It is safe to say this is not the season that Atlanta United FC had hoped for going into the 2022 campaign. The Five Stripes have been riddled with serious injuries to some of their best players, those injuries have led to a less than desirable record, and this tumultuous season has also affected the locker room as well.
Wednesday morning the club announced that Josef Martinez was suspended from the club for a week for conduct detrimental to the team. Martinez is expected to rejoin the team September 12th, but cannot participate in any training sessions until then. According to Doug Roberson of the AJC, “The suspension stemmed from a verbal altercation between Martinez and manager Gonzalo Pineda after last week’s loss at Portland.”
It’s been quite clear this season Josef Martinez hasn’t been the same type of player on the pitch as Atlanta United fans have grown accustomed to. Josef has been hesitant on certain goal scoring opportunities at times, his finishing has been a bit shaky, and he just isn’t making the runs he needs to at times, and that is the main reason why Ronald Cisneros has been starting over Josef.
With Josef Martinez struggling with his play on the field and perhaps not seeing eye to eye with Gonzalo Pineda, is it time to start building an Atlanta United FC team not centered around Josef Martinez? Jon Chuckery gave you his thoughts on what he thinks Atlanta United should do with their star player Wednesday night on The Jon Chuckery Show.
Jon understands this is usually an unpopular opinion, but he believes that this situation has come down to a “you have to pick one or the other” situation for Atlanta United saying “If your stay player can’t get on the same page with the manager, I know that this is not a popular opinion to say that you have to pick one or the other, but sometimes in sports it does come down to that.” Jon also goes on to say “Honestly, whether it’s you trade him, sell him, whatever it is, I think the time has probably come for this franchise to start building around their next group of players.”
I don’t think anybody disagrees with Chuckery when he says “He’s the most important player this franchise will ever have.” However, it just seems like time and patience may have run out for not only Atlanta United but Josef Martinez as well.