Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan said joining a team in the middle of its season – as he is doing – isn’t easy, but that having good players and a good coaching staff makes it easier.
After training with the MLS expansion team for a few days several weeks ago before joining the U.S. men’s national team for the Gold Cup, Guzan is back for what should be the remainder of the season. It will start on Friday at Orlando City and manager Gerardo Martino said on Tuesday that Guzan will be in goal.
It will be an interesting transition with a few challenges.
The first is familiarity.
Most of Atlanta United’s players have been together since training camp opened in Bradenton, Fla. in January. Guzan was in chilly England then, serving as a back-up goalkeeper at Middlesbrough in the Premier League.
Now, because of an injury to Alec Kann, Guzan will be expected to step in and help Atlanta United at least maintain its fourth-place spot in the Eastern Conference.
“He’s a new teammate,” midfielder Yamil Asad said. “He’s here to support us. If things go well for him then things will go well for us.”
The second is the style of play.
Though Kann has one assist this season on a long goal kick, Martino likes his goalkeepers to start play with short passes from the back, circulating the ball amongst the defenders. It’s not the easiest skill to develop, but is crucial to the team’s style of play.
“Everyone talks about the modern day goalkeeper being able to play with your feet,” Guzan said. “I’ve had managers in the past that like to do the same.”
The third is communication.
Most of the coaching staff doesn’t speak English. A few of Atlanta United’s players are learning English, but speak primarily Spanish. Guzan said he picked up some Spanish soccer phrases when he played for Chivas USA in MLS from 2005-08. Three of the four defenders in front of Guzan speak English. The fourth, centerhalf Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, speaks some English.
Guzan has no trouble communicating in English. He is a chatterbox in the penalty box, encouraging teammates up the field who probably can’t hear him, shouting directions to the defenders, or serving as a traffic cop, telling teammates what’s going on around them when they may be focusing on the ball.
“As a goalkeeper, you try to have the guys in front of your organized as much as possible,” he said.
Lastly, there is competition.
Kann started 20 consecutive games before he suffered a quadriceps injury two games ago in a 2-0 win over Columbus. Kyle Reynish started the most recent game, a 4-2 win over San Jose.
When Kann returns to health, there should be competition to start.
Going back to January when it was announced that Atlanta United had signed Guzan, Kann has consistently said that he welcomed the competition and hoped to learn from his competitor. Guzan has been capped more than 50 times by the U.S. men’s national team and has more than 150 appearances in the Premier League.
“I’ve gotten to sit down and speak with him,” Guzan said. “The thing about goalkeepers, we call it the goalkeeper union. We understand only one of us can play.”
Guzan is no stranger to competition. He battled Brad Friedel at Aston Villa and Victor Valdez at Middlesbrough. Of course, he has also been in seeming never-ending competition with Tim Howard to be the U.S. top goalkeeper.
But Guzan’s determination and professionalism, even he wasn’t the No. 1, was one of the reasons that Bocanegra said the team wanted to sign him.
“Brad immediately elevates the level of play and competition on this team,” Bocanegra said.
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