Atlanta United: From Fusion to Super Martinez Bros

The Pity Martinez signing is official and the probability of Miguel Almiron leaving is high. How do Atlanta United go from one player pairing to another?

Gonzalo “Pity” Martinez is officially in Atlanta, signed to a long-term deal and training with the first team. His first task is to get fit and integrate into the team. His next task, of course, is to prepare for the CONCACAF Champions League. But Martinez also has another important objective with Atlanta United: replacing Miguel Almiron.

Although it is far from official, Almiron is expected to be sold by Atlanta in this January transfer window, which closes in a matter of days. Rumors abound, but the leading suitor seems to be Newcastle United. It’s safe to assume, since it has been their plan from the beginning, that Atlanta will find a way to sell Almiron.

With Almiron leaving and Martinez incoming, it is time to take a look at how the team might function similarly, or differently, with Pity on the field instead of Miguel. Of course, with Frank de Boer at the helm instead of Tata Martino, this will be a bit of a guessing game. This aspect of Atlanta United’s first team needs a look anyway.

Miggy and Josef

In just the first two seasons of Atlanta United’s existence, both Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez became quick fan favorites. With Almiron’s award-winning smile and Martinez’s knack for goal-scoring, it was easy for supporters to take a liking to the pair.

The fan favorites endeared themselves even further with a Dragon Ball Z inspired “fusion” celebration. Now there are scarves, phone screen wallpapers, and even Snapchat filters highlighting the celebration among Five Stripes supporters. But what made the “fusion” work?

Martinez’s position on the field as a center-forward hardly ever changed in Martino’s tactics and formations. Even when Atlanta played in a 3-5-2 or 5-3-2, Martinez would clearly take a higher positioning up the field than his attacking counterpart.

Most of the time, Almiron played centrally, setting up goals from midfield or springing attacks and counter-attacks. More recently, Almiron began to play wide-left but would move inside to serve his playmaking role on the field. As the Five Stripes altered their tactics for the playoffs, Almiron still played wide-left but moved higher up the field to form more of a forward partnership with Martinez.

Almiron almost always served as a set-up man for Martinez. Occasionally Martinez would return the favor, but their roles didn’t often change.

Martinez Bros

They are yet to play together, but Josef Martinez and Pity Martinez are going to provide a different looking Atlanta United squad. Pity is a different player than Miguel Almiron and his relationship with Martinez is going to be different. Unfortunately, fusion is gone. But the Martinez Bros can now begin their work.

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Based on how Pity played for River Plate, how Martinez has played under Tata the last two years, and how Frank de Boer might roll out an Atlanta line up, here’s what we might expect:

• De Boer to use a 4-3-3
• Pity on the left
• Pity drifting inside as a playmaker
• Martinez up top

Assuming de Boer uses a 4-3-3, there will be many options for how the Martinez Bros relationship works. Martinez will most likely stay up top in a center forward position just like he did under Tata (why fix what isn’t broken?). Since Pity is predominantly left-footed, he will most likely start on the left side. At River Plate, he tended to drift around the field, but especially into the middle. Since that role played to his strengths, I expect we will see more of that.

Depending on who starts on the right wing, we may see a variation of the 4-3-3. If Hector Villalba starts at the right wing position, I think we will see more of a 4-3-1-2 with Pity acting as a central attacking midfielder. Villalba would pair up top with Martinez. If Julian Gressel starts at right wing, he may tend to drop off into a more central role, creating a 4-3-2-1 while pairing with Pity behind Martinez, who would stay up top.

Because of the fluid nature of Pity’s playing style, his relationship with Martinez will be vastly different from Almiron’s. We may expect more of an attacking pairing from the two, as opposed to how Almiron acted more as a setup man for Martinez. Regardless, Atlanta’s supporters should anticipate and be excited for a different style from Pity, as much as they love Almiron.