The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Martino, Atlanta United seem like a perfect fit,
Martino reached out to club, impressed bosses with MLS knowledge.
When he was envisioning a list of candidates to become his MLS expansion team’s first manager, Atlanta United President Darren Eales never thought of Gerardo Martino.
Men who have managed Barcelona and Argentina, as Martino has done, aren’t usually tied to the MLS, much less to expansion teams in the improving league.
But an interesting thing about soccer is that a manager is sometimes just a few losses away from becoming available.
Such was what happened with Martino, who resigned in early July after his Argentina team lost to Chile in the finals of the Copa America for the second consecutive year.
Less than three months later, Martino was introduced as Atlanta United’s new manager Wednesday at the World of Coca-Cola in Centennial Park. He takes a job in a country where he has never managed a team, a country where he has vacationed but never lived. The professional and cultural challenges are obvious but Martino, 53, said he is thrilled by the challenges.
“I’m very happy to be in Atlanta and to join Atlanta United,” Martino said in English before switching back to his native Spanish.
The hire was of such impact in the soccer world that 20 camera crews, including from Univision and ESPN, and more than 25 U.S.based journalists attended. The news conference was also broadcast live on Facebook.
Such world-wide level of interest was one reason Eales was skeptical when Martino first contacted him about the job. Eales didn’t use the word leverage, but he said plenty of coaches and players have reached out to him in the past, only to fade away. Eales is seeking personnel at the new club who are enthusiastic about being pioneers.
But knowing this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Eales moved quickly. He and Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra flew to Rosario in Martino’s native Argentina in late July.
“We knew from a personality fit, a football philosophy fit that Tata would be of real interest to Atlanta United,” Eales said. They met for lunch at noon. Eales and Bocanegra were surprised to see Martino brought a notebook filled observations on other MLS teams, including their personnel, formations and tactics. Eales and Bocanegra realized perhaps Martino wasn’t trying to use Atlanta United to gain for a better deal with another club. Martino said he’d also familiarized himself with the arcane and unique rules of player acquisition used by MLS.
Plates of steak and pork came and went. The trio discussed tactics, using salt shakers and napkins to diagram Martino’s pressing style and how he can make it work with varieties of formations.
“I could tell at that moment that this was going to be a great fit, not just from a cultural sense but from a football philosophy,” Eales said.
The only interruptions occurred when fans of Martino would ask him to sign everything from napkins to plates, which Eales said he’s never seen before.
Six hours later, as people were coming into the restaurant for dinner, the meeting was still going. What was going to be a courtesy interview had turned into a meeting so long that Eales almost missed his flight home.
Martino visited Atlanta several times afterwards, including twice this month. He toured Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Atlanta United will play, as well as the headquarters under construction in Marietta. He took in two training sessions for the team’s academy players, an important element to Martino, Bocanegra and Eales who all know that’s the pipeline from which first-teamers will flow
Though Eales said they were in constant communication with Martino, no contract was signed. Other candidates, including Seattle’s Sigi Schmid, were tied in reports to Atlanta United. Club America, a powerhouse club in Mexico, began looking for a new manager. But Eales waited and finally, within the past few days, the deal was completed.