Atlanta United's newest signing is a versatile attacker who has played all over the field for previous teams, so how does he best fit into an Atlanta United team that is also searching for its identity after several notable transfers? The Five Stripes previously played a 4-2-3-1 before the sales of Thiago Almada, Giorgos Giakoumakis, and Caleb Wiley forced the team to switch to a 4-3-3. This switch took the emphasis off of one creative 10 after Almada left and allowed for more involvement in the middle of the field from the wingers after Gigi left. These changes all made a lot of sense given the roster the team had, but how does the introduction of another creative attacker affect the structure?
How Does Miranchuk Play?
Well, to decide how the Russian will impact our squad it is important to understand how he best plays and has been known to operate. The Russian international is a versatile left-footed attacker and playmaker. In his career across Europe, he has been used as an attacking midfielder, a right winger, and a center forward.
In the attacking midfield role, he is able to lead the attack and be creative in distributing the ball and carrying it forward. This is the role he has been in the most, 230 times per Transfermarkt. This role highlights his chance creation, averaging .51 assists per 90 (99th percentile among Forwards and Attacking Midfielders/Wingers); 45.57 passes attempted per 90 (75th percentile among Attacking Midfielders/Wingers and 99th among Forwards); and 5.38 progressive passes per 90 (98th percentile among Forwards and 81st among Attacking Midfielders/Wingers). His role as a 10 would likely be more of a distributor than as someone taking on a lot of guys or shooting a lot as he has relatively low numbers of progressive carries and goals.
As a right winger, he utilizes his left foot to cut in and put crosses into the box or shoot. He has played in this role 59 times in which he tallied 11 goals and 12 assists. That is slightly more goals per 90 than as a 10 and a comparable rate of assists. He isn't terribly fast, though, so he won't be beating many fullbacks in a sprinting match. If it helps, FBREF claims he is statistically similar to Leverkusen's Jonas Hoffman and AS Roma's Paulo Dybala.
Finally, as a center forward, Miranchuk could either play as a false 9 type of role where he leads the line but isn't a target man or as a secondary striker behind someone like Daniel Rios who is looking to get on those crosses and bully the ball in. This could be interesting if we don't want to go after another striker and it allows him to balance chance creation and distribution with attacking. That being said, it does place more of an emphasis on his scoring abilities which are decent but not stellar.
Possible Formations
So how would Miranchuk fit into the team? Well, the two main options are to revert to the 4-2-3-1 or stay at a 4-3-3.
In the 4-2-3-1 Miranchuk would likely be deployed as a 10 and replace Almada as the creative outlet. Alternatively, this formation would be how he could be deployed behind Daniel Rios if the team wanted to go really attacking-focused. He would still line up in that same attacking midfield role but would push far higher and be a secondary striker who would be making the late runs into the box or coming wider as an option for the wingers.
In a 4-3-3, the midfield line would remain more box-to-box and defensive, likely Bartek Slisz; Tristan Muyumba; and Ajani Fortune. Miranchuk would lineup as either a right winger displacing Saba or as the false-9 striker replacing Daniel Rios. This option is less attacking-focused and would slow down the speed of the attack as he is neither a fast winger nor a striker looking to charge into the box for a cross. If done right, however, it could allow for more prolonged chances where the team keeps the pressure on and keeps winning the ball around the box and circulates it for more chances. It would require work but would be more doable with three attackers who are all comfortable on the ball to shoot, pass, or dribble.
The weird additional options I will add are a 4-4-1-1 where you really go full emphasis on Miranchuk as a false-9 behind Daniel Rios or a 4-2-3-1 where Miranchuk comes in on the right wing and Saba moves to the 10 role. This doesn't seem like the best use of everyone but it is a possibility and one the opposition likely wouldn't be prepared for.
Best Solution
So after all those hypothetical options what is actually the best and most probable option? The simplest, just playing Miranchuk as a replacement 10 for Thiago Almada. Rather than trying to introduce lots of new ideas or moving players around to random positions, just play a formation Atlanta is comfortable with and let Miranchuk focus on distributing the ball to his dangerous wingers. I also think this is arguably the most dangerous because all of our attackers are dangerous we are just so predictable in how we move the ball and all too often try to make some crazy run through the defense when a simple pass over the top or well played through ball would let someone free. Plus, this is the position Miranchuk has spent the most time at so he would be the most comfortable the quickest playing as a 10.
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