Atlanta United has ideas to improve roster
Atlanta United will likely need to sell some players to buy others to strengthen its roster for next season, Sporting Director Chris Henderson said Wednesday.
The team announced Tuesday which player contract options it had exercised and denied.
“Those are ongoing discussions, decisions, and working with our recruitment team, our data analysts … and Tata (manager Gerardo Martino) and his staff on what pieces we’d like to add, what profiles we want to bring in, and then do those deals complement what we want?” Henderson said.
Henderson said Martino is happy with the roster as it’s currently constructed. The team has three Designated Players, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Miguel Almirón and Alexey Miranchuk, whom Martino said he thinks can play well together.
After Tuesday’s decisions, the team has seven of its 13 senior roster slots open and at least two of its three Under 22 slots open, depending upon what happens with on-loan winger Edwin Mosquera. The team also has two buyout slots that Henderson said he hopes it doesn’t have to use.
Atlanta United cleared more than $1.6 million in cap space from its senior roster Tuesday with decisions to not continue with Brooks Lennon, Ronald Hernandez and Josh Cohen, as well as Brad Guzan’s retirement.
Henderson said he didn’t want to discuss Atlanta United’s strategy for building the roster. The MLS trade window is scheduled to open Dec. 9, free agency on Dec. 10 and the transfer window in January.
Henderson acknowledged that right fullback, where Matthew Edwards is the only player remaining after the team declined the options on Lennon and Hernandez, is an area to strengthen. Henderson said they want to re-sign Hernandez.
Goalkeeping will be another area. Because of Guzan’s retirement and the team not exercising the option on Cohen, Jayden Hibbert is the only goalkeeper on the roster. Henderson said the team will sign two more.
Central defender may be another area. The team has just three: Stian Gregersen, Enea Mihaj and Juan Berrocal. It is waiting for Colorado to decide if it will keep Noah Cobb, who was sent on loan during the summer window.
Henderson implied that Atlanta United will work to sign players in the Under 22 slots, a roster mechanism it hasn’t had success with in the past under different leadership.
“I think the history of Tata and working with U22 has been really good,” Henderson said. “It’s advantageous to have a player who can contribute and play, and … from a (salary) cap perspective, it’s a good category to work with if you can get the signing correct.”
Henderson said Martino and his staff have ideas of the players they want to bring in and they have worked with the team’s scouts and data analysts.
“They’ve had time, they have been working,” Henderson said. “I think we have a lot of kind of flexibility and ways that we could go with this roster. And it isn’t just going to all happen in the January transfer window. I think it’s a process that will happen over time. But we do feel like we’re in a pretty good place from where the conversations have gone so far.”
The building out of the scouting department has started but is a process that will continue over the coming years. Henderson said the club will have more scouts to help turn it into a global scouting organization to watch more games live and have more contact with players.
Coaching staff. The team announced Wednesday the rest of Martino’s coaching staff, many of whom have worked with him previously, including at Atlanta United in 2017 and ’18. The staff is composed of assistants Jorge Theiler, Gerardo Martino Jr. and Rodrigo Rios, fitness coaches Manuel Alfaro and Rodolfo Paladini, video analyst Damian Silvero and goalkeepers coach Elliot Parish, who is the only holdover from previous manager Ronny Deila’s staff. Former assistants Carl Robinson and Kenny Miller weren’t retained. Matt Lawrey will continue to work at Atlanta United in the video analysis department.
About the Author
