Q&A with Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank

Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank didn’t seem too concerned on Monday, two days after the team’s worst performance in a short history filled mostly with positives.

The owner of the MLS team and the NFL’s Falcons said he was as surprised as anyone by the 4-0 defeat, but expressed confidence that the team will be competitive and if everyone involved with the franchise does things the right way it’s possible to bring the MLS Cup to Atlanta.

“That’s certainly our goal, but you can’t think about that before every match,” he said. “That’s a bad mistake.”

Blank spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday, touching on everything from the season-opening loss to Houston, to his role in the signing of Ezequiel Barco for a league-record fee, to what MLS needs to do continue its growth.