Reclaiming the Protagonist Role
- Jason Longshore
- Jan 15
- 7 min read
How Atlanta United’s preseason voices are defining identity, competition, and the road to 2026
Atlanta United’s first major media day of preseason on Wednesday was not about soundbites. It was about alignment. From the front office to the touchline to the locker room, three different voices, Chris Henderson, Enea Mihaj, and Tata Martino, delivered the same message in different ways. This club is resetting its identity, and it intends to do so with clarity, competitiveness, and purpose.
This is not a cosmetic reboot. It is a philosophical one.
For Henderson, it starts with how the team is built. For Mihaj, it is how the change feels on the field and in the locker room. For Martino, it is about restoring a way of playing, and a way of thinking, that makes Atlanta United protagonists again.
Building the structure: Chris Henderson and the architecture of identity
Sporting director Chris Henderson framed the new era in practical terms. Tata Martino’s influence, he explained, is not abstract. It is structural.
“If you look at Tata’s teams, they’re very strong at center back and very strong at the six,” Henderson said. “He likes to control the game through possession, and in transition his teams want to attack.”
That blueprint is already shaping how Atlanta builds, not just for this season, but for the next phase of the club’s life cycle.
“If we can build a core of players for the next three to five years who can grow together,” Henderson said, “that’s how teams have success in this league.”
It is a long-view approach in a league designed for parity, and one that speaks to Atlanta’s desire to move from chasing momentum to sustaining standards.
That ambition is paired with a sharper competitive edge inside the building. Henderson made it clear that competition is not a byproduct of Tata Martino’s teams. It is the point.
“We want to compete every day on the field, compete in every game,” he said. “That’s part of Tata’s identity. When there’s competition for spots, guys have to be sharp every day.”
That mindset extends beyond the pitch. With the Brad Guzan era now closed, Henderson described this season as a true reset, not just in leadership, but in opportunity.
“It’s a new season, a different group now,” he said. “That opens space for other players to step up and lead.”
Behind the scenes, that reset includes a quieter but equally important evolution. Henderson detailed an expanded scouting footprint and a growing performance department, highlighting the work of John Abbott as the Head of Sports Science and Performance Analytics, including readiness monitoring and health markers more commonly associated with other professional sports. In a league where fatigue and availability often decide seasons, Atlanta is investing in the margins that matter.
That modernization shows up in how the roster is being managed as well. Henderson confirmed both buyouts remain available if needed, but framed them as a last resort. More telling was his clarity about priorities. The holding midfielder role, the balance of the spine, and the importance of competition across every line of the team.
Even in addressing sensitive issues, including the ongoing Botafogo and Almada payment situation, Henderson struck a consistent tone of patience and process. These matters, he said, typically work themselves out because clubs ultimately want to build their teams. The message was deliberate. This is a front office focused on solutions, not noise.
Across all of it, Henderson returned to the same principle. Atlanta United is not just trying to assemble a roster. It is trying to build a culture. One where competition is normal, leadership is earned, and identity is sustained over time.
Living the change: Enea Mihaj and the emotional reset
For defender Enea Mihaj, those ideas are no longer theoretical. They define the daily reality of preseason.
The change under Tata Martino begins with intensity before tactics. Training has been about building the physical base to support everything else.
“It’s obvious Tata wants to build from behind,” Mihaj said. “He wants the team to press high, to dominate the game, and not just wait for the opponent.”
That approach demands more from defenders, especially with a higher line. Mihaj did not sugarcoat it.
“It’s much harder. You have to be much more focused,” he said. “But I think for me and for the other players, it’s something we’re going to get used to.”
He framed the system not as individual risk, but as collective responsibility. When the press in front of the back line is sharp, defending becomes proactive. When it is not, everyone pays the price.
What stood out just as much as the tactical shift, though, was the emotional one. Mihaj spoke candidly about the toll of 2025, especially for a player who arrived midseason and had to adapt while the team was already struggling.
“Last year was hard, especially mentally,” he said. “Sometimes I felt the team was sad because of the position we were in. That was the hardest part.”
That experience has sharpened the group’s mindset heading into 2026. Mihaj described a camp filled with positive energy, but also higher expectations.
“This year we have to be more tough with ourselves and expect more from us,” he said.
