Five years ago last week, Atlanta United played in their first MLS match. At the center of their defense that night was the duo of Michael Parkhurst and Leandro González Pirez. In many ways, the club is still looking for their replacements.
Both players left the Five Stripes following the 2019 season. Parkhurst retired after 10 seasons in MLS while Pirez had a quick stint with Club Tijuana in Mexico before re-joining MLS in Miami.
Before Parkhurst ended his illustrious MLS career, Atlanta began playing him less in favor of the younger Miles Robinson who has shown to be one of the brightest young talents in the league. Selected second overall in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, Robinson appeared in 10 matches in 2018 before his breakout 2019 season.
In 2019, Robinson appeared in 34 matches and was named to the MLS Best XI and finished third overall in Defender of the Year voting. He paired up with Pirez for an Atlanta side that won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and hosted the Eastern Conference final.
Robinson did not appear in that conference final due to picking up a hamstring injury in U.S. Men’s National Team camp. Atlanta lost to Toronto FC 2-1. That was the last game Pirez and Parkhurst suited up with the Five Stripes.
Since then, Atlanta has struggled to replace them both. The club found a SuperDraft diamond in Robinson, but has yet to find a counterpart to lead the backline.
The team acquired Fernando Meza to replace Pirez for the 2020 season, but his play was not to the same level of Pirez’s in an overall abysmal year for the Five Stripes. He missed time due to injury and only appeared in 13 matches across the season. While Meza didn’t live up to some expectations, there was still the assumption that he would be in Atlanta for the 2021 season.
But that didn’t work out either as the team loned Meza to Defensa y Justicia in Argentina. Now, the Five Stripes are still working to find Meza’s replacement for the new roster under new manager Gabriel Heinze.
Atlanta first looked at Héctor David Martinez from Defense y Justicia, but fellow Argentinian club River Plate stepped in and Martinez went to his original club. That was the first failed attempt in Atlanta’s attempt to find the center back to join Robinson.
Following the first failure, the Five Stripes went after Lautaro Giannetti from Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina. The deal seemed to be close to complete and it finally looked like Heinze found his second center back for his new side. But as quickly as the transfer appeared, it went away and Atlanta once again is looking for another center back.
It was reported that Giannetti failed his medical exam in Atlanta and had to return to Argentina, and continuing United’s search for a new center back.
An official statement from Lautaro Giannetti's representatives confirms that an MRI on Giannetti's left knee revealed a "change in the anterior cruciate ligament."
— Felipe Cárdenas (@FelipeCar) March 4, 2021
Giannetti will return to Buenos Aires to undergo additional tests. The deal with #ATLUTD will not be completed.
Now, with two transfers falling through, Atlanta is back at step one looking for a center back. The club could return to scouting and sign a new player to join Robinson in defense. Or the front office could stay within the team and have either Anton Walkes or homegrown player George Campbell join Robinson in defense. Either way, the Five Stripes are thin at center back and need reinforcements to make it through the 2021 season.
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As the Five Stripes saw with Meza last year, injuries are bound to happen throughout the season, and the club needs players to step in when that happens. Players also leave to represent their national team, and for Miles Robinson, he has been called to represent the national team before and will potentially be called in again for the Nations League or Gold Cup this summer.
The team has looked for center backs and has yet to find any luck fully replacing the Parkhurst-Pirez combo that won the 2018 MLS Cup. After multiple attempts have fallen through, Atlanta is once again at stage one trying to find the other piece to join Robinson in defense.