The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Focal points: communication, aggression
Under new manager Glass, Atlanta United works to improve.
More frequent communication and more aggressive tactics are two of the biggest differences between Stephen Glass, Atlanta United’s interim manager, and Frank de Boer, Atlanta United’s previous manager, according to two players.
Two of the team’s captains, goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, were made available by the team Monday, the first players made available since the club and de Boer agreed to part ways July 24, a few days after the team lost all three of its games in the league tournament by identical 1-0 scores. Glass was named the interim manager three days later.
Glass will make his debut when Atlanta United hosts Nashville on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I don’t think anything changes overnight. Nothing changes with a snap of the finger and we all of a sudden become world-beaters,” Guzan said. “Over the past three weeks the amount of work being put in from staff, players, has been tremendous. From video before training, to little conversations during training, before training, after training ... understanding how we want to deal with little things during games.”
“We are a young group. You need to talk about this stuff. Iron it out in training so that on match day it’s smooth sailing and everything goes well. We know it’s not going to be perfect, but what we are expecting as a group and as a club is to continue to progress. Need to make sure as players we are going out and doing what’s asked of us.”
Guzan said the amount of conversation with de Boer and his staff “wasn’t happening to the extent it’s happening now.” Guzan said there were conversations between players and de Boer in Orlando in an attempt to get better results, but that it was clear that the team wasn’t playing as a group, and there weren’t plans of attack.
One of the best attacking teams in MLS in 2017 and ’18, when it scored 70 goals each season in 34 games, Atlanta United was the only team of the 24 that competed in Orlando that failed to score.
“When we got home it was for us as a club one of our lowest points in the past 3½, four years,” Larentowicz said.
The team hasn’t scored in four consecutive games across all competitions, a span of 395 minutes. The team has scored four goals in five games.
Under Glass, Larentowicz described video sessions before training, drills during practice to reinforce what was discussed and conversations during practice over and over with the purpose of creating building blocks to make Atlanta United a more potent team.
“It comes with communicating that message and communicating it clearly and doing it in a repetitive nature so that you know exactly what you are doing,” Larentowicz
said. “When guys feel like they know what they are supposed to be doing and are comfortable and feel like his is who I am and this is what I do well and this makes sense to me, then it should give guys confidence.”
Asked if that level of communication and repetition was happening under de Boer, Larentowicz said that he discussed his objectives all the time and theorized the increased communication under Glass may be a result of the compressed time to get the team ready for the next six games.
Tactically, Larentowicz said that Glass has mixed pairings of players, formations and groups to allow players to show who they are.
“Objective is to recapture some of the identity that was lost in the past,” Larentowicz said. “Hopefully you begin to see those on Saturday. I can’t promise that it’s going to be an immediate return, but that’s what we are working toward.”
Guzan said the team is “100%much better” tactically and with its organization in training.
“Who do we want to be as Atlanta United? We want to be this attacking team, and I think the understanding, the responsibilities of everyone on the field, including attacking players of how to exploit space, where to exploit space ... that part has been very good,” he said. “Much better in training. Much more direction. If that direction isn’t clear, then that’s when I’ll go back to having those little conversations (with coaching staff ).”