Just shy of an hour after Atlanta United’s 4-1 loss to the New England Revolution, Miguel Almirón sat in a room at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough for the club’s postmatch media availability, no doubt reflecting on the night’s events. On Wednesday, he and his teammates walked off the pitch with a 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC despite falling behind 2-0 in the first half.
On Saturday, they fell behind 2-0 once more. Only this time, there would be no comeback. Far from it.
“Everything started poorly,” Almirón said through an interpreter. “We gave away goals too early, and we weren’t able to react and know how to handle the game.”
By the time Peyton Miller found the net in the 56th minute — his second of the season against Atlanta United — it was clear that this one would belong to the Revs. Atlanta eventually would face a 4-0 deficit for the second time this season, matching its 4-1 loss to Orlando City in May’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal.
That said, it looked as if Atlanta could find a way back for a few fleeting moments. Before his consolation goal in the 85th minute, Almirón had opportunities to halve the New England lead, instead hitting the right post and later seeing his long-range effort parried away by Matt Turner.
Outside of that? Nothing to show for it in the attack. Again. Preventable mistakes in defense. Again.
“It’s frustrating, because we think that we have a good team,” Almirón said. “We have good players, good teammates, and now we’ve added some new faces to the group who are gonna help. It’s frustrating, but we know that we just have to keep working. That’s the only way that we can get ourselves out of this. We have to work twice as hard. …
“It affects me a lot because I love the club. That’s why I came back because I wanted to and I wanted to help the club in this situation.”
So why isn’t this team breaking through? Many of the same issues plaguing the team in 2026 are the same ones that hurt it in 2025. Júnior Alonso’s arrival doesn’t seem to have helped much as of yet.
With respect to what this team needs badly, specifically a striker (being addressed), a winger (long needed), and a No. 6 (long needed), the players here, with a few exceptions, haven’t been able to deliver.
“It’s hard for me to accept as well,” Almirón said. “I do feel like we have good players, we have a good coach, good coaching staff. So we can’t control the results, but we can control how hard we work. And like in the last match (against Charlotte), the attitude and the ambition that we showed, that’s what helps us.”
Atlanta United’s loss, coupled with a second consecutive win by the Philadelphia Union, dropped them to dead last in the Supporters’ Shield standings. They’ve scored 17 goals, the fewest in MLS. Saturday’s loss moved their record away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium to 1-6-2. (Not that their home record of 2-5-1 is much better.)
Out of Atlanta’s three total wins this season, one is against the Union, their opponent on August 1. Any hope of this team even getting a sniff of the playoffs looks less and less likely by the day.
Almirón, though, isn’t giving up.
“I think everyone has to just look at themselves and be able to handle the responsibility, starting with myself, of course,” he said. “We all have to look at ourselves and assume this responsibility to be able to get ourselves out of the situation.”
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