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MLS: Every team’s best starting XI for 2019

By Joshua Bowers

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 08: Atlanta United players celebrate with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy after winning the MLS Cup against the Portland Timbers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta won 2-0. (Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 08: Atlanta United players celebrate with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy after winning the MLS Cup against the Portland Timbers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta won 2-0. (Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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MLS, Atlanta United
ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 08: Atlanta United players celebrate with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy after winning the MLS Cup against the Portland Timbers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta won 2-0. (Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

A look at every MLS team as they approach the start of the 2019 season, determining what their best starting XI for the year ahead.

The MLS regular season kicks off this coming Saturday, March 2nd. In anticipation of it, I am looking at every MLS team and choosing the best starting line-up for each one. I only selected players currently on their team’s roster and I tried to avoid long-term injuries. A few of my lineups will match their real-life counterparts this weekend, when they take the pitch for the first time this season. However, in most cases, I have rearranged the formation, and shuffled the squad to fit the vision I have for each team.

We begin this exercise with a team that needs a formation change following their loss in CONCACAF Champions League last week, reigning champion—Atlanta United FC.

Atlanta United
HEREDIA, COSTA RICA- FEBRUARY 21: Payers of Atlanta United (USA) Dispute the ball with the player players of CS Herediano (CRC), during the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League 2019 at Eladio Stadium Rosabal Cordero on February 21, 2019 in Heredia Costa Rica. (Photo by John Durán/Getty Images) /

Atlanta United

4-3-3

Brad Guzan

RB Franco Escobar

CB Michael Parkhurst

CB Leandro Gonzalez Pirez

LB George Bello

CM Eric Remedi

CM Darlington Nagbe

CM Julian Gressel

RW Gonzalo “Pity” Martinez

LW Tito Villalba

ST Josef Martinez

I have Atlanta United playing with a back-four instead of the back-three they won MLS Cup with and have been sporting for the better part of the last year. This means I need to, regrettably, take Miles Robinson out of the line-up (the bias I hold in MLS is towards Syracuse University players).

Atlanta were lit up by C.S. Herediano last week and they need to be more stable in the back. That means starting Franco Escobar at right=back (once he’s fit). Escobar would stay back more often than not, and Gressel would overlap wide as Pity drifts inside, coming from a central midfield position. I have the goal-dangerous Villalba playing opposite Pity as part of a lethal front-three.

Ezequiel Barco, I found difficult to place. He is a liability in central midfield in a 4-3-3 and I prefer Villalba on the left. Youngster George Bello gets the nod over Brek Shea. I would rather let Bello start and have him play his way out of the line-up, rather than settling on Shea on the onset.

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