Rob Valentino will, sooner or later, get a permanent job as a head coach in Major League Soccer. Much of the soccer community inside and outside the Atlanta United ecosphere shares that view. Anyone monitoring Atlanta’s progress through the MLS Cup Playoffs can notice intangibles that didn’t exist under Gonzalo Pineda.
That’s not at all saying that Valentino’s latest interim stint hasn’t been without its low points. We’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink discussing those: Nashville at home, Montreal at home, all of Leagues Cup, etc. But each stage they’ve advanced in the playoffs, after barely getting there in the first place, is a stage further than expected, forcing writers to leave the inevitable “what went wrong with Atlanta United in 2024” pieces in their draft folders.
So, with the emotions of Saturday’s series-clinching Game 3 win against Inter Miami having simmered down, Atlanta rests for a week before returning to the training ground ahead of a showdown with Orlando City in an Eastern Conference semifinal.
And the Rob Valentino question continues to linger over the proceedings.
This is different than that 2021 stint: he was never going to be “the guy”, simply keeping the seat warm until the new boss arrived from Seattle. This year? With this team sneaking into the playoffs, winning the Wild Card, and stunning the best team in MLS history? That the debate even exists is a feat in and of itself.
The case for and against Rob Valentino
On one end of the spectrum, there are those that believe that despite such a feel-good story, a club with massive ambitions and extensive resources would be simply settling if it hired Valentino, being reduced to prisoners of the moment.
And it’s certainly a valid point: this isn’t the 2016 Seattle Sounders, when Brian Schmetzer stepped in for Sigi Schmid after a 6-12-2 start, went 8-2-4 the rest of the way, and was named permanent head coach during the playoffs en route to an MLS Cup. Schmetzer, a Seattle native with rich ties to the Sounders, had spent seven seasons as their head coach before joining Schmid’s initial staff when the club moved from the USL First Division to MLS. Even with Garth Lagerwey as the common denominator, those factors alone make Valentino’s plight an apples-to-oranges situation.
Then there’s the argument for retaining Valentino. Those on that side of the aisle note that there’s zero chance this team’s even close to this position under Pineda. They’ll note (correctly) that this team is different — even with a depleted roster — that they talk, look, and play differently. They’ve taken on the identity of Valentino as “FEA” has been a rallying cry throughout the fan base. “You’ve got to keep him, right, after beating Miami?” they’ll say. “Why not promote Valentino, give him a fully-stocked roster in the offseason, and have him go to work?” Again, valid points, a few that even those not in favor of keeping Valentino could agree with.
A franchise-defining decision for Garth Lagerwey
Lagerwey has to grapple with that dilemma, a decision that will set the course for the next era of the club and ultimately solidify his reputation among Atlanta fans, for better or worse. (No pressure.)
That decision takes even more significance in the wake of the firing of Jim Curtin, who cut a controversial figure among the Atlanta fanbase as the head coach of the Philadelphia Union but turned down an opportunity to interview with Atlanta before his dismissal. (Curtin, to me, is the obvious choice if Valentino isn’t promoted, even given his past comments about the fans.) Patrick Vieira emerged as an early candidate, but that prospect seems to be fading. And there are countless candidates on Atlanta’s list that haven’t surfaced yet, some from overseas leagues or maybe even within, or with previous ties to, MLS.
Maybe, though, the head coach they’ve been looking for is the one that’s been here all along.
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I think the more interesting question is, do you have to hire the GM first and be sure they have a voice in the decision. If that is the person who signs players, then they should be hired and they should see if they fit with Rob. You need complete alignment in this league in my mind
Let Josef choose the next coach.
[…] Atlanta United’s big Rob Valentino question […]
The dude is bald. We need to hire him. He is the next Pep.
You mean the next Arne
Another positive thing I can say about Valentino: he seems to have the team actually attacking in transition. We haven’t really seen that since the first two years. It’s been all “tranquilo” since then.
Exactly! Watching this team is — dare I say — fun!
Throughout the season, theres been a lot of comments along the lines of “we need a manager who can select players according to their preferred style.”
I just cant help but wonder if thats a winning formula in MLS. It seems so difficult to keep core groups together for more than 2-3 years.
What Rob has shown in terms of “flexinuity” (flexibility in terms of player selections and shape while maintaining stylistic continuity) certainly warrants consideration.
With continued roster construction/development, I think its worth giving him a deal while the front office dust continues to settle in terms of Bocanegra’s departure.
He may not be our best shot at a championship in 2025, but to be honest, I see some foundational issues beyond what a coach can solve for in 2025 anyways.
I do think we can continue to move in the right direction under RV in the short term. I get that others have higher aspirations. Im just skeptical of thinking we can backfill Boca, a coach, and make roster improvements going into 2025.
I honestly don’t think we are very far off and that there is room for a lot more optimism than skepticism, and I believed that before the CF Montreal match. What we have seen out of the players and coaching staff has added to that optimism. We are only three wins away from adding a second star to our shirt and heading back to the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time since 2020, and that was done most improbably with a highly flawed roster, an interim coaching staff, a vacant GM position, and all of the other injury and availability issues we have had this season.
Next year, we have a lot of money to work with even if we bring back most of the guys who are on option years. We will have two DPs and 2 U-22 spots to work with. We will have an emergent Jay Fortune and a much-improved Slisz in the midfield, a fairly solid backline situation for the first time since the end of the 2018 season, and good depth across most of the roster. The front office build-out is already underway and adding the right General Manager will kick that into another gear if we keep improving in scouting and analytics.
