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Atlanta United: Analyzing the expansion draft selections

By John Harbeck

ATLANTA, GA JULY 17: Atlanta's Mo Adams (29) moves the ball up the field during the MLS match between Houston Dynamo and Atlanta United FC on July 17th, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA JULY 17: Atlanta's Mo Adams (29) moves the ball up the field during the MLS match between Houston Dynamo and Atlanta United FC on July 17th, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Atlanta United protected 12 players ahead of Tuesday’s expansion draft, in which Inter Miami and Nashville SC will select five players each. But did they make the right choices? We analyze their selections here.

Yet another round of MLS expansion kicks off on Tuesday with Inter Miami and Nashville SC both selecting up to five players. Every other existing club can only have one player stolen from their roster while protecting 12 others. So, did Atlanta United protect the right players?

First, how does this work? Each club can protect up to twelve players from their existing roster. In addition to that, each club has its homegrown and Generation Adidas players protected automatically. Designated Players are not automatically protected. Finally, players who have an expiring contract are still considered part of the current roster and can be protected, too. Inter Miami and Nashville SC will then select from the remaining players.

For Atlanta United, then, protecting the right players such that crucial pieces of their team are removed is vital. The current roster as of Friday sits at 29 players, but that also includes obvious subtractions to the roster such as Michael Parkhurst who is retiring.

Here is your current Atlanta United roster:

  1. Brad Guzan
  2. Franco Escobar
  3. Florentin Pogba
  4. Leandro González Pírez
  5. Josef Martínez (DP)
  6. Ezequiel Barco (DP)
  7. Pity Martínez (DP)
  8. Eric Remedi
  9. Miles Robinson (GA)
  10. Brendan Moore
  11. Justin Meram
  12. Héctor Villalba
  13. Emerson Hyndman (on loan from Bournemouth)
  14. Jeff Larentowicz
  15. Brandon Vazquez
  16. Brek Shea
  17. George Bello (HG)
  18. Mikey Ambrose
  19. Lagos Kunga (HG)
  20. Julian Gressel
  21. Alec Kann
  22. Chris Goslin (HG)
  23. Dion Pereira
  24. Mo Adams (GA)
  25. Andrew Carleton (HG)
  26. Luiz Fernando
  27. Kevin Kratz
  28. George Campbell (HG)
  29. Jon Gallagher

The automatically protected players are George Campbell, Andrew Carleton, Lagos Kunga, Chris Goslin and George Bello. That leaves 23 players to choose twelve from.

The way the roster sets up, there were 11 very obvious candidates for protection: Brad Guzan, Franco Escobar, Leandro González Pírez, Miles Robinson, Josef Martínez, Ezequiel Barco, Pity Martínez, Eric Remedi, Héctor Villalba, Emerson Hyndman, and Julian Gressel.

Take heart Atlanta United fans, that list includes all of the starting eleven for most of the season and several key depth players. To me, this left several options for the final protected spot and with that there comes some strategy into how Inter Miami and Nashville might look to build their rosters. Those who were in contention for that 12th spot were Jeff Larentowicz, Justin Meram, Florentin Pogba, Brek Shea, Dion Pereira and Mo Adams, the latter not counting as an automatically protected player due to graduating from Generation Adidas.

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With these options, the Atlanta United front office considered three factors in their strategy. What kind of salary these five players are on, age, and how important they are to the club’s tactics moving forward. Given these factors, it seemed as though the selection came down to Pereira or Pogba. They played more prominent roles than any others, are both younger than Larentowicz and Meram and are currently inexpensive enough at $56,250 and $324,000 respectively to maintain roster flexibility.

The reasoning behind leaving Larentowicz, Meram and Shea unprotected is simple. Larentowicz will turn 37 next season, Meram is on a large $678,754 salary and Shea is easily replaced by a healthy Bello next season. Leaving Larentowicz unprotected is a risky move given what he means to the club, but at that age, the idea is that the two expansion clubs won’t select a one-year rental type player.

But Atlanta United saw it differently. They protected Mo Adams, who was acquired from the Chicago Fire earlier in the season. Bar Pereira, he is the youngest of the group and likely figures to see more game time than the former Watford striker given the departure of Mikey Ambrose, the retirement of Parkhurst and the everpresent prominence of Josef Martinez.

After all that debate, this is the unprotected list from Atlanta United:

  1. Mikey Ambrose
  2. Jon Gallagher
  3. Jose Hernandez
  4. Alec Kann
  5. Kevin Kratz
  6. Jeff Larentowicz
  7. Justin Meram
  8. Brendan Moore
  9. Luiz Fernando
  10. Michael Parkhurst
  11. Dion Pereira
  12. Florentin Pogba
  13. Brek Shea
  14. Brandon Vazquez

Next. Atlanta United: 2019 MLS season in review. dark

It remains to be seen who will be selected by Nashville SC and Inter Miami, but it is likely that one Atlanta United will depart. They boast one of the stronger squads in MLS. It is natural for them to be picked on, as a result. Tuesday will reveal which players are selected, but for now, Atlanta have primarily made the decisions that many expected.

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