MLS

Atlanta United has won one once in its first five games of the 2025 campaign, so the knives are understandably out. Someone must bear the burden of responsibility for the slow start.

That someone’s name is Alexey Miranchuk. The attacking midfielder is a lightning rod for criticism in recent weeks. In this post we’re going to evaluate some of the critiques, and why, in my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before he and the team start finding more success.

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When a rich club like Atlanta (relative to competitors) spends a top-10 league record transfer fee on an attacking midfielder like Miranchuk, it’s completely reasonable for fans to have expectations that said player is not just a goal/assist contributor, but really a driving force behind those production tallies. When that player has compiled exactly zero goals and zero assists through an opening five games when the team has struggled for both results and goals, that’s obviously something that warrants attention.

What frustrates me most about this narrative is it’s being perpetuated by pundits and analysts whose opinions about soccer I respect. In this case, I think many of them — and the loudest or most noteworthy among them — are not just wrong in their opinions but are levying them in bad faith to service a meme/bit they’ve created.

Matt Doyle, who has appeared on Five Stripe Final before, appears to be one of the worst offenders.

Here Doyle highlights an incomplete pass by Miranchuk shortly after Cincinnati took a lead against Atlanta on Saturday. Let’s actually break it down.

Miranchuk has one clear pass that he could easily complete to Cayman Togashi, the teams’ No. 3 striker who has his back to goal 45 yards away. Completing that pass might help Miranchuk’s analytic profile, but not the team in this moment.

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