By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Atlanta United, the defending MLS Cup winner and source of rabid fandom in Atlanta, doubled their win total last week with a victory over the Colorado Rapids. However, the victory still seemed a little hollow.

It failed to assuaged the concerns that United’s system isn’t working. Atlanta had seemingly endless possession of the ball and scored just one goal.

With the same amount of time last season, they would have likely had five. There are, of course, many differences between last year’s team and this one. Many have focused on Frank de Boer’s 3-4-3 set up and the loss of Miguel Almiron.

That’s fair, as the 3-4-3 has definitely had its growing pains and Almiron was snatched up for what was probably a record fee. Atlanta paid what is probably a record fee for Pity Martinez right afterwards.

That being said, it’s a little suspect that United’s Julian Gressel scored shortly after Martinez was lifted in the 71^st minute of the game and followed up that substitution with a show of emotion.  A more accurate description – and I saw this one in person – is that Martinez, last year’s South American Player of the Year, threw a temper tantrum.

He let de Boer know he was unhappy, then sat down and kicked the (occupied) seat in front of him.

It’s understandable that he’s upset. He was brought in among much fanfare and was expected to dominate Major League Soccer, but he has struggled mightily in the early going.

That’s a heavy and unfair burden, but figuring out his struggles (and Josef Martinez’s) is the key to figuring out the team’s struggles and most of that is a lack of aggressiveness.

Much like the game against Colorado, Atlanta has dominated possession this season but they are also creating fewer chances and taking fewer shots in the box.

The 2017 and 2018 seasons under Tata Martino saw tons of shots and tons of goals (the first Atlanta United game I ever attended was a 7-0 victory). Frank de Boer has apparently asked his team to take a chill pill.

Since Martinez’s style isn’t as aggressive as Almiron’s, that should be working in his favor but that style also prevents him from taking the team on his shoulders. That means that the team’s failures might also come from a weaker squad around a superstar incapable of changing the game on his own (which, to be fair, isn’t realistic in professional soccer anyway, unless your last name is Ronaldo or Messi).

Because Atlanta isn’t incredibly deep, there’s more pressure on Martinez to be a superstar instead of a piece of the puzzle and that in turn means more people are going to make a mountain out of a temper tantrum when it’s thrown by an underperforming should-be superstar.

This isn’t to say that a player of Pity Martinez’s caliber (and paycheck) should be allowed to throw a tantrum when he gets pulled from a game (especially in hindsight, since the winning goal came shortly thereafter).

Martinez shouldn’t be acting like a prima donna. However, his attitude is far from the source of the problems with United’s season so far. Plus, at the very least, it shows that there is some life somewhere in Mercedes Benz stadium.

If de Boer can siphon off some of that attitude, refocus it towards something productive and share it with the rest of the team, Atlanta might be able to turn things around before it’s too late.