My Takeaways From Last Night's 1-1 CCL Draw With The Philadelphia Union.
Atlanta's player pool was "subject for discussion" even before Ezequiel Barco and Jurgen Damm were injured in Saturday's match. Santiago Sosa and Alan Franco are new and still adapting. Sosa is as solid of a player as there is in the MLS, so if you follow Atlanta you better enjoy him this year. Just sayin.'
There are many comparisons going on with people looking at the success enjoyed in 2017, 2018 and even 2019. There can be no comparison as the team, including the manager, have changed. Are there growing pains going on? Definitely. Are there players getting a lot of minutes who are not performing at a high level? Absolutely. Is Josef Martinez still working through his injury comeback? Yes. The reality is Atlanta United, along with many other teams in the league, are still finding their way with the early season schedule and what we all enjoy hearing: "fixture congestion."
Does the summer transfer window dictate some additions (and subtractions) to Atlanta's player pool? Possibly, but we will need to see how the next ten games transpire and what Darren Eales, Carlos Bocanegra, and Paul McDonough decide to do.
It is very early in the season - and good, bad, or ugly, Gabriel Heinze and the Five Stripes can now focus on league play. Atlanta is 1-1-1 which means there are 31 games left. A long season with many ebbs and flows to come. One game at a time with a visit to Inter Miami on Sunday afternoon.