Atlanta Loves Soccer Today. Atlanta United Is the Reason — and the Problem.

Atlanta United built this.

Say it out loud. Before 2017, this city didn't care about soccer. Not like this. Not sold-out Fan Festivals and World Cup knockout rounds at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Five Stripes did that. The 2018 MLS Cup did that. Seventy-three thousand screaming in gold did that.

And now the city that United created is watching England vs DR Congo this afternoon while United sits 28th in the Supporters' Shield. On a break. Invisible.

Every outlet in America is calling Atlanta the "soccer city of the South" today. They're right. But here's the question nobody wants to ask on the biggest soccer day in this city's history:

Is Atlanta a soccer city or a soccer event city?

Because a soccer city fills the stadium for a Wednesday night match against Nashville in August. A soccer event city fills it for the World Cup and forgets the address exists by October.

Atlanta still averages nearly 38,000 for United home games. The fans are not the problem. They showed up for a team sitting 28th. They always show up.

The question is whether the front office that spent $16.7M on three DPs producing 28th place deserves the city that the World Cup just proved is ready for greatness.

The fans built a soccer city. The club built a reckoning.

Tell me I'm wrong.