Welcome back our two-part weekly MLS column here at Backheeled where we break down all 29 teams in the league.
Joe’s got the West. I’ve got the East. Luca Orellano has more midfield bangers. Nashville has even more Ls. Let’s gain this grain.
To read up on the West, check out Joe’s rundown.
Joseph Lowery
Atlanta United
Result: 1-0 win loss at Charlotte FC
Aleksei Miranchuk made his first MLS start since joining from Atlanta (but Italian and with one more “a”), and I am beyond excited to watch him once he’s fully adapted and settled into this team.
He’s so silky on the ball in the No. 10 spot, using his body to shield the ball while simultaneously avoiding heavy physical challenges. He receives the ball and moves it on quickly, and reads the game faster than anyone on the pitch. In a lot of ways, I think he’s too many steps ahead of his teammates, but the early signs are really exciting. The tape against Charlotte FC confirms as much:
— - (@back_post_run) September 1, 2024
Nothing really ends up coming out of the sequence up above, but it shows the type of spots Miranchuk picks the ball up in and the type of passes he’ll look to play. I still think Atlanta are a DP No. 9 away from being a good team, and they’re going to have to white-knuckle their way into the playoffs, but Miranchuk feels like the type of guy you can build a contender around.
It sure looks like Garth Lagerwey got a good one.
Charlotte FC
Result: 1-0 loss vs. Atlanta United
Charlotte have been very, very good defensively. They’ve been much less good offensively. They’ve won three games since the start of June. In that stretch, they’ve scored just 15 goals (the New York Red Bulls are the only playoff team to score fewer), and since returning from Leagues Cup they’ve had the fourth-worst xGD in MLS.
Even with their sharp defending, there’s room to nitpick.
They’re significantly over-performing their underlying numbers and have opened themselves up a lot more in recent weeks. Against Atlanta, they gave up so much space between the lines, a far cry from the ultra-compact shape they held for most of the season. They allowed 13 passes into the box against the Five Stripes, according to FBref, more than all but three of their regular season games in 2024.
