Gonzalo Pineda and Atlanta United focused, prepared for Columbus Crew

Atlanta United’s season opener is a mere two days away, and by all accounts, the squad is highly confident in their ability to travel north to Lower.com Field and return with a positive result.

Giorgos Giakoumakis and Gonzalo Pineda both spoke to the media today and shared a common theme: the connections and relationships around the Five Stripes are incredibly high, and that enthusiasm is expected to translate to the pitch.

“There are some good vibes about this team, they’ve shared some good moments in preseason,” noted Pineda. “The chemistry is something different, something I didn’t feel before.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Giakoumakis, who described the preseason bonding as an experience that “helped a lot.”

“It was a very good chance to meet each other even more, share things about our lives, and to open up a little bit.”

Atlanta United has plenty of familiarity with Columbus Crew, having faced off against them a grand total of five times in 2023. During those five matches, the cumulative goals scored was a whopping 23. Gonzalo Pineda and Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy both tout a very similar style of play – possession with a purpose – but both sides had issues with leaking goals at very inopportune times (as if there was an opportune moment to give up a goal).

Pineda has made the defensive mindset a huge focus of the preseason. He noted that he was happy to hear in the various media interviews with Atlanta United players – even attackers – throughout the past few weeks that they’re completely bought-in to the mindset of shoring up the entire team’s defensive lapses.

“We’ll have a little more balance, more defensive actions….but more than anything is the willingness of the team to press and to defend. We’re calling it ‘press to attack.'”

Pineda also described the “bigger picture” for away matches. Trying to consistently win on the road in MLS is an enigma, but the coaching staff deliberately created the preseason schedule to be entirely on the road. Nothing can truly simulate all the cross-country travel and the away atmospheres in this league, but an intentional plan like Atlanta’s can definitely help build the right mindset to travel into hostile territory and bring home wins.

For Giakoumakis’ part, he said he was having conversations with guys like center back Stian Gregersen on how to deal with Cucho Hernandez, and with Bartok Slisz on handling Columbus’ robust midfield pairing of Aidan Morris and Atlanta’s old pal Darlington Nagbe. Despite these teams playing five times in 2023 – three of which were in the playoff gauntlet in November – Atlanta has had a fair amount of turnover since. Getting teammates prepared for what to expect in Ohio is a vital responsibility for the veteran Five Stripes.

With a squad feeding off the chemistry they’ve developed in the preseason, and active efforts by the coaching staff to both solve the MLS-away match conundrum and the defensive issues, the Five Stripes are set to head up to Columbus and compete. Everyone understands the challenge ahead – they’re the reigning MLS Cup champs, after all – but this iteration of Atlanta United seems as prepared as they’re ever going to be.