ATL Standard

As Atlanta United and Major League Soccer (MLS) continue to develop their use of data analytics, a new weekly content series aims to provide insights into specific metrics valued by the club. The series, titled "Staying on Track" and presented by MARTA, focuses on one metric each week that may not be immediately apparent but is useful for measuring team performance.

In recent weeks, the series has explored various attacking-based metrics. It has defined the principles of high-quality chances, analyzed a game-tying goal, and examined ball-winning actions by players such as Tristan Muyumba and Pedro Amador. This week’s focus is on another important attacking metric: passes per chance.

Passes per chance measures how often a team creates chances relative to their possession. A lower value indicates more direct play and higher efficiency in chance creation when possessing the ball. Conversely, a higher number suggests extensive passing and movement before attempting to score.

Atlanta United interim head coach Rob Valentino prefers a lower passes per chance value for his team. He explained his philosophy during a post-match press conference at Red Bull Arena: “I’ve been part of a lot of games here. I’ve watched a lot of games here, and when I look at what are we doing with the possession. Do we really think we can play through? Then great, let’s do it. But if I think that we can be more direct and expose their center backs or expose a certain area of the pitch, let’s go and do it."

Valentino emphasized intentional possession: "Let’s not waste time with the ball. I’ve been that way with everything, right? The intentional possession of what we’re doing with it. So whether it’s here with Red Bull or somewhere else, I just want to make sure that we’re intentional about what we’re doing with the ball.”

A recent match against New York Red Bulls serves as an example of this approach. Despite losing the possession battle 60% to 40%, Atlanta United managed to secure a 2-2 draw by being efficient with their chances. They had 28.8 passes per chance in open play during this match—one of their best away performances since 2023.

This efficiency was evident in Atlanta's opening goal from midfielder Alexey Miranchuk, who scored from a penalty kick just before halftime after teammate Jamal Thiaré drew a foul inside the box following an efficient build-up play involving only four passes.

The series is supported by contributions from Atlanta United's Data Scientist & Analyst Arjun Balaraman and Motion Graphics Producer Khoury Kennedy.