Two of the most influential members of Atlanta United gave their perspectives Friday morning. Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson and head coach Ronny Deila addressed media following the conclusion of Major League Soccer's Secondary Transfer Window yesterday August 21.
Henderson's 15-minute presser was chock full of valuable insights into his and the club's thinking as they enter the final stretch of the regular season. Deila provided his own views on the club's standing and how the side can better itself in the final eight matches, starting with a midafternoon match against Toronto FC at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. Atlanta United's First Team will take on the Canadian side, then afterward, it'll be Atlanta United Unified playing against Toronto FC Unified in the final game of their season.
Chris Henderson provides club updates
The Secondary Transfer Window is now closed, and the lead man of Atlanta United's player recruitment efforts was active to say the least. Henderson said the club made 12 total transactions, both bringing in new signings and agreeing to trades, sales and contract buyouts.
"It was a busy, busy transfer window," Henderson said after training Friday. "Looking back to the first window, we added the DPs and then we evaluated things. We felt we needed to address the defense immediately [this window], and we did that. I felt like we were aggressive. I felt like we're taking the steps."
The 5-Stripes have four new players in the squad: Leo Afonso, Steven Alzate, Juan Berrocal and Enea Mihaj. All four have made their debuts, and Mihaj has already started two matches. For the three signings who previously played in Europe, getting up to full-90 match fitness is a process that will take multiple appearances, especially considering they were in the middle of their offseason before joining the club.
Henderson wants to see the new players integrate as well as giving some of the young players in the squad opportunities to shine in the final eight matches of the regular season. He mentioned Luke Brennan specifically as a player who could feature.
"I'd really like to see the new players who have come in this summer window and get them integrated, get them building their fitness up," Henderson said. "I want to see our young players who are going to get opportunities to see how they can step up, players that have come up from the second team."
Much of what Henderson discussed revolved around chemistry — how players signed in the last two windows can mesh going forward. It's like putting pieces of a puzzle together, and Henderson said the club will continue to base transfer decisions on how those connections form.
The Sporting Director gave some insight into some of the steps the scouting department takes to evaluate potential signings. Henderson said the club takes seven or eight steps with each player, through developing a scouting report to doing data analysis to interviewing the player and evaluating fit within the current team system.
Though the results haven't come as expected this season, Henderson understands as well as anyone how small changes could drastically change the results. He spoke on his experience at previous clubs dealing with turnover and even called back to his experience going from bottom of the table to top as a player.
"Especially in MLS compared to any other league in the world," Henderson said, "things can change very quickly."
Toronto rematch and focusing internally
After Henderson's presser concluded, it was the gaffer who stepped up to the mic. Deila had his players running short-field seven-on-seven scrimmages in the open portion of Friday's training session. They're ready for a rematch against Toronto FC, a match they drew on the road with a very late equalizing penalty kick from Emmanuel Latte Lath.
They'll look for a convincing three points Sunday afternoon in front of the 17s in MLS play for the first time since July 26. To do so, Deila is looking within at his squad and what they need to do more than what they need to do themselves— not what they need to prevent Toronto from doing.
"It's more about us than it's about them, and that's what I say every game," Deila said. "We need to perform at our best and do it over a longer time."
Taking those bright moments and stretching them over the course of 90 minutes is Deila's key to earning wins down the wire. Atlanta United has produced halves of fluid play and scoring — sometimes the first, sometimes the second. Against Colorado Rapids, a result that got away from the 5-Stripes, they had more expected goals than the home side and possessed nearly 75 percent of the ball on the night.
Deila wants that level of coordination and dominance of the ball for Toronto and going forward. He pointed to Stian Gregersen and Mihaj as crucial to that effort but called on the entire team to contribute to that control.
"Nowadays, you cannot [have] anybody taking shortcuts," Deila said. "... We need to have everybody on the same page, and when they do that, and also when you can keep the ball, you pin them in more."
Atlanta United could leapfrog Toronto in the table with a win, one move of many needed to make the playoffs.
"My eyes see what they see," Deila said. "We need just to get to click the small things that we talk about now to get three points."
