Atlanta United midfielder Julian Gressel has started two consecutive games after being selected with the eighth pick in the first round of January’s MLS SuperDraft.
The German native has one assist this season. It came on Miguel Almiron’s first goal in last week’s 6-1 win over Minnesota United.
Atlanta United will host Chicago on Saturday at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. The game is sold out.
Gressel spent a few minutes on Thursday answering questions.
Q: To Game 2 from Game 1, what was your biggest area of improvement?
A: They were different games, obviously. Obviously, the conditions of the second game were totally different. It was a different type of game. We didn’t really focus on our style, rather (tried to) deal with the conditions and just tried to find a result, which I think we did very well. Not really any comparisions to take from both games.
Good team win, good performance and got the result.
Q: Which did you try to do better?
A: Play better within the team and try to improve our relationships on the field and just try to play within the style we want to play, which wasn’t as possible as we wanted it to do. Just keep improving and keep getting accustomed to MLS and the style of play we want to play.
Q: Did you fill out an NCAA tournament bracket?
A: Yes, did one with the team.
Q: Who is your pick?
A: Duke. I think they’ve been playing well in the past month.
Q: What's the challenge of this game considering you've got a long road trip coming up?
A: It’s obviously a very important game. We want pay a little dues and say thank you to our fans in that way. Looking at the schedule you want to get the win so that you can have confidence heading into all those road games. Obviously it will take a pretty good performance because they are a pretty good team.
Q: Scouting report on (Dax) McCarty and Juninho for Chicago?
A: We talked about it a little bit today. They are great players. If they have time on the ball it will be tough to defend because they can pick out passes. It’s all about disrupting their rhythm and not letting them get going. They are great players. They can change a game. They can dictate a game. We will have to pay special attention to them.
