Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports The internationals return to welcome the Red Bulls After a hot start to 2023, a depleted Atlanta United came crashing back to Earth in a historically bad 6-1 loss in Columbus. Luckily, the international break has come to an end, and the Five Stripes are mostly restocked (minus Andrew Gutman, who joins the injury list) for a return home this evening. Unfortunately, that opponent is the New York Red Bulls, an in-conference rival that Atlanta has failed to defeat in the regular season… ever. Could that change tonight? Newly minted Argentina goalscorer and MLS Player o ..read more

Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images I guess this is somewhat expected when you’re missing two very important DP attackers I know most of you are probably ready to put this disaster of a game behind you, but we’ve got one last thing to talk about: the offense. It wasn’t good. Actually, it was practically nonexistent. In 90 minutes of soccer (if you can even call it that), Atlanta United put up just two shots to Columbus’ 15. If you think that sounds bad, just look at the shot map. It’s not very often that the Five Stripes are shut down up top, so let’s take a look at why Atlanta struggled to crea ..read more

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Fresh off a franchise-worst loss, the Five Stripes look to regain its early season form against *checks notes* the Red Bulls… uh-oh Atlanta United’s red-hot start to 2023 came crashing down with last week’s 6-1 loss to Columbus Crew. But all is not lost. The Five Stripes have more than enough excuses to write those 90 minutes off as a freak accident - but it won’t mean anything if Atlanta doesn’t show that on the field and bounce back to pre-Columbus form as soon as possible. That won’t be easy, though, with Atlanta’s boogey-team, the New York Red Bulls, visiting t ..read more

Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images Here’s who’s in the commentary position for all the matches for the 6th week of the season. Last week, we mentioned how fun things were in Atlanta United country. Turns out, that was before the Five Stripes were served a slice of humble pie in the form of a 6-1 demolition at the hands of the Columbus Crew. Here’s hoping a return home against the New York Red Bulls is a “get right” game with a number of starters and key players that were on international duty scheduled to return. Elsewhere, the New England Revolution, currently atop the East, play host to NYCFC ..read more

Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images The only way I can explain this is either Atlanta’s depth is that bad, Columbus made a deal with the devil, or Atlanta did and this is the price Do you ever see something so bad that you’re not even upset about it or anything, you’re almost impressed, like “wow, I’ve never seen the pinnacle of bad before, but this is it and there’s something almost great about being that impressively awful”? Of course you have, you saw the Atlanta United game where they lost 6-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday. MLS has a massive ambition to be a top league in the world and I t ..read more

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports Can we all agree to forget this ever happened? Please? Atlanta United were riding high last week after scoring five against Portland. This week, they came crashing back down to earth with a disastrous 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Columbus Crew. Major lineup changes were in order after seven players received national team call ups including Luis Abram, Miles Robinson, Giorgos Giakoumakis and recent sensation Thiago Almada. Gonzalo Pineda adjusted his starting lineup by handing 17-year-old Noah Cobb his MLS debut to fill in for Miles Robinson. In midfield, Pi ..read more

Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images Your reactions to Atlanta United’s Final Whistle Quick Thoughts Welp. That happened. Of course missing your three most important players and several others is crippling. However, you’d expect the remaining talent to put up more of a fight than they did. But it is what it is. Columbus clearly dealt with their missing players better than Atlanta did. The worst part of the night is Andrew Gutman leaving the match early with an injury. A lopsided loss can be easily shaken off, but that could have long-term implications. Instead of giving you our full player ratin ..read more

The Steve Cooke era of Atlanta United 2 begins Atlanta United 2 announced the club’s inaugural roster for the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season per the league’s roster compliance deadline. This roster will be led by Head Coach Steve Cooke who brings more than 30 years of national and international coaching experience with him, most recently serving as the academy director of the Seatle Sounders. “I’m incredibly excited to join such a high quality group of people and prestigious club like Atlanta United,” Cooke said. “I want to thank Matt, Garth Lagerwey and Carlos Bocanegra for their collective faith ..read more

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports A tough away test for a limited Five Stripes Yes, we’re in the middle of an international break. Yes, Atlanta United (and the rest of the league) are still playing through it. It is what it is. Still, Atlanta will be without a few key pieces that have been vital to the early run of form that has the Five Stripes atop the Eastern Conference, including Thiago Almada (who is STILL scoring goals), Miles Robinson, and Giorgos Giakoumakis from among the regular starting lineup, along with even more from the bench. Columbus will be down some starters as well, which sh ..read more

Jay Bendlin/Atlanta United Who all is out with a slew of players gone on international duty? Atlanta United has announced the official lit of players who will be unavailable. The list is headlined by a league-high seven players who will miss Saturday’s match against the Columbus Crew due to international duty. MLS has decided to continue with the league schedule despite almost every team in the league missing some of their most important players. Atlanta’s include: Thiago Almada (Argentina) Giorgios Giakoumakis (Greece) Miles Robinson (USA) Derrick Etienne, Jr. (Haiti) Luis Abram (Peru) Ronald ..read more