Dex Ponce: $28 Million for 14th Place

Atlanta United spent $27.9 million to be second-to-last in the East. Tomorrow, Spain plays at their building.

I've been tracking this. 61% in May. 76% a week later. 82% last week. I'm raising it to 86%.

The new evidence is the salary guide.

Miguel Almirón earns $7.9 million. He has zero goals. His three assists? All came in one game against Montreal. One productive afternoon out of fourteen matches.

Emmanuel Latte Lath cost $22 million to acquire. Makes $3.7 million a year. Two goals. Two assists. The word around the league: his name belongs in the worst DP signings conversation.

Three Designated Players. $16.7 million combined. That's the second-highest DP spend in MLS. Only Inter Miami pays more. Miami is first in the East. Atlanta is fourteenth.

The broader record is worse. 2-15-9 in their last 26 MLS matches. Worst in the league over that span. This isn't a slump. This is the identity.

Tata said it after the Nashville loss: “Not even in my worst nightmares did I think we would have the start that we've had so far.”

That was April. It got worse.

Tomorrow the world's best walk into a building where the home team is 3-9-2 with a −9 goal difference. The payroll says contender. The standings say catastrophe.

86%. The receipt is due.