Atlanta United President Garth Lagerwey said that interim manager Rob Valentino will be given the franchise’s full support over the next 18 matches in his attempt to guide the team into the playoffs, past the first round of the Leagues Cup, and deeper into the U.S. Open Cup.
Valentino was promoted to interim manager for the second time in four seasons following the firing of Gonzalo Pineda on Monday. He went 4-2-2 in 2021 after he was named interim following the firing of Gabriel Heinze by previous president Darren Eales.
Valentino remained on staff when Pineda was hired in Aug. 2021.
“As a pragmatic manner, the thing you can change in the middle of the season is coach, in terms of trying to affect different outcome from the same group of players,” Lagerwey said. “Obviously, we’ll continue to evaluate our entire sporting operation. If you get a new guy in training every day, a new guy in the locker room every day, again, without any fault, and it’s ours, that new voice, that new approach, that may elicit a different response.”
Though he has been on a staff that has produced just 16 points from 16 games, including one win in the past 11, and a franchise-worst five-match home losing streak, Lagerwey said Valentino’s voice may resonate differently than Pineda and those of assistants Diego de la Torre and Eugenio Villazon, who were also fired on Monday.
“Whether it was reality or perception, I think there was a perception that (that the two assistants) were in the boat with with Gonzalo and certainly, Rob was supportive and part of that team,” Lagerwey said. “But we’re going to continue now with Rob, who maybe will have a little bit different viewpoint on some things.”
Lagerwey reminded journalists on Monday that he had success with Brian Schmetzer as an interim when both were at Seattle. Schmetzer was eventually named the team’s full-time manager. He has won two MLS Cups and the Champions League.
If Valentino succeeds, he will be considered for the full-time job, Lagerwey said.
“If Rob proves that he is deserving of that, certainly, that would be a great thing for us,” Lagerwey said.
If Valentino doesn’t succeed, the club will be prepared.
Valentino’s job won’t be easy.
-Sunday’s match against Charlotte was the ninth in 30 days for the team.
-Several players were given days off while others, including Saba Lobjanidze, Bartosz Slisz, Caleb Wiley, Noah Cobb, Jay Fortune and Luis Abram, have joined their national teams.
-Lobjanidze and Slisz will be gone for several weeks for the Euros. It’s likely that Thiago Almada and Wiley will be gone for the Olympics, and Abram for Copa America.
When the players reconvene later this week, they will begin preparing to play three matches in eight days: against Houston at home on June 15, at D.C. United on June 19 and at St. Louis on June 22. All of those teams have more points than Atlanta United. Atlanta United is 1-3-3 on the road this season.
While Valentino will be attempting to spark Atlanta United this season, Lagerwey and a group from Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment will begin a global search the team’s next manager -- its fifth not counting interims -- since joining MLS in 2017.
Lagerwey said there is no timetable and he believes there is more than one way to win. Typically, Atlanta United has sought managers and players best-suited to play attacking, dynamic soccer.
“I think when we talk about tactics ... I think you have to have some flexibility,” Lagerwey said. “I think it’s perfectly fine to have a desire to play with the ball. I think that you can be successful as well playing against the ball. So I think the long winded way to say is I think you need to be able to do both. And I think the players on this team are capable of doing both.”
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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule
Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0
March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1
March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0
March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0
March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0
April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1
April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2
April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1
April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1
May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1
May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup
May 11 D.C. United 3, Atlanta United 2
May 15 Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United 0
May 18 Atlanta United 1, Nashville 1
May 21 Atlanta United 0 (5), Charleston 0 (4) in U.S. Open Cup
May 25 LAFC 1, Atlanta United 0
May 29 Atlanta United 3, Miami 1
June 2 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 2
June 15 vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m.
June 19 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
June 22 at St. Louis, 8:30 p.m.
June 29 vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
July 3 at New England, 7:30 p.m.
July 6 at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
July 13 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
July 17 vs. NYCFC, 7:30 p.m.
July 20 vs. Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
July 26 vs. D.C. United in Leagues Cup, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 4 vs. Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup, 4 p.m.
Aug. 24 at L.A. Galaxy, 10:30 p.m.
Aug. 31 at Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 18 vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21 at Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 vs. Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 at Orlando, 6 p.m.
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