New team president Garth Lagerwey was very clear this morning on The Steakhouse when breaking down where he thinks it's gone wrong for Atlanta United the last few years. And he's very emphatic about what's going to do to make sure the last few years do not repeat themselves, and that starts with what he calls "building a sustainable foundation" going forward.
"We want to build a championship team, we want to have a championship business, and we want to be a championship contender in the community as well", Garth told Steak and Drew this morning. After a conference finals defeat to Toronto in 2019, United has finished 12th, 5th, and 11th the following three seasons, missing out on the postseason two of those years. Those three seasons have seen the hiring and firing of two coaches, Frank de Boer and Gabriel Heinze.
After this franchise started out with so much buzz and excitement, Lagerwey offered a very honest assessment how just hard it is to stay at that level - "To some degree it was just unsustainable. But there's so many positives here, there's so many resources here."
For United to get back to that sustained success level, Garth stressed the importance of having a young coach here that can grow with the team in Gonzalo Pineda. Lagerwey talked about how it took time with Real Salt Lake during his time there and a young manager in Jason Kreis. That patience was rewarded with Lagerwey's first MLS Cup in 2009. "You can have good coaches that take time. If you're going to hire a young firs time coach, you've got to give him a chance to let him grow into the role."
He's not coming to an Atlanta team devoid of talent, though, and Garth knows very well what he's bringing back in 2023. In breaking down the roster, Garth said "there's a ton of good starting points. Thiago Almada plays for Argentina, maybe the best signing in MLS history. (Brad) Guzan is healthy. Miles Robinson is healthy. I think there's a lot of big names."
This off-season has presented one roster conundrum, however, and that's what will be the status of striker Josef Martinez in 2023. Josef's no trade clause makes whatever decision on his roster spot something will be decided mutually, but Garth says he's not coming in with already made decisions on the futures of players. "One of my big things is I'm not coming in here with a bunch of decisions, swinging a hacksaw and saying he's going and he's staying."
You can hear Garth's comments on what his direction will be for Atlanta United above. You can hear the Steakhouse daily from 9 am to 11 am.