By Daniel Wright
I haven’t written a single word about Atlanta United for this paper since February 2020. I haven’t written a dedicated article about the Five Stripes since May 2019. Any of my friends would be able to tell you that this is a ridiculously long time for me to not gush about my beloved Five Stripes. To be honest, I tried as hard as I could to not write about Atlanta United last school year. Atlanta United was bad. Really, really, really bad. After a disappointing end to the 2019 season that was underscored by the losses of fan favorites Julian Gressel, and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Atlanta United was searching for success within the full vision of head coach Frank de Boer. Long story short, we failed. The COVID-19 pandemic shut the season down in early March. At that point, Atlanta was sitting atop the Eastern Conference with 6 points in two games. However, talisman Josef Martinez had torn his ACL and was out for the season. In early July, Atlanta played in the MLS Is Back Tournament (yeah, I know, super dumb name) and bummed out after only three games. This resulted in the dismissal of de Boer and left Atlanta United 12th out of 14 teams in the conference and 23rd out of 26 teams league-wide. So here I am, 29 months after my last Atlanta United article and I have good news: Atlanta United is back...sort of (but not really but also kind of).
After struggling to the finish line last year under interim head coach Stephen Glass, Atlanta United brought in up-and-coming Argentine Gabriel Heinze to nail things down and bring success back to Atlanta. Only 359 days after de Boer was fired, Heinze was sacked as well. After 2 wins, 7 draws, and 5 losses, Heinze was relieved of his duties, leaving assistant coach Rob Valentino at the helm of the team. Under Valentino, Atlanta won 4, drew 2, and lost 2, putting them 8th in the conference and in the hunt for a playoff spot. After Valentino came new head coach, long-time Seattle Sounders assistant, Gonzalo Pineda. Under Pineda, the Five Stripes have won 4, drawn none, and lost 2, leaving them at 8th in the conference, but only 3 points out of 3rd. So, Atlanta United is playing well, at least better than they have in nearly 2 years, and they are chasing a playoff berth. Seems like everything is peachy, right? Well, not exactly.
In their 2018 MLS Cup winning season, Atlanta dominated everyone else. For the most part, they obliterated the other guys. They destroyed dozens of league offensive and attendance records. They stomped through the playoffs, capturing the MLS Cup in Atlanta. Overall, 2019 was a fairly good year. There were some disappointing aspects (i.e. Pity Martinez), but overall, it was pretty good. Josef ended 3rd in the golden boot race with 27 goals, the team won the U.S. Open Cup (a nationwide tournament for professional or semi-pro teams), and we made it to the Eastern Conference Final. However, there were numerous problems regarding player-coach relationships, the team fell short of the Championship, and there was an overall dissatisfaction with de Boer. 2020 was a lot of the same in terms of issues, but the success rate was not there. Things were looking up in 2021 until Heinze’s firing. Now, here were are on October 3, 2021, and I haven’t been this confident in Atlanta United since late 2019. They are hunting for a playoff spot, playing attractive, offense-forward soccer, and Josef is scoring. However, they only play well about 60% of the time. The rest of the time, they look tired, slow, and they make simple mistakes that are sinking them. So, while it is easy to say that Atlanta United is back (there are a lot of signs that say they are), it is just as easy (and probably more reasonable) to say that they are still figuring it out. I’m sorry if this article seems a bit vague, but I am really not sure how I feel about this team, and I have to leave for work in a few minutes. Only time will tell how good this team really is, I guess. In the meantime, vamos ATL!
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