Training Ground Notebook: Atlanta United Is Starting to See Tata Martino’s Ideas Take Hold

Tata Martino sees real improvement in Atlanta United’s buildup and attacking ideas, but Thursday’s media availability made clear that the next challenge is controlling matches for longer stretches. Tomás Jacob’s explanation of the fullbacks’ role helped show why the team’s structure is starting to make more sense.

Atlanta United’s first win of the season felt important in the moment, but Thursday’s conversations at training helped explain why it might matter beyond the result itself. The language from Tata Martino and Tomás Jacob was not centered on relief or even momentum as much as it was on development.

Elías Báez looking for options in the rondo on Thursday. (photo: Jason Longshore)

What emerged was a clearer picture of the team Atlanta is trying to become. The buildup is improving. The spacing is starting to make more sense. The relationships between players in key areas of the field are becoming sharper. But just as clearly, Martino sees another level still to reach, one where Atlanta does not just create good stretches in matches, but controls them.

Progress is visible, but Tata wants more control

Atlanta United took a meaningful step forward against Philadelphia, and Martino did not sound interested in minimizing that. He pointed to the team’s growth in buildup, especially its willingness to keep trying to play through mistakes instead of abandoning the idea after the first error. He also noted the team’s effectiveness attacking space when it had to break quickly from deeper positions.

“I think there are two areas where we have clearly improved,” Martino said. “One is in our buildup, but especially in our insistence on playing that way without abandoning it after the first mistake. Even though our successful buildouts are fewer than the unsuccessful ones, the fact that we kept insisting helped us find a chance and score. I see that as growth: having a clear game idea and the courage to carry it through despite errors.”

That matters because Atlanta looked more coherent in that win than it had in the opening weeks of the season. The team was more committed to its ideas, more connected from the back into midfield, and more dangerous when the game opened into transition moments. But Martino was just as clear that progress is only one part of the conversation right now.

“What we need to improve is keeping the ball for longer when the opponent starts pressing and pushing us deeper,” Martino said. “We need to be a team that is solid defensively and good in attack, but also one that understands when the game needs control instead of constant running.”

That is the real next step for this team. Martino is not asking Atlanta to become something completely different. He is asking it to extend the good parts of what it already showed against Philadelphia. The buildup has been braver. The attacking ideas are becoming more visible. Now the challenge is knowing how to maintain command of a match once Atlanta has taken hold of it.

Why the fullbacks are becoming such an important weapon

Tomás Jacob spoke to the media after Thursday's session. (photo: Jason Longshore)

Jacob gave one of the clearest explanations yet for why Atlanta’s fullbacks have become such an important part of the attack. In his telling, the spacing is created by what happens ahead of them. When Miguel Almirón and Alexey Miranchuk drift inside into more central areas, the outside lane opens for the fullbacks to attack.

“That is why there has been so much talk about the fullbacks taking advantage of the space,” Jacob said. “Miguel and Alexey both move inside like No. 10s, so that opens the channel for us to use and exploit. I think that is a big advantage, which is why we train it every day.”

That is an important detail in understanding Atlanta’s shape. The width does not always have to come from the wingers staying wide. It can come from the fullbacks arriving into open space, while the attackers move inside into areas where they can combine and do more damage. That gives Atlanta another way to stretch defenses without losing numbers in central positions.

Jacob also made it clear that Martino’s instruction is not simply to charge forward whenever the lane appears. The first responsibility is still defensive. The attacking freedom comes after that, and only when the moment is right.

“He always tells me to think about defending, because that is my primary position,” Jacob said. “My first job is to defend fully. After that, if I have the energy, he wants me to be a threat for the opponent because we think we can take advantage of that. On my side, Alexey often comes inside, so that leaves the path open for me, and that is where I feel free to go forward.”

That is why Jacob’s other point may be the more important one. For Atlanta, this is about timing as much as territory.

“The space is there, but you have to know when to use it, not all the time,” Jacob said. “That is what we work on: knowing when to go and when to stay.”

That distinction helps explain why Atlanta looked better structurally against Philadelphia. The fullbacks were not just aggressive. They were coordinated. Their movement fit into a larger picture, one where the spaces behind them had to be covered and the rest of the team had to shift with them.

The midfield adjustment is helping the team make more sense

Tata Martino and his staff before the start of Thursday's training session in Marietta. (photo: Jason Longshore)

Martino’s comments on the midfield brought another layer of clarity. Asked about Tristan Muyumba’s role as the deepest midfielder compared to how Jacob played that position, he did not frame it as a simple one-for-one comparison. He framed it as an adjustment the team needed.

“But I think the team needed this change,” Martino said. “Tomás gives us pace and depth on the right; Tristan gives us a better outlet through the center of the field. These are adjustments that become clearer as we get to know one another, and in this case they have helped the team improve.”

That is one of the most useful takeaways from the day because it shifts the focus toward collective balance. Jacob’s energy and range can push the team forward and cover ground on one side of the shape. Muyumba’s qualities can help Atlanta come out more cleanly through the middle. Put those together, and the team starts to look more logical. It reinforces the value and importance of properly constructing the play from the back to the front.

Martino’s broader framing ahead of D.C. United fits that same idea. Atlanta expects to take the initiative. To do that well, it has to improve not just the buildup itself, but also the circulation that keeps the game where Atlanta wants it.

“We approach every match in a fairly similar way, which is to take the initiative,” Martino said. “We need to improve our buildup, improve our circulation, and be solid when it is time to defend.”

That is why the midfield discussion matters so much. This is not only about who starts where. It is about how Atlanta is gradually discovering the right relationships between roles. The team is beginning to understand what each player gives it and how those qualities fit together.

This is still the beginning of the process

Jacob may have said the quiet part out loud when he described where the team really is right now. For all the improvement Atlanta showed against Philadelphia, he does not see a finished model. He sees an early-stage process that is still being built match by match.

“We are only at the beginning of a process with Tata, so the game model is something that develops as the matches go on,” Jacob said.

That line fits everything Martino said. It explains why Atlanta can show visible progress while still having stretches where it loses control. It explains why the fullbacks’ movement looks more purposeful while still requiring constant balancing behind it. And it explains why Martino continues to talk less about arrival and more about improvement.

The players seemed in great spirits during Thursday's session. (photo: Jason Longshore)

There is a grounded honesty in that. Atlanta should not pretend one win solved everything. What Thursday’s availability suggested instead is something more believable and more useful: the ideas are taking hold, the structure is starting to make more sense, and the players sound like they understand both the progress and the work still ahead.

That is what makes the next match interesting. Atlanta United is no longer just trying to repeat a good performance. It is trying to build the next layer of one.