To understand how Garth Lagerwey and Chris Henderson are putting together Atlanta United, go back to when the two worked together in Seattle.
Lagerwey joined Seattle as president of soccer from Real Salt Lake, where he led the team to MLS Cup in 2009, ahead of the 2015 season. Henderson had been with the Sounders, building successful rosters year over year, since 2008.
Within weeks, Lagerwey recognized that Henderson was a better talent evaluator. But Lagerwey’s job was to lead the sporting side of the Sounders. Henderson’s job was to recommend signings. Henderson was good enough that the club had made the playoffs every year since joining MLS in 2009. Oh, and had four U.S. Open Cup titles.
With Lagerwey and Henderson working together, Seattle won MLS Cup in 2016. It was trying to repeat. Henderson wanted to sign Victor Rodriguez, a winger and La Liga veteran. Lagerwey took a more skeptical approach, peppering Henderson with question after question. From what Henderson first assumed was Lagerwey’s reluctance, he began to understand was Lagerwey’s way of getting him to truly commit to the transfer by successfully parrying every pointed query. The club signed Rodriguez. It won MLS Cup in 2019. Rodriguez scored the winning goal and was named the championship game’s MVP.
“You’ve got to bring evidence, you’ve got to bring some facts and data, and also what you see with your eyes and your history of experiences,” Henderson said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There are things that Garth, I think, has a really good feel on and in the moment. If you’re new to the room, you’re kind of like, ‘Hey, he’s against this guy.’ And it’s not that he’s against the guy. He’s just testing. He’s got a good way of making sure that everyone is sure of their decisions and checking it.”
Henderson left Seattle in 2021 to lead the sporting side of Inter Miami, which was a promotion. Lagerwey left Seattle in 2022 for Atlanta United to become president, which was a promotion.
Lagerwey hired Henderson to come to Atlanta United as sporting director in January. One of their first conversations brought back memories of one of their conversations in 2016: Henderson told Lagerwey that they had to sign Miguel Almiron.
Lagerwey laughs when thinking about the conversation then and the conversation of a few weeks ago. Back then, Seattle was trying to decide between Almiron, Sebastian Blanco and Nicolas Lodeiro. They went with Lodeiro, a key player on the Cup-winning teams in ‘16 and ‘19. Blanco signed with Portland and helped it reach the MLS Cup in ‘18 and ‘21, finishing runner-up both times. Almiron signed with Atlanta United, leading it to the MLS Cup in 2018.
“Looking back, we had a heck of a process,” Lagerwey said. “We’re doing something right.”
Henderson, now at Atlanta United, began pushing to sign Almiron.
“I was like, why?” Lagerwey said. “I made a joke at first. You’re still hung up on this from 2016. This is the path not taken, so to speak. He’s like, no, because of a, b and c.”
The two were able to begin an earnest debate about Almiron because of their long-standing relationship and understanding of their complementary skills. Henderson can see how a player fits within the team and locker room. Lagerwey can see the salary-cap implications and how it might affect the roster and budget in the future.
Atlanta United, after an extensive review, data analysis and medical projections of what Almiron could be in a few years, in 2027 when his contract nears its end, was brought back to Atlanta United.
“When you take our two skill sets and kind of layer them together, then we’ve had really, really good success because we both trust each other that if we’re thorough, and we agree, we’ve probably come at that agreement from different perspectives,” Lagerwey said.
Thing aren’t always copacetic between them.
Lagerwey can be a tough negotiator, leaving Henderson to try to explain the team’s position to agents and the targeted player. Lagerwey also can take his skeptical approach to managers, asking them questions that can sometimes be uncomfortable. Henderson will be the one to try to smooth over those situations.
There is one argument they may never settle: Who was better, Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman, or Ozzie Alonso when he was at Seattle?
Lagerwey is partial to Beckerman because of their time together at Real Salt Lake. Henderson is partial to Alonso because he signed him.
They are two of the better defensive midfielders in MLS history.
So, as with the Almiron/Lodeiro/Blanco decision, and with what they have done so far at Atlanta United with the signing of Almiron and the potential of Emmanuel Latte Lath, their processes, both as individuals and also as a team, seem good.
“We have so much respect for each other, we always kind of find a solution,” Henderson said. “For the most part, we’re on the same page, but there are moments where we disagree, and we look at it in different ways. I think it opens our mind to seeing the other person’s view.”
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