The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta United ends friendly season by scoring one goal
In its last friendly matches before its season-opening game in the Champions League on April 6, Atlanta United was held to one goal in 140 minutes across two matches Sunday by Birmingham Legion at BBVA Compass Field.
The goal was scored by Anton Walkes and was assisted by Mikey Ambrose. Atlanta United was partly unlucky — two shots hit the side posts and bounced back to the goalkeeper — in the second game.
The team was partly affected by steady winds that made passes over the top a guessing game and a wet pitch that made onetouch passing difficult, particularly in the first game, and negated Atlanta United’s speed advantage. But it was mostly affected by this: The team is still learning manager Gabriel Heinze’s systems.
“It’s always just one part missing (Sunday),” centerback George Campbell said. “One extra thing that could be communicated. One extra person that could move one place. It’s just a matter of time before everyone gets their role and we will be fine.”
There were several bright spots from the two 70-minute games.
The most noticeable was that in the second half of the first game, which ended 0-0, striker Josef Martinez began to look like a predator again. His header in the 49th minute, a shot that required him to jump using his surgically repaired right knee, was saved by the goalkeeper. A minute later, Martinez headed a corner kick by Jurgen Damm down into the ground. It was inches from crossing the line until Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Vanoekel dove down and pushed it out with his right hand. A few seconds after that, a hard Martinez shot slammed into Birmingham fullback Johnny Dean, standing in the mouth of the goal, and out for a corner kick.
“We had a lot of chances,” Campbell said. “We were really unlucky.”
The first half of the first game was dull. Heinze used a 4-3-3 formation with Atlanta United 2’s Rodrigo Rios Novo in goal with George Bello, Homegrown signing Campbell, Miles Robinson, Ronald Hernandez, Homegrown Machop Chol, Damm, Ezequiel Barco, Academy player Abdoulaye Diop, Homegrown Josh Wolff and Martinez.
Defensively, Campbell said Atlanta United at times had difficulty breaking Birmingham’s press in the first half. “We need to figure out who the free men are,” he said, noting that they will as they learn Heinze’s tactics.
Offensively, Atlanta United didn’t take a shot until the 35th minute. It had chances but the players couldn’t pull the trigger because the ball would either get caught under their feet, or they couldn’t get their footing right on the soggy turf.
At halftime, Campbell said Heinze asked the players to play with more confidence. They looked tentative in the first half and didn’t show the off-the-ball movements that were seen in the training exercises against Charleston eight days ago. That confidence resulted in Martinez’s chances.
In the second game, which saw Atlanta United facing a Birmingham team that included several trialists and academy players, the lineup was composed of Brad Guzan in goal with a centerback tandem of Walkes and Josh Bauer, fullbacks of Brooks Lennon and Ambrose, a center midfield of Santiago Sosa, Franco Ibarra and Emerson Hyndman, Jake Mulraney and Marcelino Moreno on the wings, with Lisandro Lopez at striker.
Bright spots included Sosa, who hit several quality passes into space for teammates to run onto. Though it’s unlikely that he will play for the first team, draft pick Bauer handled his defensive responsibilities well. Marcelino Moreno was very lively in his 35 minutes. His run through Birmingham’s defense resulted in the corner kick that was turned in by Walkes, who said he didn’t expect to be the team’s only scorer Sunday.
“We need to find a way to score goals from set pieces because we have a lot of height,” Walkes said. “Last year, we struggled. We should be scoring more from them.”