Q&A with Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino

Gerardo Martino loves living in Atlanta.

Martino, who was introduced Thursday as Atlanta United’s manager for his second stint, said he still has friends from when he coached the team in 2017 and ‘18.

But Martino is a competitor. He didn’t come back to the club just because of a favorite restaurant.

Martino said believes he can help the Five Stripes win, similar to when he led them the first time. Atlanta United may not win another MLS Cup, as it did in ‘18, but the bar has dropped considerably in the past six seasons, bottoming out with a franchise-worst 28 points under Ronny Deila in the recently completed season.

Martino sat with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Doug Roberson for an exclusive interview Thursday, in which they discussed some of the issues that have affected the team and how Martino will try to fix them.

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. The questions and Martino’s answers were translated by a member of Atlanta United’s staff.

Q: You mentioned a few times adding some new players. Is there a position group in particular that you are trying to strengthen?

A: Speaking about certain positions implicates a lot of different people, and I don’t want to get into specifics, but I think that we’re hopeful that over the course of time we’ll see (the positions).

Q: This is a team that, to me, has looked like it has lacked confidence the past few seasons. How do you build that confidence up now before the real matches start?

A: I think there are ways that you can generate enthusiasm from players. When there’s a coaching change, with the players who stay here, I think they will see how we work, and the players who come will be motivated.

Then, we try to give them an idea and try to get them on board and all working toward the same thing.

Q: Strangely, the only time it’s looked confident the past few years was against your Miami team in the playoffs two years ago.

A: With that Miami team, we had very high expectations, and we weren’t able to fulfill all of them, but over the course of a year and a half, we were able to achieve some things and to play and do things in accordance to our way.

Q: A couple of questions about the DPs. The previous manager couldn’t quite figure out where to play Miguel Almiron at this point in his career. What position do you see him playing?

A: I have talked to Miguel and Alexey (Miranchuk), and I will continue to have conversations with them. But I do think they can both coexist on the field. I think in the past, they both played similar positions, but I think my idea for Miguel is to be able to give him the freedom to move around.

Q: When I look at the roster as it’s currently constructed, it reminds me a lot of 2017: speed up top with Emmanuel Latte Lath, which is what Josef (Martinez) had, Miguel’s work rate, Miranchuk can pick a pass, you had fullbacks that could get up and down the field. When you look at this roster, what do you see as its strengths?

A: The strengths of the team are in relation to some really talented individual players who we have high expectations for.

What we have to do is give those individual players our idea and to be able for them to reach their potential within that idea.

Q: Another thing the team hasn’t had since Jeff (Larentowicz) is an on-field leader — not goalkeeper, not Brad (Guzan) — but an on-field leader. Do you see anyone with that potential, and how will you push for them to be ‘the guy’?

A: I agree. I think when we’re looking at going out and signing players, leadership is something we need to take into account, because we do feel we have leaders, soccer-speaking, like Miguel and Alexey, who can do that on the field, but we need to find more spiritual, emotional leaders.

Q: Also, looking at this roster as it’s currently constructed, to me, it has some guys whose strengths appear to be more technical, like Italian-style soccer, with players like Bartosz Slisz, Steven Alzate and other guys who are built more for fast-paced, counterattacking soccer, like Latte Lath and Saba (Lobjanidze), and maybe Miggy. Do you agree, and how do you get those pieces to fit together?

A: Football is really a combination of those moments anyway. So there’s times in games where you need to have a pause and control the ball, and there’s other moments where teams are more direct and faster.

You need to take those things both into account when you’re building a team. But in any case, it’s good to have players who can play both.

Q: Things have not worked well under Garth (Lagerwey) as of now. It feels like there’s a lot of pressure in the building to really make improvements this season, to at least make the playoffs, be a good seed in the playoffs. Do you feel any extra pressure that you’re carrying a lot of jobs on your shoulders?

A: Building an expansion team is obviously a very different situation than this and the team we’re trying to build now. It’s strange to have coaching changes in a place that’s winning.

And as we talked about in the news conference, when you see a club that’s in constant growth, like Atlanta United has been, it makes sense to think that the soccer team would also continue to grow and be aligned in that sense.

Q: World Cup is coming next year. This is now your second time in Atlanta. You’ve seen the growth and the changes and the passion for the sport. What do you think a World Cup next year in Atlanta, particularly the semifinal game, could look like and by how much will Argentina win?