Wow. Losing Caleb Porter shortly after the end of the season last year was like a gut punch. We were first in our division, and if not for losing 4 starters in an incredibly unlucky stretch of injuries in the Houston series, we were looking good. It must have been emotionally draining for Caleb, but it was still a shock that he chose to leave so soon after getting a contract extension.
Who had high hopes for 2018 after learning we were trading Darlington Nagbe too? When our new coach was announced, it was exciting. Gio had a stellar reputation with players and other coaches, and a championship winning record. Still, NASL is not on par with MLS, so how would that transfer?
When Gio met the fans in a TA meet and greet, he came off really well. First of all, he’s a professional coach who agreed to meet a bunch of rowdy supporters in a dimly lit garage. He answered all kinds of questions, serious and not. What impressed me was the lack of canned sports talk in his responses. Unfortunately, that practice hasn’t carried through much Ince the season started. We had an exciting preseason though. That new guy Armenteros looked like he was going to be a star. And he was, at least for a little while. It was reminiscent of when Adi first showed up in Portland, an immediate hot streak followed by a long drought. And speaking of Adi, who would have guessed he would spend so much time on the bench, only to be traded to a future expansion team in mid-season?
We had a bit of a rough patch in the first 2 matches, but we looked to be turning things around in the next 2 with draws. And really, we only lost that match in Orlando because Dom Dwyer flopped in the box and somehow VAR didn’t fix the situation. After that we had 15 game unbeaten streak, followed by 4 embarrassing losses. The next 6 games were up and down, with a couple more embarrassing losses to Houston and Minnesota. Somehow we managed to destroy RSL twice in a row.
One major contrast in the coaching style we were used to with Caleb is the starting 11 and the subs. With Porter, lineups were practically written in stone, and subs came at a reliable 80 minutes in, if they came at all. With Gio you never knew what to expect. There were multiple radically different formation changes. He benched Ridgwell for weeks after for exhibiting a lack of effort in game 2. Game 2!! Asprilla saw a lot of minutes, and many armchair coaches were flabbergasted. Substitutions came at 70 minutes, and on occasion, at a scandalous 60 minutes! Even discounting the clock, substitutions could not be predicted. At times it seemed like Gio was deliberately trying to throw a monkey wrench into the game preparation of the opposing coaches. His most highly debated strategy happened on Decision Day, the last match of the regular season. With so many different conference standing outcomes and playoff match hosting situations possible, Gio chose to rest the first team in order to be fresh for the knock off round of the playoffs. Of course, we lost that match away, to a hapless Whitecaps team that managed to pull it together for the Alphonso Davies sendoff. It ended up being a footnote though, as the extra rest was surely one of the biggest reasons we were able to power past FC Dallas and a brutal second leg in Seattle. That extra rest and little bit of magic.
We don’t see to be able to handle Unsporting Kansas City in the regular season, but we own them in the playoffs. All eyes forward to Altanta! How on earth did we end up going to the MLS Cup again in 3 short years with a brand new, and completely unexpected coach? Our magic was real!
In Columbus we had log drama. Did anyone really expect they would let us bring it into the stadium? At least Atlanta let the log show up for the tailgate, and good thing too. The horn on that truck was key in revving the spirits of the soaked-to-the bone TA standing in the rain waiting for their tickets and drinking the random, sometimes scarce assortment of free beers, some of which was actually donated by an Atlanta supporter who worked in a local brewery. Nice guy, this one. In fact, as with Columbus, the vast majority of Atlanta supporters were gracious,kind and friendly. It was unfortunate that the ATLUFC front office segregated us a half a mile a way from the Atlanta tailgaters. I enjoyed the opportunity to mix with Columbus supporters before the match. Besides, the Atlanta supporters actually had rain cover too! One Atlanta support was also kind enough stand in the rain on our marching route to the stadium, offering a tug of a giant bottle of whiskey he was holding out.
There’s always a little drama though. Originally the TA was offered a meager 900 seat allotment. After making as much of a stink that we could, the allotment was eventually raised to 1300, which combined with Timbers front office allotment for Season Ticket holders and other giveaways eventually raised it to 1,700 officially. Some Timbers supporters were able to purchase seats near the TA section, but only through the corporate scalping sites. They had no chance to buy from the Atlanta front office because their tickets actually went on sale before the final match was decided. TA allotments sold out online in 4 minutes, btw. Once at the stadium, there were some snafus that can be laid squarely at the feet of the stadium staff. It was as if this was the first match they had ever put on. ADA seats were not made available, and many supporters came back from concessions or restrooms only to find out their half of the section had been moved elsewhere. Seriously Atlanta, how hard is it to buy a couple of rolls of yellow tape and print out some paper signs indicating allowed sections? At the very least, take the time to brief your staff BEFORE they start letting people in. Also annoying, although amusing, was the young woman literally screaming at Timbers supporters to use the escalator as we left instead of the stairs a mere 50 feet away that were apparently reserved for Atlanta Supporters. Little did she know, one floor below the mixing of the supporters would take place with no incident.
But wow, look at that stadium! At first it was awe inspiring. Our section was at a similar elevation and location to Seattle away accommodations. No bad seats, but hard to make out individual players. After a while, the aura of the surrounding faded. The atmosphere is a lot more glitzy than most MLS experiences. Yes, it’s more like an NFL spectacle, With music and loudspeakers, train whistles and prompts on the Jumbotron. The tifo was competently executed, though not entirely interesting. It has since come out that they get some front office renburesenent for their tifo operations. That has been debated though. I talked with many supporters on the concourses, most of which seems to be fairly new to the game of soccer, but were genuinely enthusiastic. The Atlanta match day and supporters experience is definitely a different beast, one that I expect will evolve some.
Then there’s the actual match, which didn’t go as hoped. We were not trounced as predicted by most of the pundits and the entire Atlanta supporters base. We didn’t play as well as we could have, and we didn’t get that bit of magic that we had come to rely on in the post season. Still, we put up a fight to the bitter end and did not roll over. AND… we had shots on goal…
Here’s a short video with a little bit of the tailgate and some the stadium experience.
So 2018! We beat the even year curse, but we’re starting 11-12 games on the road next season due to stadium expansion delays. New coach, new curse? Who knows? While you ponder the 2019 season, just look at this:
Extraordinarily well written Mr. Kilwag. I feel as if I was there with you. It pretty much sums up my season and my Atlanta experience. Cheers!