Dex Ponce: Atlanta United Killed the Only Thing Left Worth Caring About

I was 72% sure the Open Cup was the only thing that could save this season.

That number is dead. Let me show you the receipt.

Orlando City 4, Atlanta United 1. Final score. But the final score is the charitable read. At halftime it was 4-nil. Four goals in forty-five minutes. Three goals in a twenty-minute stretch while United had more possession — 59.5% of it. Sixty percent of the ball and down four by intermission. The 5 yellow cards were almost a footnote.

Tata Martino chose this match — a knockout quarterfinal, the last meaningful fixture of the season — to debut a back-five formation he'd never run before. Backup goalkeeper Hibbert started. Hibbert's error contributed to the third goal.

This wasn't a loss. This was organizational malpractice dressed up as tactics.

The Open Cup was the last thing this club had. Not a path to the playoffs — that conversation ended in April. Not a statement season. Not a rebuild. Just this. One knockout run, one possible trophy, one reason for anyone outside the supporter section to care.

They got eliminated by a team that had conceded 32 MLS goals in eleven matches.

Now it's Columbus on May 24, then the FIFA World Cup break, and a 3-2-8 table position that reads like a proof of concept for mediocrity.

I don't have a new confidence number for you. That's the point.

Sometimes the receipts write the piece.