Atlanta United players grateful for time spent working with Martino

MARIETTA, Ga. — In what is the most important week to date in the club’s history, with the Supporters’ Shield on the line for Atlanta United’s match against Toronto FC on Decision Day presented by AT&T, there was one other small piece of significant news: Gerardo “Tata” Martino announced he will not return as the club’s manager after this season.

Martino will allow his contract to expire following Atlanta’s Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs campaign, handing the project that he helped build off to president Darren Eales and technical director Carlos Bocanegra. Players said they were alerted to the news Tuesday morning, just prior to the announcement being made public.

“Leading up to it, you obviously read a lot and hear a lot of rumors and things that could happen. I was prepared for both,” Julian Gressel told reporters Friday. “It’s a big week already, so it was more of ‘Alright, now it’s out there. Now we know what’s going to happen and we can all focus on just soccer.’”

Martino has had as big of an impact on Gressel than perhaps any other player on Atlanta’s roster, converting the German from a hopeful MLS SuperDraft prospect to MLS Rookie of the Year in 2017, one of the league’s leaders in assists and a vital component to a loaded squad of international talent in Atlanta.

“He’s put a lot of trust in me as a player and his kind of kick-started my career in that sense,” Gressel said. “I’m really grateful to have him as a first manager in the pros. I’ve learned so much from him. I want to focus on the next six games, hopefully, that we have together.”

But it’s not just young players like Gressel that Martino has had an impact on in Atlanta. Chris McCann, a player acquired by Atlanta United prior to Martino’s arrival, said he was grateful to experience a style of management that has challenged him so much —something he’ll always remember from his time spent under the Argentine manager.

“I’ve been around managers that are totally different to Tata, where you come in and just play little games. But everything Tata does is geared toward a match day,” McCann said. “Each week there are new sessions—you never do the same sessions twice. It’s physically demanding and it’s mentally challenging, which I find really good because you can’t afford that lapse in concentration in training, like in a game where you need to be switched on. It’s nice to have a world class manager come in and give you his ideas on the way he thinks football should be played.”

Michael Parkhurst, given the captain’s armband by Martino, told reporters earlier this week that he’s “grateful that we’ve had the experience of playing under him and learning under such an accomplished coach and good tactician. He’s been amazing for the club and amazing for us.”