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In what feels like the blink of an eye since last season’s feel-good playoff run, Atlanta United is nearly back and ready to embark upon arguably it’s most ambitious season in MLS since the team stood atop the mountain and lifting MLS Cup in 2018.

They’ll do it with a fascinating cast of characters, headlined by the return of Miguel Almiron, the player who spearheaded the most successful run in club history. He’s surrounded by a supporting cast that is as talent-laden as the club has had to offer since Almiron was last wearing the five stripes. And led by a young, proven head coach in Ronny Deila who won MLS Cup with New York City FC in 2021.

Here we break down everything you need to know ahead of the campaign kicking off in just a matter of days.

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What’s new for Atlanta United in 2025?

by Rob Usry

Midway through last season Garth Lagerwey made a difficult decision. Seeing how things were trending, he virtually pulled the plug on 2024 by parting ways with both

Sthe manager and technical director. He also sold the team’s two Designated Players and most important on-field figures in Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis. A rebuild was triggered.

Fast forward six months and Atlanta United has transformed in front of our eyes. Chris Henderson was brought in to reunite with Lagerwey in an attempt to recreate their past success in Seattle. Their first huge decision was to hire Ronny Deila as new manager.

With a whole new front office in place, the attention turned to the product on the field. Two DP spots needed to be filled in a short period of time. With the lack of starpower on the team and the fans understandably upset after another disappointing season, one move helped address both of those issues at one.

Miguel Almiron’s return to Atlanta was one most fans hoped to see but few expected. His acquisition lit a spark under the fan base unlike we’ve seen since 2018.

The club still needed to go out and get a pure goal scorer with the second DP spot. That’s where they dropped a huge amount of money on speedster (91 PACE) Latte Lath. A new MLS record $22 million transfer fee was dished out by Atlanta. A revamped attack now looks poised to terrorize MLS.

In addition to a couple of huge signings in the attack, the club also addressed their depth with the arrivals of midfielder Mateusz Klich and forward Cayman Togashi.

With new players, new management, and new decision makers in place, it’s a brand new era of Atlanta United. One that is hopefully exciting and finally returns the club to its winning ways.

Hey, Rob. Sam here. Longtime fan, first time section interjecter. Did Atlanta do enough here? Kind of seems like pretty much the same group as last year in the middle and bottom of the roster.

Here’s the thing. Someone forgot to tell last year’s core group that they were giving up on the season. There was a lot of great things to build on at the end of last season and on into the playoffs. Rob Valentino galvanized the remaining squad and started to build a very nice base.

A total rebuild of the roster really wasn’t necessary. The big aspects of the squad that held it back in the second half of 2024 was not having those impact attacking players to win you games. Of course the roster isn’t perfect as we head into this new season but it is vastly improved with the additions of two star attackers.

The good news is there are mechanisms in place to allow flexibility if we head into the summer with glaring needs. With buyouts at their disposal, if a need arises, they should be able to address it.

For my money, the offseason was a roaring success that has set up this team to realistically compete in 2025.

Digging into the data

by J. Sam Jones

We can start where we ended: 2024 Atlanta United put together one of the unluckiest seasons in MLS history until things swung back the other way at just the right time to knock off Inter Miami.

Let’s lay it out with some help from our friends over at American Soccer Analysis. 2024 Atlanta United created 1.64 xG per game, the eighth-best mark in MLS. They scored 1.32 goals per game, the seventh-worst mark in MLS. No one in MLS had a larger disparity last season. Only six MLS teams since 2013 (as far back as ASA’s database goes) have had worse finishing luck.

If we go more advanced, Atlanta were the second-most underperforming team in MLS last season. Atlanta earned 1.18 points per game while creating and denying chances at rate that ASA associates with a team that typically earns 1.51 points per game. Only Chicago caught a worse break last year based on their chances created and allowed.

If we go even more advanced, my totally infallible power ratings that take into account multiple predictive metrics including expected points and goals added had Atlanta United as the fifth-best team in the East and eighth-best team in MLS. I remain pretty convinced that Edwin Mosquera’s backpass against Philadelphia that kickstarted that led to dropped points and a run of form that got Gonzalo Pineda fired is last year’s sliding doors moment. The timeline where he does literally anything else probably included Atlanta making the playoffs with ease last season.