Martino’s first message to the squad, Mihaj added, was not about formations or roles. It was about culture. Respect for the head coach, respect for the staff, and respect for each other. In a locker room turning the page after a difficult season, that clarity has mattered.
Competition, especially in the back line, fits naturally into that reset. Mihaj welcomes it, not as pressure but as purpose.
“Competition makes you better,” he said. “It makes you give 100 percent in training. But in the end, we all have one target, to make Atlanta have a good season.”
More than anything, Mihaj kept returning to a single idea, one that captures the human side of Atlanta’s reboot.
“It’s not enough to do the tactical work,” he said. “We need to put the heart also. Whatever we do on the pitch, we have to believe and sacrifice for each other. I think this is going to be the secret for success this season.”
In that line, the themes of Atlanta United’s preseason come into focus. Identity is not just about systems. It is about standards, and how a group responds when the bar is raised.
Defining the philosophy: Tata Martino and the meaning of being protagonists
For Tata Martino, reshaping Atlanta United begins with readiness.
His first priority this preseason, he said, is physical preparation. Building the capacity to sustain the intensity his teams demand. Only then comes the second layer. Installing the ideas and identity he wants the players to feel from the very start of the year.
That identity is already taking shape in the relationships on the field, particularly between Alexey Miranchuk and Miguel Almirón.
“They are perfectly complementary,” Martino said. “Miguel can help in the buildup and in finishing, and Alexey has the ability to provide assists. That combination is exactly what we want to see.”
But Martino was quick to widen the lens. Even players of that quality, he emphasized, depend on the collective around them. Football, in his view, is never about isolated brilliance.
With players like Alexey, he said, the intelligence, the passing, the technical quality are all there. What matters just as much is the team around them, the structure that allows those qualities to translate into results.
That idea runs through his assessment of Atlanta’s recent past. Martino described last season’s squad as technical, but honest about the gap between quality and outcomes.
“This is a very technical team,” he said. “But being technical is not enough. We have to be more competitive. The quality is there. Now we need the mentality to match it.”
That mentality, he believes, defines success in Major League Soccer.
“This is a very physical league,” Martino said. “You need consistency, resilience, and the ability to keep getting up after every match and every challenge.”
Whether discussing roster construction, the holding midfielder role, or competition in goal, Martino returned to the same principle. Growth comes from shared responsibility.
“Competition is always healthy,” he said. “It pushes everyone to be better.”
When asked about Atlanta’s defensive struggles last season, he resisted individual blame.
“Attacking and defending are not about individuals,” Martino said. “They are functions of the team.” For Tata, that is not just a tactical point. It is a philosophy of accountability. Success and failure belong to the collective, not to a single name on the team sheet.
For him, that is why this preseason matters so deeply. Last season, Atlanta United was often forced into reaction mode, making changes on the fly and searching for answers in the middle of the year. In 2026, Martino is trying to ensure the opposite. By building a foundation now, he wants to avoid a season defined by constant adjustment and instead create one defined by continuity. Time to shape the group from the beginning, to train together, make mistakes together, and grow together.
“This preseason gives us the time to work together,” he said. “To make mistakes, learn, and grow as a group.”
At the heart of it all is a philosophy Martino has never abandoned, only refined.
“There are teams who want to be protagonists,” he said. “And there are teams who are more comfortable giving that up. We want to be protagonists.”
For Atlanta United, that is not just a stylistic preference. It is a declaration of intent. To lead games instead of chasing them. To set standards instead of reacting to them. And to build a culture where technical quality is matched by competitive edge, every day, in every phase of the season.
One message, three voices
Taken together, the words of Chris Henderson, Enea Mihaj, and Tata Martino form a single narrative.
Henderson speaks about structure. How the club is being built to support a clear identity over time.
Mihaj speaks about experience. How that identity feels inside the locker room and on the training field.
Martino speaks about philosophy. Why it matters, and what it demands.
The common thread is not tactics. It is ownership.
Ownership of standards.
Ownership of culture.
Ownership of what Atlanta United wants to represent in Major League Soccer.
For a city that once helped redefine what ambition looked like in American soccer, the direction feels familiar, and necessary. The work will not be easy. But the intent is unmistakable.
Atlanta United is setting out to be protagonists again.
On the pitch.
In the culture.
And in the story it tells about itself in 2026 and beyond.
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