The Five Stripes didn’t have the year they had hoped or expected to have last season. Atlanta United finished their 2022 season 11th in the Eastern Conference and missed the postseason. However, Atlanta United was riddled with injuries last season which made their struggles understandable, but to start the 2023 season The Five Stripes should be fully healthy and would have officially turned the page on the Josef Martinez era. Tuesday night on The Jon Chuckery Show, Jon says there are “no excuses” for Atlanta United FC.
With the return of Brad Guzan, Miles Robinson, Osvaldo Alonso, and the continued emergence of Thiago Almada, Luiz Araújo, and Amar Sejdic there’s no reason The Five Stripes shouldn’t be contending for an MLS Cup next season. Felipe Cardenas, who covers Atlanta United for The Athletic, joined The Jon Chuckery Show tonight and said besides the injuries “lack of leadership” was a big reason why The Five Stripes struggled this past season. Now, Felipe did also mention that the lack of leadership was kind of due to injuries since your Captain, Brad Guzan, went down with a season ending injury, and then your next Captain after that Miles Robinson went down with a season ending injury as well.
However, The Five Stripes should be at full strength next season, and even though Josef Martinez will be gone due to a “not great” relationship with Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra according to Felipe Cardnas, Atlanta United at full strength will still be a very exciting and fun team to watch.