With the right DP striker and winger, I see no reason why we couldnt be successful under Rob.
I’m of the opinion Rob has warranted consideration, but he realistically needs to get to the mls cup to be a serious contender. The regular season results with him weren’t entirely his fault, but he didn’t do well enough to be a shoe-in now. Beating Miami on its own is not enough, as we seem to do well against Miami for a while now despite their success everywhere else. I can’t put that solely on Valentino.
Rob and this coaching staff are doing admirable work in resetting this group of players’ mindset, tactics, and culture in the very short time they have had to figure things out on the fly. Another important thing to note is that due to schedule congestion and international breaks, they haven’t had a lot of time for the players to train together at practice so a lot of what we are seeing is happening in film sessions, in mental preparation, and in the overall work that the coaching staff is doing to get this group of players ready to go.
Garth talked about the attitude Rob and his staff brought to this group on 92.9 The Game today and said that the club wasn’t going anywhere with guys who saw Atlanta United as a stepping stone and that he wants a club of people committed to being here for the long term and building something special. Rob has been here for the long haul, learning under every coach we have had and you can see little bits of each coach’s tactics and style in the coach Rob is becoming. Rob, Carl Robinson, Liam Curran, and Matt Lawry have built something special and continue growing as a highly competent group of leaders, motivators, tacticians, and teachers. If we can add one or two more guys to that staff like Dax and another coach who compliments and adds to the approach and skillset of the group, they could generate the kind of consistency fans are looking for across the regular season in 2025.
Garth also mentioned the General Manager position and how he needs that person to be a good fit for who they hire as Head Coach. It may seem obvious to hire people who fit well together and complement each other’s styles. Still, we don’t see that as much as you’d think in sports, the corporate world, or other spaces where highly ambitious people are asked to collaborate. Couple that with Garth’s emphasis on rebuilding the scouting and analytics departments, he is building an ecosystem that will be more resilient and effective thanks to the sum of its parts.
I heard a little about that interview. Garth basically confirmed what I suspected – Giorgos didn’t want to be here, and it was affecting the locker room. He also seemed to indicate we probably won’t be seeing any more Alamda-type signings. I think that’s unfortunate, but not necessarily a commitment to just trying to be a good MLS team rather than a club that gets to play in world tournaments. But it sure will be harder to get to that level without transcendent talents.
I’m also now expecting Garth to succumb to recency bias and name RV the Manager for next season, probably with a 2 or 3 year deal. Hopefully that is not a mistake, but I think it might be.
The good thing with a 2-3 year deal is we are already in the middle of a rebuild, and Rob has already been here. So we wouldnt have to do the whole “well, we need to give [new coach] a season to settle in” thing.
Get a GM, and continue to make incremental roster improvements.
I would expect a top 6 seed finish next year, and then see what he can do in a contract year.
Is it the most aspirational path? No.
But seeing how much this run has meant to the players means something to me. And after the last few years, I think being able to retain that energy is priceless.
Something else to consider is that Garth hired a high-performing assistant coach who became the interim head coach when he was the GM of Seattle. Brian Schmetzer was Seattle’s Head Coach when the club was in the USL. He remained with the club as the top assistant coach under Sigi Schmidt through midseason in 2016 when he became the club’s interim head coach and took Seattle to the 2016 playoffs, eventually beating Toronto for the club’s first MLS Championship. Schmetzer’s interim tag was removed prior to the 2016 MLS Championship in the middle of the playoffs.
I don’t think Valentino’s interim status will be publically decided before our season concludes but I do think that Garth’s experience with Schmetzer will play a big role in how much consideration he gives Valentino.
It is definitely a tough decision. And it will only get tougher if we win more games. I just don’t want to rush into a decision only based on playoff performance. Best example of this is when we signed Silva after last years playoff performance. Granted he has been supposedly injured most of the season, and was a game winning goal this series, but during the regular season, he had very little impact. Plus, this team is just weird. Everyone raving on Miami now, but three weeks ago, they gave up a 2 goal lead to Montreal and barely escaped on penalties.
Either keep Rob or bring Tata back.
That’s a lot of thumbs down 🤣
Because Tata has done so well everywhere he went since leaving us? Crashing out of Mexico and not able to win in Miami even with that line-up…?
If Pineda was going to be kept under the circumstances that he made the playoffs and won a game, why are we not holding Rob to that same standard? He’s achieved even more. Seems hypocritical to me.
Eh, I think you’re looking at this through the wrong lens. The question shouldn’t be did this coach do the minimum to stay employed? The question should be is this coach the best possible choice to lead this team to a title? It became painful obvious that was not going to be Pineda and he was fired in June. Rob has us on a nice run here, but are you convinced he’s the best possible choice to lead us to a title next year? Maybe he is, I don’t know, but that should be the question.
A different view of this is our striker situation. Thiare and Rios have both outperformed my expectations and have played roles in our surprising success over the last month. Should we retain them because they did better than we thought or the club achieved some minimum mark with them? Or should we review the options on the market and get the best possible strikers for our team?
I lived through Dabo and two national titles; I think culture is the end-all be-all of sports at all but the highest spending levels. Rob brings that to the team.
But again, correct lens or not, there is a reason WHY Pineda was attempting to meet those standards, and it’s not appropriate to hand wave it away if we are truly attempting to secure the optimal coach.