Whether or not Ronny Deila returns to Atlanta United in 2026 is ultimately up to the club’s front office.
The fact is, though, that Atlanta won’t take part in the MLS Cup Playoffs after a 5-4 loss to the Columbus Crew that almost saw them overturn a 5-0 first-half deficit. It’s the earliest they’ve been eliminated from playoff contention in a traditional 34-match season.
It’s also true that Delia’s been persona non grata in the fanbase for a while. And if he does return, his leash will be extremely short.
“Yes,” Deila responded when I asked him if he saw himself as having the ability to get Atlanta back among MLS’s elite clubs in 2026 and beyond. “If not, I would not (be sitting) here.
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ve had success with almost every team I’ve had. I’ve had to make improvement everywhere. I’ve won almost everywhere I’ve been. I’ve had struggles always in the first year before (in the) second year it got better, and third it got even better. That’s why I love this. I want to improve things.”
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Deila mentioned the number of personnel changes made to the team this year. Atlanta, of course, added Enea Mihaj and Steven Alzate — a former Deila player at Standard Liege — during the transfer window while bringing in Juan Berrocal on loan. But it also traded Xande Silva to St. Louis CITY FC and Efrain Morales to CF Montreal while sending Noah Cobb out on loan to the Colorado Rapids and selling Derrick Williams to Reading. Mateusz Klich was also bought out.
There are likely more changes to come with 11 players out of contract at the end of the season and all but Brad Guzan having options for 2026. But Deila feels the core of the team he currently has can improve.
“Some of them (that were moved) didn’t have the opportunity to get better and some were not interested in getting better,” Deila said. “In the end, you have to have the person that wants and is able to learn. That’s the main thing. And now … I see a team that can grow, and that’s good to see.”
Deila admitted that several formational adjustments made during the season — namely from a 4-2-3-1 to a back three — were necessary due to injuries, while conceding that they sent “inconsistent messages” to the team.
But “we are on our way,” he added, noting that the team needed to show an ability to seamlessly change formations the way the Crew demonstrated.
“(Columbus is) three, four years ahead of us,” Deila said. “We have had three different styles the last year with (Gonzalo) Pineda in the beginning … and then we were more defending and counter-attacking. Now we want to press, we want to play from (the back), all these different things. That’s going to take a little bit of time, and that’s what you see.
“… I really am hungry, and I’m looking forward to the future, and I know I’m the guy that can make this team successful.”
Deila’s confidence in himself isn’t surprising. Whether his bosses share in that confidence after a disastrous 2025 remains to be seen. And that’s the only opinion that matters.
[…] moment for the growth of the sport in this country, the club needs to return to elite status. Deila’s said he’s the one to get them there. His body of work so far, though, proves […]
No longer give a s….
We have two players who, last year, were playing well in England’s first and second division, which are both miles ahead of the MLS in terms of quality. The fact that they are two of our worst performers at the moment is all you need to know about this manager and his qualities. #SackRonnyDeila
Garth needs to own up to this teams lack of improvement. His slow choices and excuses of bad past contracts has run its course and we have gotten worse. We gave patience, and he’s failed.
I’m in the camp of giving Deila half a season more, but to have real options ready to go in the summer and pull the trigger quickly if we are under the playoff line again come June.
You do realize that Garth stepped aside after from the team since July because of cancer and he also supposedly step away from FO decision since we hired Chris Henderson last December. He definitely screwed up by holding onto Bocanegra for as long as he did, but I think we need to give Henderson some time to fix the mistakes the past FO made.
He also basically punted last season with Pineda starting another meh campaign before getting fired and then waiting until the conclusion of the season to make a new hire. I get that it takes time to revamp a roster, but they moved slowly and “deliberately”, and this is the result. The worst season in club history.
I must have missed that, and I feel awful for what he and his family are going through.
The current state of this club still lies at his feet and his slow decisions throughout his tenure. I’m not one for over correcting a problem but yeah, if Deila can’t figure this out by the beginning of next season, we have to move on quickly. IMHO.
Jury is still out on Chris for me. He seems to like basement bargains like Garth which is against the philosophy we were built on and what sold me on this club in the first 3 years. And when he splurged cash, it’s been kind of a bust in Latte.
I think they have to be much quicker to pull the trigger on Deila AND to make a suitable replacement hire. By June 1 this season we were 4-5-8 (w/d/l). Another opening two months like 2025 and Deila should be fired in 2026 before May. We were 2-3-5 with 11 GF and 19 GA at the end of May this season. I’m not saying Deila should’ve been fired at that point this year as there were some roster issues, but we’ve had the balance of 2025 to evaluate him. It’s not really improved to this point.
It’ll be interesting to see how MLS schedules around the WC next year. We may have even more games in those first two months? If it’s not demonstratively better out of the gate, pull the trigger with Deila early, ride with an interim until the June Int’l break and try to upgrade at coach.
Hopefully, we don’t have to have that discussion. I don’t want to see another year like this one. I’ll be rooting for whoever is coaching this team in 2026 to get us back to the top of the EC.
Deila simply is not the right manager – we need someone that has a better tactical knowledge, and can get the best out of the players. Not normally one to encourage “going backwards”, but Tata may be available, and he has worked with Henderson before. The FO should contact him.
of course he can make the team better – resign.
What about Garth? Show me anything that has gotten better since he got here.
Of course that’s what he said. If had said anything else, he had better hand in his resignation immediately. So, it’s not really providing any insight. What, exactly, is the plan to improve the team? The quote that frightens me is “Columbus is three, four years ahead of us.” Does he think we should give him three or four more years to get the level where we’re in seventh and fighting for fourth place at the end of the season?
Based on what?? No improvement at all since start of year. Poor lineup choices. Playing players out of position i.e. Saba and Miguel. Slow to change tactics. Slow to make subs. Wrong sub choices.
I have no faith in Deila or the FO and its talent evaluation.
I don’t disagree with the no improvement all season, but hard to blame poor lineup choices when we haven’t had a healthy projected starting 11 basically all year long. I am on the boat that Almiron is not a good fit at the 10, and most fans just hate Miranchuk, so we need a true playmaker at the 10.
I think a lot of the players on the team are good depth pieces, but they all end up getting exposed if they are on long runs like they had to this season due to injuries. We need to evaluate our medical/training staff. It is pretty crazy to see the amount of injuries we had this season.
Jury is still out on the FO since Chris Henderson has had the reins for little less than a year now. I think he is capable of building a team that is cohesive, just the matter of whether they believe Deila is the guy that they trust to do that.
Soccer is kind of a crazy sport where coaches/FO get so little time to get the team to gel together. I fee like most other sports get at least 2 years to figure things out.
Well to be fair, as one example, American Football only plays like a 3rd of the games MLS plays in a season, so sure, they probably get a little extra grace.
well, NBA and NHL has 82 games and MLB has 162 games. Most of the time they get more than one season.