Long story made short, the numbers suggest 2024 Atlanta United existed much closer to good than great but much closer to good than mediocre. A healthy side with some luck and an adequate Thiago Almada replacement in midsummer does pretty well. Instead, we had to wait for the Inter Miami series for them to show those signs of life.

The good news is that the 2025 side looks even better on paper and hasn’t run into any of those injury/luck issues…yet. Hope springs eternal. And there’s a lot of reason to believe that a slightly better, average luck-having version of last year’s team puts up a lot of points in MLS.

In particular, the numbers suggest this guy will have a lot to do with that.

I wrote about it more extensively here, but Latte Lath is the most exciting Atlanta United signing since Pity Martinez. The difference between him and Pity is that Latte Lath actually has the numbers to back it up and not just vague things like “South American Player of the Year”, whatever that means.

There’s your biggest individual reason for hope right there. Every indication is that Latte Lath is as sure a bet as they come. Throw him into a team that already should have been much higher in the standings last season and things should be just fine.

We would stop there, but this is Five Stripe Final. We do have to talk about the biggest individual reason for concern. At least by the numbers.

This is a very good chart after a very good season from Brad Guzan. A truly remarkable season considering his age and injury history. His numbers were among the best in the league last year. The question is whether or not you can expect him to do it again entering his age 41 season.

The answer is that I don’t know. No one is getting rich betting against Guzan as of late. I certainly whiffed on last year’s offseason projection that Josh Cohen would be starting by the end of 2024. But the bottom line is that players typically don’t improve in their age 41 season and Guzan’s 2024 hasn’t been the norm during his time in Atlanta.

The thing is that, much like last year, Atlanta doesn’t really need him to be spectacular. League-average shot-stopping performances like the ones he put up in 2018 and 2019 will be just fine. If he can outdo those, even better. There’s no guarantee of that though. With his age, there’s always a worry things trend more toward 2023. We just don’t know which Guzan we’re going to get. From a pure numbers perspective, that makes him the most volatile player on the team.

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What will the team look like tactically under Ronny Deila?

by Joe Patrick

After a lengthy process that played out over the course of several months dating back to last summer’s firing of Gonzalo Pineda, Garth Lagerwey and Chris Henderson landed on Ronny Deila to lead Atlanta United in 2025 and beyond.

Why? And what will the team look like under the Norweigan’s employ? Let’s first look at the shape and preferred starting XI.

The team basically picks itself, which is a credit to the way the roster is built by Garth Lagerwey and (to a lesser extent) Chris Henderson. Atlanta has devoted almost all of its extra goodies in the form of various Garberbucks and roster mechanisms to its starting unit. This is it. The cavalry is here.

In essence, the M.O. for Deila will be the K.I.S.S. mantra. Give the players instructions they can understand and execute with confidence. Atlanta has paid many pretty pennies to ensure they have the most talented group on the field no matter the opponent. So long as Deila has them functioning at least at breakeven efficiency, they should be successful.

The Tactics

How Deila will ask these players to operate has plenty of familiarity with what Gonzalo Pineda attempted but failed to implement. In particular, there are two key areas that Deila will look to improve from Pineda’s version of Atlanta United: an ability to win the ball back quickly/higher up the field and role clarity across the unit.

What are those roles? Let’s define what the starters will be tasked with:

Guzan: With the team playing higher up the field, Guzan will be much more of a sweeper – covering the large amount of space between him and his back line.

Amador/Lennon: Not much different from these two offensive-minded fullbacks, but there’s reason to think they can affect games even more with inverted wingers ahead of them instead of wingers on their natural sides like Pineda preferred.

Williams/Gregersen: Your classic stopper/cover combination in defense. Williams is the savvy veteran (similar to a Michael Parkhurst) while Gregersen can use his athleticism to chase down counter attacking forwards.

Slisz/Klich: Deila will go for a classic double pivot here with the players counterbalancing each other when one decides to go forward. But expect Klich to have more leeway in this regard, while Slisz will be more of the defensive stalwart.

Saba Lobjanidze: Saba will play direct and with a nose for goal – almost like a striker himself but playing from in off the left side. He’s shown an impressive shooting ability with his right foot, and looks primed to take advantage of opponents overly compensating for Atlanta’s other pieces.

