Julian Gressel is doing everything he can to earn a starting spot in Atlanta United’s starting 11 for the season-opening game against New York Red Bulls at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Making his first start in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Seattle in the Carolina Challenge Cup, Gressel drew a penalty that resulted in Miguel Almiron's successful penalty kick and then sliced open Seattle's defense with a long pass that Hector Villalba turned into a goal.
“I’m a competitive guy,” he said. “I want to play the best I can. I want to help the team. If that’s pushing other guys to become better players, then that’s my role. I want to be the best guy out there. I want to be the most competitive guy.”
On the penalty, Gressel said, “I tried to jump. I think he was grabbing me or running into me. I felt the contact and felt like I couldn’t go for the ball anymore. I screamed a little bit. I think it was a penalty. I saw the replay.”
On the pass to Villalba, Gressel said, “I got the pass from Parkie (Michael Parkhurst). He told me to turn. What we try to practice is to play vertically pretty quickly. I took a pretty good first touch and with the second pass I know that Tito is making the run because I saw him run by me. I just put into the space for him. He just does his thing.”
Gressel, a native of Germany who played in college at Providence, may be one of the steals in the draft is he can continue to play well.
Though projected to be selected in the late teens to 20s, Atlanta United selected him with the eighth pick. Technical director Carlos Bocanegra said, “He likes the game. He has a good knowledge of the game. We think he’s ready to contribute minutes now.”
Able to play any of the positions in the midfield, Gressel made his debut as a reserve in the second half of the 4-0 win over Chattanooga. He assisted on Josef Martinez’s goal, made several good passes. Though Chattanooga tried to knock him off the ball, Gressel’s size (6-0, 185 pounds) was enough to hold off the challenges.
He was used as a reserve again in last week’s 2-1 loss to Columbus and was one of the bright spots in a mostly dim second half.
Because Chris McCann, who started the first two games, didn't dress for Seattle, Gressel started and was arguably among Atlanta United's best players until he received two yellow cards within a matter of minutes, forcing him out of the game in the 68th minute.
The first yellow card was the result of a tackle. The second came after Gressel tossed the ball to the side after another foul.
“We had a meeting about it with MLS actually,” Gressel said. “You can see it one way or the other. I just have to learn from it. The ref made the decision to give me a second yellow. I have to learn from it, maybe for the whole team and other teams in MLS. Happy that it happened in a preseason game and not a regular season game.”
Normally, a red card received in a game means the offending player is ineligible to play in the next game. Because this is the preseason, not all of the normal rules apply and Gressel may be able to play in Saturday’s game against Charleston.
It may be tough for Gressel to earn a consistent starting spot. The team is deep in the midfield with veterans such as McCann and Jeff Larentowicz, and two of the team’s Designated Players, Hector Villalba and Miguel Almiron, are also midfielders.
But Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino likes what he is seeing from Gressel.
“He’s a really dynamic player, really aggressive,” Martino said. “He gets himself into good positions, good scoring positions. He’s going to be helpful for us.”
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