Atlanta United: Here’s what Rob Valentino said about his coaching future
Well, Gonzalo Pineda is inheriting a hot Atlanta United side. Following a 2-1 win over D.C. United on Saturday, Atlanta United has now won four straight games.
And suddenly, the expectations around Atlanta United are elevated once again.
Interim head coach Rob Valentino got Atlanta United rolling following the dismissal of Gabriel Heinze last month. Now with 12 points from their last four games, Valentino has the club tied on points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I’m extremely proud of the result tonight. It’s really important when you come here on the road, it’s not an easy team to play against, not an easy place to come and play. Especially on the back of the schedule we had. I’m really proud of what they have done. When we took over, we talked about doing everything together and I expressed that to them again tonight,” Valentino said after the match to reporters.
“This night’s for you. You brought yourself to this moment where this is a big game, now let’s go out and get our reward. My message at the end was that you don’t always get your reward for it. Every team works hard, trains hard, they don’t always get the reward. I’m proud that they got the reward that I feel like they deserve. To see them get some reward is really positive.
“I’m excited to see where it’s going, because we can’t just stop here. We’re close, but look at the realistic position that we are in. We need to be better, we need to be higher up the table. There is a lot of work to go, but we are happy for the moment that we have and we will celebrate this moment.”
Pineda, who most recently was an assistant coach with the Seattle Sounders, is expected to formally take over Atlanta United this week. The club sits at 6-6-9 (27 points) heading into the All-Star break.
Seattle has been one of the top teams in the league this season.
Valentino’s (immediate) future? Atlanta United
After the match, Valentino was asked about his future and possible head coaching ambitions. He deflected the question in as appropriate of a fashion as possible, saying his focus was on Atlanta United and learning more before taking that next step.
But it is clear after the job he has done since taking over Atlanta United that he has the potential to be a full-time MLS head coach someday.
“It wasn’t one thing. It wasn’t’ just like a magic switch. I think he gave a lot of confidence to the group,” goalkeeper Brad Guzan said after the match.
“I think he gave a lot of belief to guys to go and I don’t want to say play freely, but play freely within the team and how we wanted to play as a group. So, you started to see guys express themselves. You started seeing guys should ability individually and should quality in what they could bring to the team.
“When you have that quality within the group and you have an idea of what you’re trying to do as eleven guys on the field and then that little bit of quality shines through, more times than not good things are going to happen.”