Miguel Almiron: Nominally playing the same inverted wing role as Saba, Almiron will have much more freedom to move around the field to get on the ball and affect play. Still expect Almiron to be a premium “connecting” counter-attacking player that is the link between Latte Lath and the rest of the unit.

Alexey Miranchuk: Alex is Atlanta United’s point guard. He’ll float around the pitch to create overloads and will be instrumental in the team’s ability to speed up/slow down the pace and provide incisive passes into the box for the goalscorers.

Latte Lath: Run very fast into the channels and win the Golden Boot.

What does the competition look like in the Eastern Conference?

by J. Sam Jones

I figure the best way to go about understanding Atlanta United’s place in the East this year is to do some Doyleing and throw these teams into tiers. Here’s what I got—with the obvious caveat that moves can still be made and the even more obvious caveat that it’s MLS and no one knows anything literally ever.

Tier 5: Prayer, though powerful, is perhaps not enough: Toronto FC, DC United

It would be one of the upsets of the year if neither of these teams wins the Wooden Spoon.

Tier 4: Man, probably not. But also, MLS: New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, Nashville SC, CF Montréal, NYCFC

I’m not convinced any of these teams will be any good, but there’s just enough MLS in each of them to suggest that one of them will inexplicably earn 53 points and win a playoff series. Basically, we’re talking about teams with either middling rosters or rosters that appear middling but that we have no real idea about in practice.

Maybe Philadelphia and their revamped Energy Drink Soccer game model find a way to rack up points just because “high press go brrr.” Maybe New England’s completely refreshed roster ft. Carles Gil does the traditional Caleb Porter team thing. Maybe NYCFC adds three of the greatest young players in MLS in like late March and gets their life together by the end of the season. These are all things that are on the table.

Tier 3: I don’t think you’re a contender right now, but I’m intrigued: Chicago Fire FC, Orlando City

This is preseason ranking purgatory in the East. But both Chicago and Orlando have earned their spots here. Chicago did it by finally getting rid of their (very bad at their job) sporting director and bringing in Gregg Berhalter—a very good MLS coach if you forgot—to finally turn Chicago’s big spending into a winning product. They should be much improved this year and set to break a long playoff drought. Then again…it’s the Fire.

Meanwhile, our dear friends in Orlando have huge question marks. They shipped off Facundo Torres and brought in a replacement from…[checking]...the Croatia HNL Football League. His name is Marco Pašalić and he had four goals and three assists in what’s typically regarded as somewhere around the 19th best league…in Europe. On paper, it’s straight up one of the worst DP signings I’ve ever seen. In real life…man, I don’t know, it’s MLS.

They also lost their excellent central midfielder Wilder Cartegana to an Achilles tear in preseason. They somehow found a way to replace him with an even better player: Longtime LAFC standout Eduard Atuesta. We’ll call it a wash and just go ahead and expect them to be a typical, slow-starting, strong-closing Oscar Pareja team. For better or worse.

Tier 2: Probably real good but there are questions: Atlanta United, Columbus Crew, Charlotte FC, Inter Miami

Altanta spent a ton of money but technically only added two players to a team that finished ninth in the East last year.

Columbus just lost their single-best player in team history and will not be able to replace him in the aggregate or otherwise. There aren’t many Cucho’s laying around waiting to come to MLS.

Charlotte are going to play great defense but still have an unproven attack.

And Inter Miami are coming off the most overperforming season in MLS history by a hilarious margin. Like even if you take out Messi and Suarez, they basically put up 2022 Austin levels of overperformance. Have they really gotten that much better this offseason to correct all their defensive issues, many of which stem from the front? I’m not convinced.

All that being said, it’s not hard to envision these teams racking up points. Even with their flaws.

Tier 1: A surefire contender on paper

FC Cincinnati

They held the MLS transfer record for a while until Atlanta brought in Latte Lath. Kevin Denkey should be an excellent fit as a $16 million striker. Lucho Acosta is gone, but Evander should be a more than adequate replacement. And we know they’re going to play great defense. Their ceiling may not be quite as high without Lucho, but their floor still seems higher than everyone elses.

Predictions

MVP

Who leads the way for the team?

Joe: Miguel Almiron. While Emmanuel Latte Lath might be the betting favorite to actually win team MVP in the minds of national pundits and fan sentiment, Almiron will be the player who pushes the team game-in game-out and be the impetus for the style of play that Ronny Deila will wish to implement in Atlanta.

