We’re almost at the end of April, already. Some assorted thoughts on Week 9 of the MLS season:
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Atlanta United have been markedly better at breaking down bunkered defenses this season. This is a crucial maturation. The decline of parity in MLS, driven by teams like Atlanta, has decreased the talent on other clubs, which creates mismatched games like the one on Saturday. To overcome their obvious talent disadvantage, the Montreal Impact sat deep, left Ignacio Piatti alone up top and punted the ball to the Five Stripes.
In the past, Atlanta’s star attackers struggled to conquer this.