Following a hectic summer of soccer, focus can soon return to club competitions and the first question on every Atlanta United fan's mind should be roster changes. The Five Stripes lost both Almada and Giakoumakis in the past weeks, two DPs and the two players on the team with unquestionably the biggest impact on every game. They had 62 goal contributions between them in the last season and a half of MLS.
But Atlanta needs more than just replacements for Gigi and Thiago, or as close as you can get to replacing the two stars. Atlanta is also likely losing Caleb Wiley to Chelsea, by which I mean Strasbourg. And additional depth is always a plus if good options can be found. So what should Garth Lagerwey be looking for in this transfer window, who could we get to replace the core of our team?
A Striker
This is the most obvious of the acquisitions. While Daniel Rios is putting in a shift as Atlanta's backup striker, he shouldn't be a long-term solution. I love that he can come up big when we need him to be our number 9 and 4 goals in the past 7 games is nothing to scoff at. That being said, in the 9 games leading up to that run of form, he only managed 1 goal and Atlanta really needs a consistent, menacing goal scorer. Daniel Rios is an outstanding backup or an absolute steal for someone but if Atlanta wants to return to being a title challenger--and I dearly hope they do--the front office needs to be looking at options in the 9 role.
I think the pitch is also fairly straightforward, Atlanta can throw infinite money at a DP who can come and be a god among men in front of at least 40,000 fans every match. We also have great facilities to train at and are the home of U.S. soccer. Apart from being named Atlanta and not L.A., there isn't a lot wrong with that pitch. If Toronto can get an Insigne, why can't we get someone with that kind of name-brand recognition? We are never going to sign a Haaland but an Ollie Watkins or Sebastien Haller? I think it's worth a shot. Especially if Garth is serious about wanting to focus more on cultivating our own talent rather than selling on South American youngsters. Plus, who doesn't want a player from the Euros final?
Creative Players
This gap is a little bit more free-form and will require more sole searching from the front office. The striker is a fairly well-defined box--Kai Havertz is one of the only players who really blurs the Striker/Creator line. Giakoumakis, Josef, and Harry Kane are all strikers. Caleb Wiley, Lionel Messi, and Thiago Almada are all not strikers. It is also pretty easy to discriminate between strikers on a few simple stats that all boil down to if they can score.
Who is a creative player and who the better creative player is is a far harder question. Do you want a classic 10, a box-to-box midfielder, a winger, or maybe even an adventurous full-back? These are the tougher questions and the questions that really decide how your team is structured. They are also largely up to the opinions of the coach. This is part of the reason getting a new manager soon is so important. At this point, the season isn't worth all that much without some divine intervention. What is important is setting yourself up for success next year and making the right signings for the coach is a big part of that. The team could easily go like-for-like and get another 10 and wing back and stick with the 4-3-3 formation. Or maybe we want a false 9 and a box-to-box midfielder for a versatile 4-4-1-1. Or we focus more on wingers and stick with a 3-back. Or something else entirely, the beauty of losing multiple players at once is it gives you lots of flexibility.
The question truly is largely dependent on who is available and what our new coach wants. This will be one of the first major tests of Garth and where he wants to take this team. This is the first time he has ever been in between coaches with Atlanta United and this is the time good management is most important. Hopefully there is promising news soon.
“What positions does Atlanta need?”
How about “yes please “
We need everything. Not honestly sure which positions we’re MLS-average at and that’s not saying much….