Mired in the worst start in Atlanta United’s history, few players will be safe in the coming transfer window, president Garth Lagerwey said Wednesday.
“It’s a winning business, and if you don’t win, everybody in that locker room knows that we have to be open to exploring options for everybody and trying to find ways to make the team better,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And that’s not personal to anybody there. It’s just, again, how do we optimize the group? Because that’s the fundamental core question that we have to answer, and we gotta answer it quickly.”
The Five Stripes have accumulated only 11 points from 14 matches. It has been shut out six times, despite spending more than $40 million in the past two transfer windows on attacking players. It has shut out one opponent, and the Five Stripes didn’t even win that match. It has a goal difference of minus-10, fourth worst in MLS.
A roster full of national-team players — Atlanta United had more players (eight) called up by their countries than any other MLS team in the past window — cannot find chemistry and subsequently confidence.
That’s why Lagerwey said no player — with the exception of possibly Designated Players Emmanuel Latte Lath, Miguel Almiron and Alexey Miranchuk — should count themselves as not being on the selling block. The only reason the DPs might be safe is because he said it’s not a great investment strategy to buy and sell them every six months.
Credit: AJ Reynolds/Atlanta United
Credit: AJ Reynolds/Atlanta United
The transfer window is scheduled to open July 24. Atlanta United has 10 matches before the window opens, starting Sunday night against Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That’s a significant number of matches for players to prove they can get results.
There are two players who are in the last year of their contract: goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Mateusz Klich. There are several players who are in the option years of their contracts, making them sellable or tradable assets. That group consists of winger Edwin Mosquera; centerbacks Luis Abram, Derrick Williams and Efrain Morales; fullbacks Brooks Lennon, Ronald Hernandez and Matthew Edwards; strikers Jamal Thiare and Cayman Togashi; goalkeepers Josh Cohen and Jayden Hibbert; and midfielders Jay Fortune and William Reilly. There is one player, Saba Lobjanidze, whose contract ends after next season and doesn’t have any options.
Lagerwey said any consideration of incoming targets will focus on reinforcing the spine of the team: centerbacks and central midfielders.
“Are we able to get those guys out there on a regular basis, and then are they able to perform at the highest level?” Lagerwey said. “That’s how I built every team I’ve ever had that’s had success. If you get those positions in the spine correct, then you got a really good chance of figuring out the rest.”
Atlanta United’s spine has been beset by injuries this season. Centerbacks Derrick Williams and Stian Gregersen, the preferred starting partnership, have missed multiple matches because of injuries. Midfielder Tristan Muyumba sustained another injury in the loss Saturday against Philadelphia that will sideline him for several weeks. Klich also has missed matches because of an injury. The preferred starting back line has played one match together this season.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Those are not the only injured players and injuries are among the reasons the team is off to a poor start, Lagerwey said. Other key players who have missed matches are Lennon and Pedro Amador — two key chance creators who provide the width that the interior attacking players can use — and Mosquera.
Among the ways the team can improve the probability of better results is by keeping those players available. Lagerwey said David Tenney, hired in the offseason to lead the team’s medical and training staff, is working on ways to identify the causes.
“We have to have healthy players within a position group, and that’s taken longer than we hoped, but we are where we are, and ultimately we have to make good, long-term decisions for the franchise because that’s how we are going to right the ship, not by making knee-jerk reactions,” Lagerwey said.
If it’s comforting, Lagerwey and sporting director Chris Henderson, also hired in the offseason, experienced poor starts before when they were at Seattle.
In 2016, the Sounders started 6-12-2. The club signed Nicolas Lodeiro as a DP and went on to win the MLS Cup. Lagerwey described Lodeiro as a “dog,” or leader. That’s something Atlanta United is lacking. Lagerwey said he thinks Latte Lath and/or Almiron could become that leader. He said they are emotionally invested in the franchise.
“It clearly hasn’t worked so far, but if you ask what I learned from Seattle, it’s that guys who are really, really invested in the club will mostly come good in the end,” he said. “And so I hope that we’ve started that 2016 process.”
Lagerwey hopes this fix won’t take another two to three transfer windows, which is something he has said in the past.
“We have tons of urgency,” he said. “I totally understand why our fans are frustrated. This is year’s long frustration with underperformance, and we have to acknowledge that, and we have to move forward. And that’s on me. That is not on our brand-new head coach, our brand-new sporting director, and part of my job is to give them time to work while acknowledging the fans’ frustration with the team performance over the last couple of years.”
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Atlanta United’s 2025 schedule
Feb. 22 Atlanta United 3, Montreal 2
March 1 Charlotte 2, Atlanta United 0
March 8 Atlanta United 0, New York Red Bulls 0
March 16 Miami 2, Atlanta United 1
March 22 Atlanta United 2, Cincinnati 2
March 29 Atlanta United 4, NYCFC 3
April 5 Atlanta United 1, Dallas 1
April 12 New England 1, Atlanta United 0
April 19 Philadelphia 3, Atlanta United 0
April 26 Orlando 3, Atlanta United 0
May 3 Atlanta United 1, Nashville 1
May 10 Chicago 2, Atlanta United 1
May 14 Atlanta United 1, Austin 1
May 17 Philadelphia 1, Atlanta United 0
May 25 vs. Cincinnati, 7 p.m., Apple
May 28 vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m., Apple
May 31 at Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 12 at NYCFC, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 25 at Columbus, 7:30 p.m., Apple
June 28 at Miami, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 5 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 12 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 16 vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m., Apple, FS1
July 19 vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 26 vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m., Apple
July 30 vs. Necaxa, Leagues Cup
Aug. 2. vs. Pumas in Orlando, Leagues Cup
Aug. 6 vs. Atlas, Leagues Cup
Aug. 9 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Aug. 16 at Colorado, 9:30 p.m., Apple
Aug. 24 vs. Toronto, 5 p.m., Apple
Aug. 30 at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Apple
Sept. 13 vs. Columbus, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Sept. 20 vs. San Diego, 4:30 p.m., Apple
Sept. 27 at New England, 7:30 p.m., Apple
Oct. 5 at LAFC, 10:30 p.m., Apple
Oct. 18 vs. D.C. United, 6 p.m., Apple
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