Facing a team that was idle last weekend, the Union could use a manpower boost Wednesday night. That’s just what they stand to get as Atlanta United arrives.
Jose Martinez, Jakob Glesnes and Leon Flach are all available to the Union for selection Wednesday at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., APPLE-TV+) in the latest of a series of clashes in the tight East conference.
Martinez has missed the last two games with a knee injury, exacerbating a knock he picked up on international duty last month. Flach and Glesnes are both hoping to ward off surgery to repair core muscle distress. Flach has missed eight games but got a second opinion in Germany to forestall the procedure for now. Glesnes saw his 101-game consecutive games played streak end and has missed the last two.
“Happy to get them all back,” manager Jim Curtin said Tuesday. “We’ll have to decide who’s ready to start and who’s ready to come off the bench. Outside of Leon, the other two haven’t missed a ton of game time, so they still were able to maintain fitness.”
It comes at a perfect time, making the Union nearly whole as they approach their final three games. All but Kai Wagner, suspended for yellow-card accumulation, are ready to go.
The Union (14-8-9, 51 points) and Atlanta (13-8-9, 49 points) are in hot pursuit of a top four spot in the East, the Union entering the game holding that spot, but four points separate teams three through six, with Orlando gaining the smallest amount of separation with 54 points in second. The Union have two home games, with Nashville visiting Saturday, before traveling to New England for decision day.
The Union are in the midst of five straight draws, the latest a 1-1 decision at Columbus, which is fifth in the East. They did not play well on July 2 in Atlanta, going down a goal on an iffy penalty in the seventh minute then swapping out of the 3-5-2 formation 20 minutes in.
That gives Curtin plenty to consider this week. The Union were effective last week in the 3-5-2 against Columbus, a similarly ball-dominant team. But they are less likely to play reactively at home. Plus, the likely replacement for Wagner, Matt Real, is probably a better fit for the 4-4-2, especially if Martinez can go from the start and be that dynamic backline shield.
“Matt stepped into the Columbus game and I thought did a great job with us,” Curtin said. “When you look at Atlanta, it’s been a pretty straight 4-2-3-1, defend out of a 4-1-4-1. We’ll pick a formation ourselves that kind of goes to that. The thinking was, when you get Kai back you have pretty much the full group here for selection, but then the yellow card happens and that isn’t the case.”
Atlanta has undergone change this summer. Offseason addition Giorgos Giakomakis has scored 15 goals, the Greek striker second in MLS. Argentine World Cup champion Thiago Almada leads with 15 assists. They’ve bolstered the side with the summer additions of winger Saba Lobjanidze and tenacious holding midfielder Tristan Muyumba.
The Union, meanwhile, are doing much less scoring that at this point last year. The big three of Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza and Mikael Uhre have 33 goals and 18 assists, with 11 of Gazdag’s 13 goals on penalty kicks. While that’s one of the better returns in the league this season, it is well shy of the 49 goals and 25 assists from 2022.
If that trio could click down the stretch, it would go a long way toward the Union getting a favorable postseason seed and replicating last year’s run to the oMLS Cup final.
“It’s a three-game sprint to get a group going and get them a little more cohesive in the attacking part of the field,” Curtin said. “And then from there, go to the postseason, where we know we can beat anybody or we can lose to anybody.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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