What tumbling Atlanta United must do to stop its fall

Atlanta United has a beautiful stadium, solid game-day attendance and potentially the best player in MLS history in Thiago Almada. Yet none of that helped Saturday, when the Columbus Crew hammered the United, 6-1, sending Atlanta tumbling from the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

It's Atlanta's worst defeat, and it could not have come at a worse time.

With many of its stars absent for the international break, Atlanta must leverage its rookies to bounce back to stay within reach of the Supporters Shield — the annual award given to the MLS team with the best regular-season record.

"To concede one happens, OK, but three, four, five, six [goals] is unacceptable," Atlanta goalie Brad Guzan told Doug Roberson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's unacceptable from the front to the back. We're going to have to come and compete this week. And because jobs are on the line, we can't compete like that in MLS and expect to win games."

Atlanta's next four games — against the two New York clubs, Toronto and Chicago — will show whether it is a title contender or a pretender. 

Here's what the Five Stripes must address to get back on their feet.

Depth is crucial in MLS, and Atlanta doesn't have it. Sure, the team was missing seven key players for the match against Columbus, but Columbus was far from full strength and still managed to get things done. Four of its six goals came from rookies. 

Atlanta has a superstar striker in Almada, but it doesn't appear to have anyone in the wings to replace him. Coach Gonzalo Pineda must bolster Atlanta's attacking line.

Scratch the double-pivot midfield. Pineda played Santiago Sosa and Franco Ibarra together in the middle to "pivot" between midfield and defense. It was a decent idea, but it backfired spectacularly. Both seemed out of sync, and neither wanted to make forward runs. Instead of adding flexibility and movement to Atlanta's midfield, the Sosa-Ibarra pivot simply clogged things up.

Man-to-man marking must improve, especially in times of crisis. Several of Columbus' goals came from opportunistic shots within Atlanta's box, a fact that must leave fans of the Five Stripes seething. Opposing strikers simply cannot be left unmarked like that. 

Atlanta should've focused on fundamentals and locked up its defensive positioning after falling behind, but the United panicked instead, giving the Crew easy chances.

If the United can't get its act together, the team faces a long and difficult spring.