Atlanta United has rolled out a center back pairing of Stian Gregersen and Enea Mihaj for much of the past few weeks. That changed on Saturday against San Diego FC, as Ronny Deila elected to insert Juan Berrocal next to Gregersen into the starting XI for the first time since the Getafe transfer’s arrival.
Despite a goal conceded (which neither was at fault for), Deila was impressed by the performances of both of his CBs in a 1-1 draw.
“I think it was very, very good,” Deila said when asked about Berrocal’s performance. “I think he and Stian (worked well) together. Stian was the best I’ve seen him. I think it’s so nice to see the progress that he has (made) the last months.”
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With Atlanta eliminated from playoff contention, it appears Deila’s objective is to mix and match his CBs during what’s essentially an extended preseason. That objective took on more weight after Atlanta’s disastrous performance against the Columbus Crew.
On Saturday, though, Gregersen and Berrocal were able to keep one of MLS’s highest-scoring teams largely at bay.
“Stian plays at a high level, same with Enea, so they’re two guys I’m developing a good relationship with,” Berrocal said in the locker room through an interpreter. “(Stian) makes it easy to play with him. He’s physical, and I think we help each other.”
The result was Atlanta giving an overwhelmingly better account of itself against SDFC. And it’s something that Berrocal, who is on loan until June 2026 with a purchase option through 2029, hopes can carry over to the last four matches of the preseason.
“We’re constantly trying to improve defensively as a group,” Berrocal said. “Today, we played a very good team with very good players. I think the key for us is trying to keep those clean sheets and just improve as much as we can defensively.”
The one I’m more wondering about for the future is Gregersen. He’s playing well now, but we forget that the whole reason we brought *two* possible starting CBs in is because Gregersen has missed like a 1/3 or more of our games because he keeps getting injured. And even then, when he was healthy it was decent (better than without him), but I wouldn’t say amazing.
I think it’s just trying to learn what Berrocal is about. There is no way he unseats Mihaj as the 1st pairing long term ie next season.