Rob: Alexey Miranchuk. Garth Lagerwey’s sole mission in life is to prove once and for all he made a great signing in Alexey Miranchuk. Any time a microphone went in front of his face this winter, he mentioned the goal of the offseason was putting players around Alexey to unlock his best abilities. The team seems to have done just that and I think we finally see the real Miranchuk. He leads the league in assists and approaches double digits in goals.

Sam: Latte Lath. To be blunt here: Latte Lath is technically the only member of this bunch to have the stats in recent seasons to back up the incoming hype. It’s not just his excellent numbers in the Championship though. He immediately stands out on tape thanks to his on-ball ability inside the 18 and, of course, his pace. He’s as confident as I’ve been in a major Atlanta United signing in a long time. Maybe ever. This is not a jinx you legally can’t say this is a jinx or you will go to jail. No one say this is a jinx.

Breakout player

Who takes a big step forward in 2025?

Joe: Stian Gregersen. This version of Atlanta United doesn’t have a ton of young players who are poised to take significant first-team action. Typically candidates for this type of award are those who go from little-known to important first-team players. So I’m going with Gregersen, who got a full offseason of rest and, with some better injury luck, will establish himself as one of the best defenders in the league.

Rob: Bartek Slisz. While we’ve seen glimpses of brilliance, we really haven’t witnessed the best of Bartek so far in Atlanta. With a more defined role within the team and a consistent lineup around him, I think this is the season he proves why the club invested so much money in him. If Atlanta’s midfield is going to succeed this season it will need to be on his back.

Sam: Bartek Slisz. Rob and Joe are spot on here. For Atlanta United to be successful this year, Gregersen and Slisz need to take major steps forward in year two. There’s plenty of reason to think both will. It’s a bit more straightforward for Gregersen. Just stay healthy and stop being Norwegian Scott Sterling. We know he has the physical skillset and overall tools to be a quality MLS center-back. For Slisz, it’s a bit more than that. His performances left a lot to be desired last year. A consistent role in Ronny Deila’s well-defined double pivot should allow him to take a step forward…if he’s truly capable of it. I think he is. But he has a lot to prove in 2025.

Over/unders

O/U 46.5 goals scored. Does 2025 Atlanta outscore 2024 Atlanta?

Rob: Over. I’m drinking the kool-aid until it kills me. I trust that Garth has done a great job with this rebuild and it’s time to reap the rewards of his hard work. Obviously health is the most important factor. If all three DPs and Saba can stay fit and develop chemistry early, we could see something special up top.

Joe: Obviously over. Last year was dismal offensively and the primary effort from the front office this offseason has been to make Atlanta United a more potent attacking unit. The better question is whether with Atlanta United team can beat the 2017 and 2018 versions that each scored 70 goals (a then-MLS record).

Sam: Uhhhhh we really should have rethought this line, huh? Anyway, just a reminder that Atlanta United underperformed their xG created by more than any other team in MLS last season. The numbers suggest that if they had just been an average finishing team (based on skill and/or luck but mostly luck) they would have finished with 56 goals. The attack should be much better this year.

O/U 49.5 goals allowed. Does 2025 Atlanta allow fewer than 2024 Atlanta?

Rob: Over. The team is already starting the season shorthanded at the back. With age, injuries, and inevitable regression from a career year for a 40-year-old goalkeeper, it just seems destined to be a weak spot for the team under a new manager. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Joe: Reluctant over. Last year’s Atlanta United team was sneaky-good defensively, finishing T4 in MLS in fewest goals conceded. However, both the aforementioned Tata Martino teams came in below this number, so it’s very possible. But under Deila, who will play with a higher line and potentially a more open style of play, there could be some bedding-in issues.

Sam: Over. Probably. For all the reasons Rob and Joe have listed. But not by much. The comp I’ve made for this team multiple times this offseason is last year’s attack-minded LA Galaxy side. They gave up 50 goals in the regular season. They were just fine. But, yeah, for all the speed out wide and up top, there’s next to none in central midfield and Guzan trending back downward is a scary prospect.

