top of page

It Has Already Been A Long Day.

An Early Start To The Morning Can Only Get Better Tonight?


 

I have an ethos associated with 'the glass is half-full' and with that said I have reasonable expectations of Atlanta United in Cincinnati tonight. I need to be positive because my day did not start off well. Sure, I usually crawl out of bed very early on every morning - but 4:30AM has usually been reserved for catching a 6AM flight.


Yep, I live on the east coast of the United States, which meant a 4:30AM kickoff for the USWNT's opening match against Sweden at the Tokyo Olympics. I have always had high expectations of the USWNT - for all the obvious reasons. This morning was a wake up call, as I have never witnessed the women playing the way they did this morning. No energy, no second ball-winning, no creativity, and from what I could tell, a complete lack of physicality. The U.S. was very fortunate not to be down 3-0 at the half to the Swedes, who were tactically superior, as well as quick, fast, and hard into most tackles.


The U.S. plays New Zealand on Saturday, a New Zealand side that has not played a competitive match in sixteen months. We can only expect the U.S. women to come out with fire in their eyes to ensure they get three points and a chance of advancing in the tournament.


Back to tonight. The Atlanta front office did what they had to do on Sunday - Gabriel Heinze, similar to some non-MLS experienced managers, just could not accept that managing an MLS club is much different than handling a team in Argentina, England, or The Netherlands. Rob Valentino is next up, and at a minimum, he understands the expectations of the front office as well as the dynamics of MLS. Good luck to him and the boys as I would like to end the evening a bit different than the way I started the day.


It's just my take. @gary1123 justmytake.net


photo credit: EuroSport

Recent Posts

See All

The Issue With the World Cup coming to the United States, Canada, and Mexico in the summer of 2026, Major League Soccer should consider changing the structure of their season and playoffs. For MLS to

bottom of page