How Alexey Miranchuk and Miguel Almirón fit under Tata Martino

Although Atlanta United has only been training under Tata Martino for a few days, the legendary Argentinian manager remains confident that the team’s three designated players, who severely underperformed last season, can work well together.

In particular, he asserts that Alexey Miranchuk and Miguel Almirón, who both are capable of playing the No. 10 role, are “perfectly complementary.”

Martino gave more details on how he envisions this connection during a press conference after the team’s training session on Wednesday. I unfortunately couldn’t make it, but I listened to Martino’s remarks afterward and wanted to write this to get my thoughts on paper (er… screen, I guess) as I try to piece together what this will look like on the field.

So, let’s review some of the quotes from this week and try to solve this jigsaw puzzle together.

Note: The quotes in this article from Martino and Almirón were originally in Spanish and translated to English by me, a native Spanish speaker.

Miguel Almirón’s role

Let’s start with the age-old question that has caused quite a bit of debate within the Atlanta United community: Can Miguel Almirón and Alexey Miranchuk coexist on the field?

Last season, then head coach Ronny Deila tried (unsuccessfully) to get them to work together in a variety of ways. First with Miggy as a right winger – the position he had been playing mostly at Newcastle United for years – and Miranchuk as the 10. Then, he tried (very briefly) deploying Miggy at the 10 with Miranchuk in a deeper No. 6 role. Miggy also played a game as a second striker next to Emmanuel Latte Lath with Miranchuk as a right-sided center midfielder. No matter what Deila tried, he just couldn’t get Miggy and Alexey to work well together.

Enter Tata Martino, who, after analyzing both players, has concluded that they can, in fact, coexist.

“Miguel can playmake and finish,” Martino said. “I think that, for him to be able to get into the box and get the goal, a lot of it will hinge on Alexey’s capability to assist.”

What I immediately gather from this is that Tata sees Miggy as more of a second striker. Latte Lath will be the true No. 9, while Almirón takes up more of a free role in the final third. This allows the Paraguayan to drop back and support the build up, drift wide and even get forward into the box to finish moves off.

This will be a very similar role to the one he had when Atlanta lined up in a 3-5-2 in 2018 (particularly later in the season and the MLS Cup Playoffs run) when he was deployed up top with club legend Josef Martínez.

Miggy himself has publicly admitted that he feels very comfortable with a free role.

“Tata knows me, and I know him,” Almirón said after Monday’s training session. “I always feel comfortable playing a free role on the field, trying to help the team and my teammates, whether attacking or defending.”

However, we need to factor in Miggy’s age. By the time the season starts, he’ll have just turned 32. He doesn’t have the same speed that he once had to run up and down the field. That’s where the next part of that Tata quote comes in.

Alexey Miranchuk’s role

“A lot of it will hinge on Alexey’s capability to assist.”

Martino is counting on the Russian international to be the one to deliver the final ball.

This is a bit surprising to me. If you’ve followed my writing for the past year, you know I don’t rate him as a creative player. He had four whole assists in 33 games last season. He was 12th out of 13 MLS attacking midfielders (who played over 2,000 minutes last season) in goals added (0.16) and was the third lowest in passing G+ (0.02) in that group.

Given this, we can likely expect Miranchuk to play in a central creative role where he can assist, as Tata describes.

Martino offered more details when asked if Miranchuk would have to adapt and perform certain functions that they are not used to.

“Players who are as good as Alexey need a team to carry them, take them by the hand when it comes to aspects of the game where they are not as strong,” Tata said. “What we are seeking is a solid team with character that can complement Alexey, who possesses the most important things in a player: intelligence, individual ability and medium-range passing and shooting. He’s a top-level player just like Miguel. We need to support him in other areas of the field.”

Let’s talk first about the things that Martino pointed out as “important things” in Miranchuk’s game. I’m especially focusing on the part about medium-range passing and shooting. I don’t think anyone doubts that he can hit a ball from distance…

…but the medium-to-long range passing is just as key here. This is what will allow him to get the ball forward quickly for Miggy and Latte Lath to chase in attacking transitions. It will also allow him to contextually switch the play, finding wingers or – more likely, given the players on the roster currently – wingbacks running down the flanks.

Now, the final piece is what Tata said about players like Miranchuk and Almirón needing support. This mainly refers to the defensive responsibilities that the three DPs will likely be sacrificing to stay further up and be ready to spring the counter quickly when possession changes hands.

That’s not to say they’ll have no role when out of possession. They will likely be the first line of pressure and will still need to be an active part of the team’s press, but I don’t think we’ll see them drop back as far as we did throughout most of last season.

Putting it together

Alright, so let’s take all of that and try to come up with what this team will look like once the season starts.

Last week, I hypothesized that the team would line up in a 3-5-2 formation, and the quotes from this week have only reinforced that idea in my mind. That being said, here is how I think the team looks when out of possession.

Note: I am using Elías Báez as the left wing back. Even though his signing isn’t official as of the writing of this post, I would be very surprised if he isn’t Atlanta United’s starting left wing/full back in 2026.

Fairly standard! As discussed, Miggy and Latte Lath will press the opposing center backs up top.

Immediately behind them, Steven Alzate, Alexey Miranchuk and whoever the new holding midfielder signing that Tata and Chris Henderson hinted at to replace Slisz will form the midfield three. They will have the important responsibility of pressing the opposing midfielders when they are about to receive the ball.

Then the back five, which will morph into many different shapes depending on where the ball is at any given time. The ball-sided wing back will have the liberty to move up and press the opposing winger while their counterpart stays back to cover on the other side. The center backs, meanwhile, will contain the opponent striker(s).

It is a very fluid formation that requires every player to know their role and perform it well to create an effective press, forcing the opposition into a turnover or a long ball forward.

What happens when the ball changes hands?

Yeah, I know it looks like I dropped the tactics board, so let me explain.

As soon as the ball changes hands, the wing backs get forward to provide width.

The midfield morphs completely. The holding midfielder stays relatively deep, but moves more centrally to allow him better coverage in case of a counterattack. Alzate would then have to push up the left half space while Miranchuk moves into the right half space. This gives Almirón space to drop back in the central channel of the field to operate more freely and still have support.

If Miggy starts drifting wide, Miranchuk comes inside to occupy central space. Here is where the wing back opposite the ball side (in this case, Jacob) tucks inside slightly to provide balance.

All the while, Latte Lath is the fox in the box – lurking in and around the 18-yard box looking for dangerous areas and ready to pounce once the ball comes his way.

Obviously, this all looks great on paper, but we’ll have to wait to see if the players can execute it on a matchday. Again, it all hinges on Miranchuk and Almirón working well together as the main creative forces of the team. Are they as complementary as Tata claims they can be?

We’ll get our first look at how the team will look when it kicks off its slate of preseason friendlies by hosting Lexington SC at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground on Jan. 30.