If you told someone who’d been following the Atlanta Silverbacks this year that the team scored two goals against FC Edmonton on Sunday, they would have likely assumed Atlanta won. After all, until this weekend, Atlanta had never allowed an opponent more than a single goal, and this after having played some of the most prolific offenses in the league like the New York Cosmos (14 goals in eight games) and Jacksonville Armada FC (12 goals in seven games). New York was actually shut out in their visit to Atlanta in April.
Atlanta Silverbacks Attack Lacks
Of course, Edmonton, despite being near the bottom of the table just a week ago with a lowly 5 points in six games, was actually leading the league in goals scored on the season. They’ve been scoring seemingly at will but their defense has been letting them down all season. In their first six games, the Eddies gave up 15 goals. No other team came close to that total. Even a week later, only the San Antonio Scorpions come close to Edmonton’s six-week total.
Because of this, a trip to Edmonton seemed like an ideal matchup for the Silverbacks. The weakness of the Edmonton defense could finally allow an Atlanta offense that has been struggling to find the back of the net all season to finally find their rhythm while the team’s stout defense could treat the Eddies’ attack they way they have treated everyone else all season.
Things seemed to be sticking to the script in the first half Sunday as Atlanta controlled possession and forced Edmonton keeper John Smits to make a couple of great saves early in his first start of the season after spending most of the season until this point on loan to the Montreal Impact for their CONCACAF Champions League run. With the number of attempts Atlanta had in the first half and the Eddies’ inability to create many of their own, it seemed like only a matter of time before the Silverbacks broke open the game. Even when Lance Laing scored on an incredible free kick from just outside the penalty box into the opposite corner just past the fingertips of an outstretched Steward Ceus, the game still seemed to favor Atlanta.
That feeling didn’t last long into the second half, however. After controlling possession from the start of the second half, Laing put in a long cross to Tomi Ameobi, who got a head on the ball to get it to Ritchie Jones who only had to beat Ceus at close range to head in Edmonton’s second goal in the 54th minute. It was a beautifully executed play, but it put Atlanta in a hole they’d never get out of.
The final score would be 4-2, numbers Atlanta just isn’t used to seeing.
Despite the ugly and uncharacteristic score, viewing the game with the goals edited out would actually make the Silverbacks appear to have been the better team. Atlanta controlled the entire first half and with a few exceptions, they continued to dominate possession in the second half. The Eddies had their moments after the break where they really shined, but they weren’t consistently in charge. The Silverbacks would methodically control the pace of the game and then Edmonton would get the ball, pick up the pace considerably and, for a couple of minutes at a time, run the Silverbacks ragged. Normally this wouldn’t have accounted for a blowout, but it seemed like every time the Eddies found one of these brief windows, they turned it into a goal or at least a free kick just outside of the penalty box that they would convert into a goal.
It’s partly because of this that as a defensive team, Atlanta has no reason to panic. Don’t let Edmonton’s paltry points total fool you. They have always been able to score. Three of their four goals made it clear just why they lead the league in scoring. Their attacking players seem to know exactly where the others are going to be and have the passing accuracy to knock a fly off of a fan’s nose from 50 yards away without drawing blood. Two of the goals, Laing’s free kick in the first half, and Jones goal early in the second, were just the product of really good offensive play. The Silverbacks could have prevented the Jones goal, but only if everyone did everything exactly perfectly, and there was really nothing that could have been done to prevent Laing’s free kick. It would have made the highlight reel on an English Premier League show. The goal by Kareem Moses near the end of the game wasn’t much more preventable. Only the Daryl Fordyce free kick that seemed to go through Ceus more than under him was a product of an actual mistake on Atlanta’s part, and based on his play the rest of the season, no one should expect Ceus to suddenly fall apart.
On offense, this was actually a very positive day for Atlanta. With the exception of a statistically nearly identical 1-1 draw against the Ottawa Fury in week 2, Atlanta has never had more 48 percent possession. Against Edmonton (and Ottawa) Atlanta had 52 percent. The Silverbacks also reversed their negative trend on shots on goal. To start the season, Atlanta averaged four shots on goal for the first three weeks and then basically disappeared, having only four shots on goal in the next four games. Against Edmonton, they had six, their best game of the season.
Despite a season-best offensive performance, Atlanta still has a lot to worry about in their attack. Atlanta had chances this game, but that’s in large part due to just how inept the Eddies are at defending. Unlike Edmonton who could move the ball around in the box to create better chances, Atlanta’s attack always seems to fall apart if they try anything more than a single pass in the final third. Passes end up behind their target or intercepted and Atlanta ends up either fighting just to keep control of the ball or chasing a counterattack instead of getting a good chance at scoring. A month ago, this was easy to write off. None of crucial attacking starters played together as a unit last year, of course it would take time for them to learn each other rhythms and tendencies, but the ‘Backs are now eight weeks into the season and still seem to struggle when they have possession of the ball.
Still, there are plenty of reasons the Silverbacks and their fans can hope for a better Fall Season. This four-goal disaster should be a fluke, and it is very likely that Dr. Ceus and Captain Mensing’s Men will continue to keep Atlanta in games as coach Gary Smith and the guys up front figure out how to get the offensive side clicking.
