Gonzalo Pineda building connections so that Atlanta United will achieve success

If Atlanta United wins its second MLS Cup this season, which starts with the team hosting Sporting KC on Sunday, the achievement may be more than the sum of Josef Martinez’s goals, Brad Guzan’s goalkeeping, Miles Robinson’s defense and Luiz Araujo’s dribbling.

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It may come down to something as simple as manager Gonzalo Pineda, who leads the most expensive roster in the league, spending a few minutes each workday asking the security guard about his day, talking to a cafeteria worker about his or her family, or putting his arm around a seldom-used player such as Mikey Ambrose to ask about his expectations of fatherhood.

Pineda is more than just a coach. He’s a communicator. He connects with people in ways that are deeper than X’s and O’s. It’s why the players were able to take the momentum started by interim manager Rob Valentino last season, and fight for Pineda as they made the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

They were fighting partially because they believed in Pineda. They knew that he, as a former player for Seattle and for Mexico in the World Cup, understood them.

“At this level, whether it’s the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NHL, whatever professional league, very rarely will you see a manager go and make Josef Martinez even better or change Josef Martinez, his habits or ways that he trains or make him a better player,” Guzan said.

“The job then of the manager is essentially man-management and how do you get the best out of Josef Martinez consistently day in and day out. And I think he does a very good job of having those relationships, whether it be small conversations inside the training facility, whether it be off the field, on the field, talking soccer, talking about family, building, those relationships are massive at this level, I think if you ask any professional athlete, they would much rather give everything they have for a manager that not only cares about them as the athlete, but as the person as well.”

Pineda credits one of his previous managers, Enrique Meza, for his belief in communication.

Pineda said the two would talk about things such as family that he never heard any of his previous coaches discuss. Football was about football. He said talking to Meza was like talking to one of his parents.

“He put a different mindset in myself and made me grow as a person,” he said.

Pineda mentions Franco Ibarra as a player who he thinks has really benefitted from Pineda’s personal approach. Ibarra is a defensive midfielder signed by Atlanta United before the 2021 season. Pineda knew he had quality, but said their talks have helped him become better.

“We know Ibarra is very good with his physicality, his ability to regain balls and to put a lot of intensity in the middle of the park,” Pineda said. “So we always appreciate that from him. But this year he went to a different level where he started to be much, much better on the ball to break lines, and he started to be aggressive, and he started to be more the type of midfielder that we like to have, which is more of a good connector on the ball, but the same time his intensity just put him in a different level. So he’s one of those that surprised me this year.”

It took Atlanta United experiencing a good bit of pain before it was able to experience the pleasure it has had under Pineda.

After Atlanta United fired Gabriel Heinze last season following 13 mostly boring results and a workplace culture that was becoming challenging, club President Darren Eales knew the club needed the anti-Heinze. The club needed someone who understood the uniqueness of MLS and who was strong with strategy and tactics, but also understood that everyone in the franchise can contribute to the points won on Saturdays and Sundays.

They turned to Seattle, where Pineda came highly recommended by manager Brian Schmetzer.

“Atlanta United is a big club with a lot of good players,” Schmetzer said. “Gonzo has street cred because his playing career was such that guys can’t really argue with him. Just because you were a good player doesn’t mean it translates to a good coach, but he has an appetite and learning, quest for knowledge to study the game, be a student to the game and be actually a good coach, not just resting on the laurels of his playing career.”

Pineda would oversee many aspects of Seattle’s operation: researching players, looking at scouting reports, organizing training.

Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@

Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@

“I used to joke with him that he was always a better coach than me,” Schmetzer said.

Pineda doesn’t like to hear that. He said Schmetzer doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the better coaches in MLS.

But Pineda does deserve credit.

Seattle player Cristian Roldan described Pineda as the team’s “rock,” particularly during seasons in which the team either didn’t start well or didn’t finish well. Roldan said Pineda’s countenance never changed, which helped the team quite a bit.

Atlanta United was nothing if not mercurial the past few seasons.

Pineda’s methods and personality were needed.

Eales said Pineda’s communication goes as deep as having every period in every training session planned. The players know exactly what they are going to do, and why they are doing it.

“He has the great blend of that detail with that personality but to also be out there on the pitch to read the temperature of the players, put an arm around when he needs to, have a shout when he doesn’t, so he has both (emotional quotient) of doing that as well as the IQ of the X’s and O’s.”

Pineda’s gregariousness has its limits, both socially and professionally.

If you’re standing next to Pineda in the checkout line at the grocery store, he’s not likely to chat you up. He said he is naturally shy.

But when it comes to the franchise, he’s all about making everyone feel like they are important. Because he believes they are. From Martinez to the security guard.

“For me, it’s about the whole connection within the team and understanding that everybody plays for the same goal,” he said. “So my job is to connect all the dots from Brad to Josef, trying to put everyone together on the same page, and we all have an understanding of what we’re doing. And that’s my job.

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Atlanta United’s 2022 MLS schedule

Feb. 27 vs. Sporting KC, 3 p.m., FS1

March 5 at Colorado, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE