Fullback Tyrone Mears has joined Atlanta United's preseason training camp in Bradenton, Fla.
Mears, formerly of Seattle, posted on twitter last week that Atlanta has acquired him from Seattle. His paperwork with Atlanta is expected to be processed this week.
Atlanta United is holding its first training session today at IMG Academy, which is where the team will spend most of the next two weeks.
Note: I will be travelling to Bradenton tomorrow and will be there through Friday morning's session. During the next few days, please look for features that I will post about the team.
Other than news, first players I hope to write about are mostly the locals: Mark Bloom, Alec Kann, Andrew Carelton and Chris Goslin, and on Sunday I hope to write about the importance of set pieces. I presume they will provide invaluable scoring opportunities for the team this season.
I hope to also post daily notebooks with some observations and thoughts about what I’m seeing. So, please follow me on twitter @DougRoberson or join our Facebook page, Atlanta United News Now.
I will also be in Bradenton next week and will wrote more stories then. If there are certain players (Miguel Almiron, for instance) or issues you would like to me to write about, let me know.
The team's announced acquisitions are: goalkeepers Kann , Alex Kapp and Alex Tambakis, defenders Mikey Ambrose, Bloom, Greg Garza, Zach Loyd , Michael Parkhurst and Miles Robinson, midfielders Yamil Asad, Almiron, Carleton , Goslin, Julian Gressel , Harrison Heath, Kevin Kratz, Jeff Larentowicz, Chris McCann and Michael Wheeler-Omiunu, and forwards Kenwyne Jones, Jeffrey Otoo, Jacob Peterson, Brandon Vazquez, Hector Villalba and Romario Williams .
The team is expected to announce several more signings this week.
Joining the team are academy players Lagos Kunga, Michael Ille, Patrick Okonkwo, Carlos Asensio, James Brighton, Dylan Gaither and Kendall Edwards.
Here are the dates to note:
Jan. 24–Feb. 4, First phase of training at IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
Feb. 6–Feb. 9, Training, Atlanta
Feb. 10, Training, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Feb. 11 vs. Chattanooga FC, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Feb. 13–16, Training, Atlanta
Feb. 17 –25, Final phase of training, Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 18 vs. Columbus Crew SC, Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 22 vs. Seattle Sounders, Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 25 vs. Charleston Battery, Charleston, S.C.
