Atlanta United will host Tormenta Saturday in its first friendly under new manager Gabriel Heinze.
Saturday’s is the first of four scheduled friendlies to prepare the squad for its Champions League opener at Alajuelense on April 6. Media aren’t allowed at the the first three friendlies, which will be at the team’s training center. The team has yet to say if there will be a live stream or replay.
This predicted 11 is based more on guess work than anything. Because of COVID protocols, media aren’t allowed to attend any part of training sessions. Heinze hasn’t yet been made available outside of his introductory press conference that happened before Christmas. The only players made available so far during training camp were Emerson Hyndman and Erik Lopez last week. I’m hoping that access will open a bit this week so that we may provide you with useful information.
This starting 11 is based upon players currently on the roster:
Goalkeeper: Brad Guzan.
Centerback: Miles Robinson.
Centerback: Anton Walkes. It would be really interesting to see if Heinze throws George Campbell into the fire here. Last year would have been a very important year for Campbell’s development but COVID, which limited a player’s availability to move between MLS and USL, took away those opportunities. I think Campbell has immense potential. He just needs game time.
Right fullback: Ronald Hernandez. I don’t know if Brooks Lennon is fully healthy after his offseason surgery. I assume that he is, but I don’t see the point in the team pushing him so early in the season. If Lennon is fully healthy, I think he gets the start.
Left fullback: George Bello.
Defensive midfielder: Santiago Sosa. I think he will be given the opportunity ahead of Mo Adams and Franco Ibarra. Why? Not sure. Just a feeling. Having said that, I also wouldn’t be surprised if Adams gets the start because of his experience playing in front of Robinson and Walkes. That familiarity and communication could be key.
Midfielder: Emerson Hyndman. He said last week that Heinze wants them to play with three central midfielders and that he’s playing in a box-to-box role like an “8.″ Some of you have been down on Hyndman. I get it. He’s not Darlington Nagbe. But he has ability and played well in 2019. No one played well in 2020 so he shouldn’t be singled out.
Attacking midfielder: Marcelino Moreno. DP. Has to be on the field.
Left winger: Ezequiel Barco. As Rob Usry wrote for Dirty South Soccer and as I have written this is a gigantically important year for Barco. He’s got to play well in strings of matches, instead of 1 or 2 followed by stretches of nothing impactful. During his career in league matches he has nine stretches of appearing in at least three consecutive games in which he has registered neither a goal nor an assist. He is averaging one goal every 374 minutes of playing time (4.15 games) and an assist every 416 minutes (4.6 games).
Right winger: Jurgen Damm. If he is healthy, he will start. He had issues with his health during last year’s season for several reasons, including he hadn’t played a lot of soccer in months before arriving in MLS. He’s had an offseason to improve his conditioning and body for this season. I think he could have a huge year.
Striker: Erick Torres. I just don’t see the point in pushing Josef Martinez back from his injury to participate in a friendly. I could see the team bringing him off the bench for 15 minutes near the end of the game, and then gradually increasing those minutes with each consecutive friendly.
What do you think of this 11 for Saturday’s friendly? Please share your comments on my twitter feed.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
