Training Ground Notebook: Atlanta United still wants to dictate, but the details have to sharpen

Atlanta United still wants to take initiative under Tata Martino, but Thursday’s media availability made clear that cleaner buildup, better final-ball decisions, and stronger defending in space remain the next steps.

Three matches into the season, Tata Martino does not sound like a manager questioning the idea.

He sounds like a manager demanding that his team execute it better.

That was the clearest takeaway from Thursday’s Atlanta United media availability, where Martino spoke at length about what it means for this team to be the protagonist and where Matías Galarza offered a revealing first look at how he sees his own role in helping Atlanta get there.

For Martino, the identity is not up for debate. Atlanta wants to take initiative, control games, and impose itself rather than react.

“We want to be a team that proposes the game, that takes the initiative and plays a leading role, not a passive team that waits to see what the opponent does.”

That line matters because it frames everything else.

The issue right now is not whether Atlanta should try to play this way. The issue is whether Atlanta can play this way with enough sharpness to make it hold up over 90 minutes.

The problem is not the idea. It is the execution inside it

Martino pushed back against some of the outside assumptions about Atlanta’s attack after the loss to Real Salt Lake.

Atlanta United training on a chilly Friday morning in Marietta. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

He did not point to the positioning of Alexey Miranchuk relative to Miguel Almirón. He did not point to Latte Lath’s movement. In fact, he thought there were positive signs in all of those areas. He liked the way Almirón adjusted when Miranchuk received facing forward. He liked the way Latte Lath attacked space more aggressively than he had in the first two matches.

What Atlanta did not do well enough, in Martino’s view, was make the final play count.

“The problem was not Alexey’s position relative to Miguel, and it was not Manu’s movement. The problem was that we handled the final pass poorly in situations that should have led to goals or dangerous attacks.”

That is an important distinction.

It suggests Martino sees progress in the structure of the attack, but not enough precision in the moments that turn a promising move into a clear chance. Atlanta got into useful areas. It just did not consistently choose or execute the right final ball once it got there.

That has been one of the recurring themes of the first few weeks. The shape of the move has often looked better than the payoff at the end of it.

Being the protagonist comes with a cost

Martino also made clear that Atlanta’s defensive issues cannot be separated from the style it is trying to play.

A team that wants to dominate territory, send numbers forward, and control matches high up the field is going to leave space behind. That is not an accident. It is part of the tradeoff.

“The work we do during the week is tied to the way we want the team to play. And because that style means defending large spaces, then in almost every training exercise we are defending large spaces.”

What matters to Martino is not simply how much space is behind the back line. It is whether Atlanta is defending that space under manageable conditions.

He said the larger concern is falling into numerical disadvantages, failing to stop transitions when needed, and losing 1v1 duels. That helps explain why the team’s defensive emphasis this week was on one-v-one defending rather than trying to overhaul everything structurally.

In other words, Martino does not appear interested in retreating from the approach. He appears interested in making the team better at surviving the consequences of it.

That is a meaningful difference.

This is not a manager saying the team must become more cautious. This is a manager saying the team has to become cleaner and tougher within the aggressive model it has chosen.

The midfield conversation is really about what kind of game Atlanta wants to play

Martino’s comments about Tristan Muyumba and Tomás Jacob added another layer to that discussion.

Rondos began the session on Friday, the day before the Philadelphia match. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

He praised Muyumba's contribution in possession and specifically pointed to what he gives Atlanta in the first phase of buildup. He also said Jacob offers something different: muscle, physical presence, and aerial ability. But he was also blunt that Tristan gives the team a cleaner, more polished first phase of buildup.

That is a revealing line.

It suggests Atlanta’s midfield decisions are not only about who plays best in a vacuum. They are about what kind of match Atlanta expects to play and what tools it needs to control it.

There will be games where physicality and ball-winning matter more. There will be games where Atlanta needs cleaner circulation and better buildup from deeper positions. Martino all but said that directly.

He also reiterated that while Jacob can help centrally, Atlanta still sees him primarily as a right back, especially for a team that wants to be proactive with the ball.

That frames the midfield conversation less as a simple depth chart and more as a tactical balancing act.

Where Matías Galarza fits into all of this

If Martino’s comments explained the team idea, Galarza’s comments helped explain why Atlanta targeted him.

Martino described him as a left-footed midfielder with dynamism, clean work on the ball, the ability to arrive in the box, and the intensity that often comes from players developed in the Argentine league.

Galarza described the role in similar terms.

“Right now he’s using me as an interior midfielder, as a left-sided No. 8. He asks me to play with intensity, get into the box, and help the team score goals.”

Matías Galarza spoke to the media for the first time on Friday. (photo: Sofia Cupertino for the SDH Network)

That is a useful description because it speaks directly to what Atlanta has been missing in stretches. Galarza is not just another body in midfield. He is a profile that can help connect the team’s possession to more dangerous end product.

He also described himself as a “complete, mix midfielder.” In other words, he sees himself as a player who can do a little bit of everything, which fits the way Martino wants his midfielders to function. They have to be able to do more than one job. They have to help build, cover ground, duel, and arrive in advanced spaces.

Just as important, Galarza did not sound like someone walking into a club that feels rattled.

“I don’t feel that the team is going through a difficult moment. The season is just starting. It’s a new group, and the team is still taking on what Tata wants.”

That quote stood out because it reflects how the situation is being framed internally. Outside the building, three matches without a win can create anxiety. Inside it, Galarza sees a team still forming, not one already in crisis.

The bigger picture

The most revealing thing from Thursday may be that Martino did not sound uncertain about who Atlanta is supposed to be.

He sounded certain that the team is still working to become the fullest version of it.

That version requires bravery, as he said. It also requires cleaner buildup, better final-pass decisions and execution, stronger 1v1 defending, and midfield profiles that match the demands of the moment.

Atlanta United will always want to be the protagonist under Tata Martino. The challenge now is making that identity look less like an aspiration and more like a finished product.