O/U 0.5 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Awards

Rob: Under. Sorry. I’m a betting man and the odds are in favor of the field. If Miggy has a season we all know he’s capable of having he certainly has the brand name recognition to get the votes. But if I had to throw a wager down, it’d probably go to someone like Evander or Bouanga.

Sam: Under. Did Leo Messi die?

Joe: Over. Latte Lath has everything setup for him to make an MVP run this year. It feels like only injuries could stop him from being among the two or three true contenders.

O/U 2.5 All-Stars

Rob: Over! Another cup of kool-aid please. Amador makes it back in time to prove he’s the best attacking fullback in the league. Three of the attacking four make it in. There’s also a dark horse candidate that I have in mind that I’ll hit on down below…

Sam: Over. And if one of them isn’t Pedro Amador I will lose faith in the world’s foremost single entity soccer institution’s ability to pick their most All of their stars. Who is more All than Pedro Amador? Please MLS. This is all I have left.

Joe: Over. If Almiron and Latte Lath are both presumed All-Stars, then it’d be shocking if one of Miranchuk, Saba, Pedro Amador, or any other regular starter doesn’t get in. This result will correlate with team success or lack thereof.

From 1-10 (no lower) where does Atlanta United finish in the Eastern Conference?

Rob: 3. I feel like the team gets off to a slowish start, hanging around the middle of the table for the first half of the season. They figure it out in the summer but are unable to catch Cincy or another surprise team like the Red Bulls.

Sam: I’ve got them 4th. My call is they’ll be behind FC Cincinnati (stacked lineup, great defense), Inter Miami (Messi, some defense) and Charlotte FC (all defense, destined to pile up points in MLS for game model reasons). The range though is anywhere between Shield-winner and play-in game again. It’s the widest gap between ceiling and floor I can remember for an ATLUTD team coming out of the offseason.

Joe: 2. It’s a tough conference, but this Atlanta United best eleven is as good as we’ve seen since 2019. This team will be held to a high standard by all parties including themselves, and home field advantage in a playoff series will certainly be a team objective this season.

Say something wild.

The FSF Gang Takes A Wild Guess.

Sam: Edwin Mosquera becomes known throughout the league (by sickos). Mosquera’s hilariously good underlying numbers (per 90, it’s very important you remember that they’re per 90) have me somewhat convinced. His clearly defined role as a “run fast, get ball, kick ball in net” super sub has me a little more convinced. He’ll become known around the league this year as the kid who subs in at 70 minutes and keeps finding ways to make things happen for Atlanta United. Like, eight-plus goal contributions off the bench for Edwin and like three mentions on Soccerwise.

Joe: Xande Silva will double his career Atlanta United goal tally by scoring at least seven times this season. He may even do it in about as many minutes as he received last year alone (1540) given that he’s likely to be a substitute more often than not. But the substitute role is one that is seemingly perfect for him, and he could often be adding Atlanta’s 3rd of 4th goals of games this season in the final 15 minutes.

Rob: Mateusz Klich plays like a fourth DP. My bold take is that Klich is better than almost everyone is expecting and plays a huge role in the team’s success. He even flirts with making the All-Star team. His trade will go down as one of the most shrewd moves in club history.

Atlanta United wins a trophy if…

Sam: If the press/counterpress becomes revitalized. You have more speed than ever up top. To make it count in a possession-based system, you have to, at times, create your own transition moments. Especially in MLS. Otherwise, teams are going to sit in a low block, make life difficult and then have no problem breaking the other way. Atlanta has been an atrocious pressing team for years now. They don’t have to be 2017 or anything. But if the press remains limp, rest defense becomes an issue as Atlanta’s attack gets flustered by low blocks, and the opportunities in transition don’t come, well, this probably just feels like a Gonzalo Pineda-era team with more talent. That’s a top-four team in the East. It’s probably not a trophy-winning team.

Joe: Brad Guzan can reproduce the 70th percentile he hit last year in post-shot xG minus goals allowed (the primary shot-stopping metric). He’s likely to have a more challenging year given Atlanta’s expected higher line. If he can deal with that change, Atlanta should be in good shape in all phases of the game.

Rob: Latte Lath, Almiron, Miranchuk, and Saba start at least 20 games together. We all know injuries are the biggest hindrance to success when it comes to Atlanta United. If the high-powered attack can stay relatively healthy and develop chemistry together, it will bode well for the team winning something this season.