The return of Atlanta United’s press made the difference in MLS Cup final
How Atlanta’s press proved insurmountable in MLS Cup against the Portland Timbers.
Before we go all the way into MLS offseason mode, Saturday’s MLS Cup lingers: Atlanta’s win seemed too easy. How did Tata Martino’s squad pull away so easily? Their game plan was nearly flawless, and it seemed to confound the Portland Timbers.
Atlanta pressed from the start
Atlanta went back to what made them good last year: They threw players forward and tried to win the ball in favorable positions. They knew Portland would try to stay compact and grind for stretches on the road, so Martino had his team press in an attempt to scramble the chess board — the Timbers didn’t expect it.
It worked. Portland didn’t commit any disastrous turnovers, but they struggled to find the ball at the back and move it forward to their attackers. The Timbers had little to no effective possession, and while they have been a good counter-attacking team this season, they had no ability to get the ball to the feet of Diego Valeri or Sebastian Blanco.
Atlanta’s first goal, in which center-back Michael Parkhurst ranged forward and slide-tackled the ball into the path of Josef Martinez, came from the Five Stripes’ funky press. Atlanta trapped the Timbers in their own end and pounced on Jeremy Ebobisse’s attempt to free the pressure:
Tata knew all along that Atlanta couldn’t maintain this for the whole 90 minutes. But if they could get an early goal, the game state would allow them to sit back more. For the most part, they kept some pressure on for the entirety of the first half, and by the second 45, they were afforded the luxury of chilling behind the ball.
They didn’t just press — they pressed in weird ways
Giovanni Savarese likely didn’t foresee the early onslaught unleashed by Atlanta. His team played as though they were prepared to have the ball some at the back and try to prevent Atlanta counter-attacks.
That’s not what they got. ATL charged forward from all angles, with no indication that they were looking for specific triggers — they just loaded every little gap they could and hoped Portland wouldn’t be able to beat them over the top. From their hybrid 3-5-2 formation, they had six or seven players actively trying to press at a time.
Sometimes, a center-back joined the midfield to fill gaps for Darlington Nagbe, Eric Remedi and Julian Gressel. Gressel often drifted wide to spread Atlanta’s possession and open slivers for Miguel Almiron, who scurried all over the place behind Martinez. The wing-backs, Franco Escobar and Greg Garza, were comparatively conservative.
Perhaps having Escobar and Garza stay back more was a preventative measure. Portland’s Valeri and Blanco kill teams on the counter. But it also could have been an example of Atlanta varying their pressing patterns. Usually, you’d expect a pressing team to send its wing-backs forward. But Atlanta instead chose to make things as unfamiliar as possible.
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Portland couldn’t get out of their own half
This trend seemed to continue even as Atlanta cooled their engines off as they settled into their lead. Once Escobar made it 2-0 on a 54th-minute set piece, United were able to relax even more and wait the Timbers out.
Portland never really moved the ball up the field. It was like they were perpetually afraid of an Atlanta counter-attack. That fear simmered even as actual attempts at attacking became a necessity.
Struggles with passing out of the backline revealed themselves. Their full-backs, especially, rarely managed to move the ball competently upfield, forcing Valeri to move into unfamiliar positions to try and relieve pressure. Ebobisse, the young striker, has room to grow in his hold-up play. Playing Zarek Valentin over Alvas Powell at right-back was questionable, to say the least.
It was Atlanta’s press that exposed these weaknesses. Thus, the Five Stripes lifted their first trophy.