Frank de Boer attributes fatigue to Atlanta United’s slow league start

Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer has attributed fatigue as the reason behind the team’s slow start to the season. The MLS Cup champions have played out seven matches in the space of just 23 days and this has hampered their performances in both the domestic and continental scale under their new head coach.

Speaking to MLS.com, De Boer highlighted that there have been errors made at the back in the past month but most of those could be attributed to the stress which has affected the players within the squad, he said: “You see that we’re missing that little bit of freshness to make a difference, to get a pass to the right man at the right speed, or that first control. We made still too many errors when it’s not necessary, in my point of view. And I think that the reason mostly is because of the freshness we are missing right now. Hopefully after this international period, we can see a fresh United.”

Atlanta recently secured a 1-0 win over Monterrey during the second leg of the quarter-final stage of the CONCACAF Champions League but that was, however, not sufficient to help them progress after the 3-0 loss during the reverse fixture of the double-legged tie. Since then, they have played out a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia Union in the MLS and this sees them two points off the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference at the early stage of the season.

The Five Stripes now head for a 13-day international break before they face Columbus Crew on the road. The gap should witness sufficient rest for the first-team squad, but there are as many as six players, who could feature for their respective countries. Winter recruit Gonzalo Martinez is one of those, who has joined up with Argentina for the friendlies against Chile and Morocco.