It was bad, not even mediocre, in fact it was downright disastrous last weekend when the Atlanta Silverbacks pulled out of a two game weekend with only one point. They had an MLS goalkeeper in net, their lineup at 100%, and they lost to the Long Island Rough Riders 4-0 Saturday, and then tied to lowly Connecticut Wolves on Sunday 0-0. That makes only one goal in the last four matches for the Silverbacks, making this weekend's home-and-home series against the Tennessee Rhythm all the more important.
Two losses would have Atlanta out of the playoff picture for the moment, a picture in which they have already managed to fall out of by beating themselves. The inconsistency the Silverbacks have suffered this season isn't sitting well with the fans, but they should turn it around this weekend. But after last weekend, Atlanta really needs to sweep the home-and-home series from the Rhythm to put themselves back in the drivers seat of the wildcard playoff teams. The A-League playoff teams advance into the playoffs in a bit of an odd format; in the two conferences, the top three teams from each division qualify and two wildcard spots are issued. This is in many ways an extremely questionable format; the Atlantic Division looks much stronger than that of the Northeast Division (the top three teams in the Atlantic have a stronger record than the top Northeast team), but after the 4-0 loss to Northeast Division team Long Island last weekend, Atlanta can't make excuses. Presently, the Silverbacks are in the 8th and final wildcard spot; they are tied with the Raleigh Capital Express with 40 points (they would advance because of a huge advantage of goal differential), but they have three games in hand. However, the Toronto Lynx are only two points behind Atlanta and the Silverbacks have one game in hand. But if Atlanta plays the way they are now, they won't have a prayer to get in.
The team needs Patrick Beech and Iggy Moleka to get some goals up front like they were two weeks ago, while the Midfields' particularly skillful Josh Henderson and creative Ze Rodrigues to get back on track. The defense, even without Roberts, is good enough for Atlanta to still win games with if they can get some goal support up front.
Overall this weekend is huge for Atlanta, but they must get results, if they want to get a shot at their first A-League Title.
