi agreed, saying, “We want to get back to being a team that’s a protag- onist in matches, controlling matches. We are working very hard on that. We are very united and motivated to try to get back to that style.”
But there are things holding it back, for now.
Glass said he thought the team lost a bit of its confidence against Orlando after the Lions scored their first goal, which was an unmarked header on a corner kick.
“It’s possible that we got down a little bit after the first goal,” said Remedi, who failed to mark Junior Urso on that goal in the 13th minute.
As evidence, Atlanta United was able to create but one shot the rest of the half, and it wasn’t on goal. It continued a trend of Atlanta United getting off to slow starts. It has scored the first goal in one of its past six games across all competitions. It won that one game. “Feeling at times that if we take the game from the scruff of the neck at the start,” Glass said.
If Atlanta United doesn’t, Miami does have the talent going forward with Rodolfo Pizarro and Julian Carranza to punish mistakes. Though it was shut out by Nashville 1-0 in its previous game, it took 19 shots, putting five on goal.
The second goal from Orlando was a total breakdown in shape and formation by Atlanta United.
The team bounced back in the second half with seven shots, including its goal by Brooks Lennon.
Glass said he wants to see more of that aggressiveness against Miami, which may have been sparked by the insertion of the speedy Jake Mulraney, Erick Torres, Ezequiel Barco and Jurgen Damm in the second half as his team chased a result. Glass said that group, with the exception of Mulraney, is still building fitness toward being starters.
“We just have to build on the second half,” Glass said.