Atlanta United’s Garth Lagerwey returns to work after cancer diagnosis
Atlanta United President Garth Lagerwey returned to work this week in a limited capacity.
Lagerwey recently finished his first phase of treatment for cancer and has begun to reintegrate where he’s able to safely do so.
A full return to his day-to-day responsibilities has not been determined, according to a team spokesperson. Lagerwey will not be at the unveiling of the $23 million expansion of the training ground in Marietta on Tuesday, for example.
Lagerwey, 52 years old, took a leave of absence in July to deal with the cancer.
Director of Soccer Operations Chris Henderson and Vice Presidents Sarah Kate “Skate” Noftsinger and Dimitrios Efstathiou have overseen operations of the MLS franchise during Lagerwey’s absence and are doing so still. Lagerwey consults with the trio.
Lagerwey was hired from Seattle, which he led to two MLS titles and a CONCACAF Champions League, to lead Atlanta United in November 2022. The team made the playoffs the previous two seasons. Atlanta United was eliminated from playoff consideration two matches ago. It has three matches remaining, starting at New England on Saturday.
Whether it is Lagerwey or Henderson or a combination, they may have some difficult decisions to make at season’s end, which for Atlanta United will come Oct. 18 against D.C. United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The first decision will be the manager Ronny Deila’s future. Lagerwey said in May that Deila, in his first season, would not be fired during the season.
“We brought Ronny in for the long term,” Lagerwey said. “He’s our third coach in three years. The solution to our issues is not to have four coaches in four years.”
Atlanta United was 2-7-5 at the time despite spending almost $50 million in the past two transfer windows to acquire Alexey Miranchuk, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Miguel Almirón as the team’s three Designated Players.
As the poor results continued, Henderson said in August that they believed in Deila, but the team needed to win some of its remaining 10 matches. It has one win in four matches since.
Other decisions may focus on the futures of several players. Neither Latte Lath, who leads the team with seven goals, nor Almirón, who has five goals and seven assists, has produced as expected.
Several players have contracts that will expire or that have options. That group includes fullbacks Brooks Lennon, Pedro Amador and Matthew Edwards, strikers Jamal Thiare and Cayman Togashi, goalkeepers Brad Guzan, Jayden Hibbert and Josh Cohen, and midfielder Will Reilly.
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