Atlanta United: Who was the best newcomer in 2018?

Who was the best Atlanta United newcomer in 2018? Since the team won MLS Cup, there were certainly many newcomers that contributed in a large way. But which of them was the best?

2018 saw the 16-year-old George Bello make his Atlanta United first-team debut. It saw Ezequiel Barco come in as the most expensive transfer into MLS in history. It saw Franco Escobar light up the MLS Cup playoffs with goals and assists. And it saw Eric Remedi and Darlington Nagbe strengthen the spine of the team into an MLS Cup-winning side.

But who was the best newcomer for Atlanta United in 2018? Let’s examine all of them and make a determination. Let me know in the comments who you think was the team’s best newcomer this year.

The Newcomers

Here are the players who saw first-team minutes with Atlanta United for the first time in 2018:

Ezequiel Barco
George Bello
Franco Escobar
Jose Hernandez
Darlington Nagbe
Eric Remedi
Miles Robinson
Romario Williams
Sal Zizzo

I’m eliminating several players because they just didn’t play enough minutes to be all that impactful. While I really liked Bello’s debut, and hope he gets significantly increased chances in 2019, he doesn’t make my cut. Similarly, Miles Robinson did great when called upon — I hope he is called on more often this coming year. Others who didn’t have a major impact include Jose Hernandez (17 minutes with the first team), Romario Williams (averaged less than 13 minutes per appearance), and Sal Zizzo (only was able to play in 6 games before getting hurt.)

The Contenders

Ezequiel Barco: Barco had a very strong start to his Atlanta United career. After making his AUFC debut in mid-April against NYCFC, Barco started the team’s next 15 MLS games, scoring 4 times and drawing the most fouls on the team. However, he was suspended by the club for unannounced reasons in mid-July, and struggled to find his form again in the regular season. He was used off the bench in the playoffs, primarily to hold onto the ball, which he was excellent doing, and draw fouls (also excellent.)

Franco Escobar: Escobar came to Atlanta primarily as a center-back, but was used primarily as a right-back or right wing-back. I believe this transition led to his relatively slow start with the team. Added to that was the fact that he was hurt twice by collisions with Brad Guzan in the first half of the year, and Escobar was slow rounding into form. He played in 22 matches (20 starts) in the regular season, scoring one goal, with 0 assists.

Something definitely clicked for Escobar in the playoffs, during which he made a case to be the team’s most valuable player. He had 2 goals and 2 assists in the 5 games (all starts), including a goal and assist in the 3-0 win against Red Bulls and the game-sealing score against Portland in the MLS Cup final. When Escobar turned it on, he was crucial to the team’s success.

Darlington Nagbe: Nagbe came to the Five Stripes from Portland, where he was a “known quantity,” a solid player who never quite lived up to his potential (or, at least, many experts voiced this opinion.) Nagbe was inserted into the central midfield at Atlanta and left there. He provided excellent possession and passing, completing over 89% of his passes for the year. According to Who Scored, Nagbe had fewer bad touches and was dispossessed fewer times/game than even Miguel Almiron! Given Almiron’s deserved reputation as the best player in MLS, Nagbe’s stats show his very high skill level.

Eric Remedi: Remedi came to the Five Stripes as a mid-season transfer, playing in only 13 regular season games, with 12 starts. Once he was put in the starting lineup against Montreal at the end of July, he never came out. Not for a single minute. He was the team’s “midfield destroyer,” shielding the back line from attacks up the center of the pitch. In the playoffs, Tata Martino often used Remedi to man mark the opposing team’s best player, and Remedi was a huge part of the reason why Atlanta did not allow a single goal from open play in the playoffs.

Best Newcomer

Who was the best Atlanta United newcomer in 2018? Since the team won MLS Cup, there were certainly many players that contributed in a large way, including many newcomers. For me, it comes down to Escobar, Nagbe, and Remedi. All missed a good chunk of the regular season, through injury or not being on the roster. All three played every minute of the playoffs (except for Nagbe, who was subbed in the last minute of the home NYCFC game as a time-wasting move). But who was actually the best?

I’m giving the nod to Remedi. The team was definitely unsettled when Carlos Carmona transferred out just before the start of the season. The team lacked steel until they acquired Remedi in June. He was a calming influence and a stalwart defensively in the hardest position on the field. And he absolutely owned the opposing teams’ stars in the playoffs, shutting them down completely. For these reasons, Eric Remedi is the Atlanta United Newcomer of the Year.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.