It’s time for Atlanta United to get it right

Even Blank didn’t envision filling an NFL-sized building. His football team didn’t plan to sell many seats on the upper level. Demand exceeded expectations.

We can’t discuss United without mentioning its gate – it led MLS in attendance every season except 2020, the COVID year – but there was more to United than the turnstile. She made the playoffs the first year. She won the MLS Cup the second year. It became the model franchise, having realized Garber’s vision of tapping into the millennial market. (Blank’s United fans are not necessarily Blank’s Falcons fans.)

United’s first manager was Gerardo Martino, known as Tata. He had coached Barcelona and Argentina. Neither tenure lasted long, but he worked at the highest levels of club and international football. In both positions he had worked with Lionel Messi, the magic man of sport.

Martino’s last match with United was the MLS Cup final on December 8, 2018. United beat Portland 2-0. He left to coach Mexico, one of the most thankless tasks in the world. He’s now with Inter Miami, working in front of sold-out crowds again, working with Messi again.

To say Atlanta United hasn’t surpassed Martino is simplistic. This is also true. Frank de Boer – fired after brief tenures at Serie A’s Inter Milan and Premier League’s Crystal Palace – was a curious choice to succeed him, although Josef Martinez converted a penalty to make it 2-0 at the 11th minute of the match. In the 2019 MLS Cup semi-final against Toronto, United could well have won a second title.

Nine months later, de Boer was gone. Gabriel Heinze lasted 10 months to the day. Gonzalo Pineda survived for two years and almost 10 months. He was fired on Monday, after leading United to 38 wins in 110 games. Rob Valentino thus began a second mandate as interim coach of this team.

The old description of Atlanta United – “big crowd, good team” – has been cut in half. In his first three seasons, he finished fourth, second and third in MLS East. Since then, he has not made it past the top four. Since then, he has not won an elimination round. As we speak, it sits in 13th place in the 15-team East. He has won once in the championship since March 31. He has lost his last five home games.

Sunday’s home loss to Charlotte doomed Pineda, although last week’s win in Fort Lauderdale showed us why he had to go. On the road against Messi and his Barça comrades – and Martino too – United led 2-0 at half-time and won 3-1. If you can do it, you shouldn’t go months between victories.

United have not disappeared from the map. Average attendance at Mercedes-Benz this season is 47,638; no other MLS club averages $35,000. And yes, United still outperforms the Braves. However, the rest of MLS no longer considers Atlanta an industry standard. Of the 12 Eastern teams ahead of United, four started play after this one. Among them is Miami, who, by landing Messi, changed everything.

United haven’t yet gone the route of aging big names – neither Beckham, nor Zlatan – and I’m not sure they should. (Also: there is no other Messi.) However, he can regain a good dose of credibility by finding a proven coach. Heinze’s biggest job before coming here was Velez Sarsfield in Argentina. Pineda had not been a head coach.

Garth Lagerwey arrived in November 2022 from Seattle, among the best clubs in MLS. This will be his first major hire as United’s chairman and CEO. This once-model franchise needs to remember how to do things right. These big crowds are hungry for big results.

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