Tata Martino spoke to the media on Thursday for the first time since returning to Atlanta United, fielding a variety of questions pertaining to the next steps involved in getting the club ready for 2026. Chris Henderson also provided context and answered some roster inquiries, noting that player acquisitions will be a mutual effort involving Tata and his coaching staff.
Tata made it clear that he wouldn’t speak much about how the team played in 2025, but said that there are two main priorities before the team kicks a ball in 2026: bringing in the necessary players to fill out what they want on the roster, and having a complete, effective preseason. He recalled the successful, early versions of Atlanta United, where they implemented Latin American players throughout the spine coupled with American players who were familiar with the culture and league.
Henderson stated the club would lean on Tata’s Latin American connections heavily, while also working with him to look elsewhere for talent that fits what the coaching staff needs.
As far as the coaching staff, Tata verified that the group would consist mainly of the prior group from his first stint at the club, with the notable addition of his son.
While admitting there are some certain changes to the roster on the way, Chris and Tata both set the expectation that in MLS, teams can’t be fixed overnight. While improvement is certainly expected, Tata noted that he felt the project would take about a year to fully implement the necessary changes across the board. To be clear, it wasn’t implied that the team would pick up 2026 where they left off in 2025, though, but rather that it’d be a work in progress to have success next season while building to fire on all cylinders in 2027.
The current DP’s all fit into that scheme, with Martino explaining that he feels Latte Lath, Miguel Almiron, and Alexey Miranchuk can all be implemented in a manner that would make this team successful.
“Well, for the sporting side, we think the players who make up this roster have more potential than we’ve shown in the standings. And we think that by adding a few new faces to the team, we’ll be able to form a competitive group,” Tata said when asked about the current iteration of the squad. He also noted how important the development pipeline is for him, and that he and Javier Perez have already been having discussions about the Atlanta United Academy and homegrown players. He pointed back to his history with Newell’s that relied heavily on their young talent.
As for how they’ll be implemented, he also said his overall style hasn’t changed much. The quick transitions to attack will still certainly be an obvious hallmark of a Tata team, but he also mentioned that the game is ever-evolving and they’ll adapt to what’s needed to be successful.
Miguel Almiron is expected to have a leadership role under Martino’s second Atlanta iteration, as the number 10 also prepares for more duty with his home country of Paraguay. It was even mentioned that incoming players would need to work well to compliment Miggy, further solidifying how important he’ll be for the team in 2026.
Expect changes in the coming months as Tata begins to reintegrate further with the club and begin working towards the two big goals he mentioned they need to have finished by opening day of 2026, most likely starting with a handful of roster decisions that are certainly on the way soon.
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Let us know below what you thought of the presser!
[…] In his introductory press conference, Tata Martino said the club had to “build the team around Miguel” and “surround him better,” which suggests that he sees the Paraguayan international as the cornerstone of this new project. […]
So Tata and staff will have input on player acquisitions?
Thank God. That was all that I asked.
Amen to that!! And I also like that he will have input on player retention. The next several weeks could get interesting.
Any mention of using the homegrown pipeline?
Actually yes, thanks for reminding me! I updated the article with this:
“He also noted how important the development pipeline is for him, and that he and Javier Perez have already been having discussions about the Atlanta United Academy and homegrown players. He pointed back to his history with Newell’s that relied heavily on their young talent.”
it will be interesting imo to see how much youth he uses on his roster. the first time around, he was almost exclusively reliant on older, veteran players and basically ignored the yoots. however, at miami i saw him using a lot of younger players, including teenagers, as regular contributors and even starters. i hope that continues to be his mo, as i think guys like reilly, fortune, brennan and others have a lot of talent and could really contribute (and continue to develop) under a manager like tata.
Reily, fortune, and Brennan are not Latin American players – so probably not much
For me, the biggest takeaway from this is that Tata will be heavily involved in the roster rebuild – which is as it should be, and gives me hope!
Tata also mentioned how they are not expected to add another striker, so that pours water over those that want Josef back. I guess he could still come back if he is cheap.
Is JT back for another season as backup? Forgot where he was contract-wise.
I think he’s at the option years point, where we could drop him without too much fuss, but also keep him around pretty easily.
Tata basically said he is comfortable with Latte and Thiare, so I guess they plan on picking up his option
Well, he has been in Atlanta the last couple days so the rumors will continue spreading.