Atlanta United player ratings from another maddening loss

Player Ratings

GK Bobby Shuttleworth 5: Not a factor in the result as he couldn’t do much to stop the goals on which Montreal scored. Overall, MTL registered 2.53 xGoT (expected goals on target, which accounts for where shots enter the goalmouth as opposed to the location the shot is taken from), so did about as well as one would expect.

RB Brooks Lennon 5: Solid defensively winning 4 tackles and basically never lost possession, but completed only two of eight crosses and was overall a negligible factor.

CB Miles Robinson 5: Solid numbers, but as you’ll see below, the team did not look organized defending set pieces/crosses and as a team leader and the leader of the defense, this is now part of Robinson’s job. But Robinson had zero chance at personally preventing either of the goals.

CB Alan Franco 4: Initially I was quite positive about Franco’s performance due to his stat line, which is impressive without a doubt. 95% passing, 5/5 long balls, 12 ball recoveries and 5 interceptions. Those things are very good and why he’s not getting a 3 or below. Because when you watch the goals back, he is at least partially at fault for both (which you’d naturally assume for a CB whose team conceded two headers from crosses). On the first goal, he never tries to track it — instead just assuming whoever is behind him will win the header and he doesn’t even go for it. On the second goal, when the cross is getting sent in, there are multiple Montreal players open in the box and he’s marking none of them. He’s just standing in the middle. Atlanta is terribly disorganized in this situation that should be relatively simple.

LB Andrew Gutman 5: Very average game from Gutman who didn’t see much of the ball (only 27 attempted passes) and never seemed to impact the game.

CM Franco Ibarra 5: Solid job stepping in and playing as the lone pure No. 6 (he’s typically played alongside another “defensive” midfielder in MLS play). Stats solid, but, again, look at where he is on the second goal pictured above.

CM Matheus Rossetto 7: Just excellent. 90% passing, including 8/11 long balls as he did the job of Santiago Sosa spraying passes to the flanks. nd most impressive was his 15 ball recoveries — a huge amount that is truly what allowed Atlanta to have the possession dominance it maintained throughout the game.

AM: Marcelino Moreno 5: He scored a great goal, no doubt about it. But he also gave the ball away like crazy, getting dispossessed with the ball at his feet four times and losing 9 duels — the most of any player in the match.

AM Thiago Almada 6: His skill was fully on display, dribbling past players and playing four key passes — the most of any player on the field. He also had a very good 9 ball recoveries — dropping deeper than his other two attacking midfielders to help regain control of the ball. Still, it feels like he missed some opportunities to do more. And for better or for worse, Atlanta needs him to play perfectly right now, and he wasn’t.

AM Luiz Araujo 3: Maybe expectations play a part here, but he only took two shots — both from outside the box — and tactically looked lost. He seemed to only want to try to play 1v1 against opponents and didn’t look fluid in a cohesive systemic attack.

ST Ronaldo Cisneros 5: Really hard to judge Cisneros as his role is as a poacher, and he just never had many opportunities to do just that. His 24 touches in the game were the fewest of any outfield player who played 90 minutes in the match.

No ratings for subs Jake Mulraney and Jackson Conway, who came on very late.