Atlanta United: Depth and talent key for historic season

With Atlanta United having a shot to make history in both the Champions League and MLS in 2019, the depth and talent on the bench will be vital.

As teams all around Major League Soccer get their feet on the pitch for the first time in 2019, the Five Stripes of Atlanta had to make a quick turn around after defeating Costa Rican side Herediano 4-0 on Thursday and advancing 5-3 on aggregate in the CONCACAF Champions League. And now, with the MLS season underway, it is clear that the depth and talent of this Atlanta United squad will be vital if they want to make the 2019 season one for the history books.

Ask any fan in MLS and they will tell you that depth in any position is necessary for any shot at winning a championship. With so many midweek matches throughout the year, a solid bench that can grab you points is a necessity for successful teams in the league. Adding the CCL on top of the MLS season, and you have a recipe for disaster for any club not prepared to take on the match-heavy schedule.

Teams may be tempted to ignore one side of the schedule to focus on another competition — see the 2018 Toronto FC team as an example. But in order to avoid the fallout of the Reds, talented players coming off the bench fresh is as important as any piece of the puzzle. And thankfully for the Five Stripe faithful, this team has more than enough depth and talent to compete in CCL while avoiding the complete fallout fans saw last season.

The talent in the starting XI is clear enough, with players like Gonzalo “Pity” Martinez and Josef Martinez already scoring goals, the team has more than enough talent to compete at the highest level of CONCACAF soccer — and, it must be said, so do the other MLS sides competing in the competition, with four of the five teams advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

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But what separates Atlanta United from the other squads will be their ability to grab points in MLS while also advancing in the tournament. Fans are already feeling the quick turn around with the season-opening loss to D.C. United coming only two days after defeating Herediano and only two days before heading to Mexico to face off against Mexican powerhouse Monterrey.

But fans have no need to worry, even with the opening defeat — as an aside, remember that Atlanta opened last season with a 4-0 hammering at the hands of the Houston Dynamo. With players like Hector “Tito” Villalba, rising star George Bello, Jeff Larentowitz, and Miles Robinson once Franco Escobar returns coming off the bench, this team has as good of a bench as any and will be vital if the Five Stripes want to make history in the 2019 season.

Atlanta United continues onto the 2019 season with the chance of a lifetime in front of them, but the task is more than daunting for the new darlings of MLS. But with this amount of talent and depth, they just might be able to pull it off.