Creed Thoughts: Atlanta United edition

Random musings during an important week for the Five Stripes.

As we lead in to Atlanta United’s conference semifinal matchup against Orlando City in central Florida on Sunday, here are some things on my mind.

Coaching Carousel

Big news in the coaching “search” this morning as supposed-front runner Patrick Viera took the open seat at Genoa after interviewing with Garth Lagerwey earlier in this cycle. He was thought to be a leading contender — maybe *the* leading contender — to take over the top seat in the dugout at Mercedes-Benz Stadium next season.

That leaves Rob Valentino and ex-Philadelphia manager Jim Curtin as the two notable names people will be thinking about the most when it comes to the position going forward. Personally, I think this is great news for Valentino, whose name is now the most recognizable for normie fans, and he has some legitimate advantages over Curtin despite the latter’s longer track record of success in MLS. What are those advantages exactly?

• Leadership. The team as constructed is clearly bought into Rob'‘s personality. “Genuine,” “direct,” and “honest,” are words you’ll hear players utter when speaking about him. And the appreciation of Valentino as a leader isn’t limited to the playing staff, but stretches its tentacles throughout the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground. Staffers like and appreciate everything about the way he goes about his business. That is a feather in his cap that no other coaching candidate has.

• Established knowledge of existing players. I’m not so much thinking about the big names who play often and whose skills and attributes are more obviously examined. The knowledge that Valentino possesses about Atlanta United is institutional. He knows about the young players in the Academy and what their paths might look like toward helping the first team in the immediate, medium, and long-term. He knows the habits and personalities of the trainers and the medical experts, and on and on. Quick story: I drove to the training ground this morning only to find out there was no media access today as I’d misread the schedule. But while I was there, I could see Valentino in the lobby of the building spending time with Academy/2s players. Nothing formal by the looks of it, just spending some time as many of them were congregated inside on a nasty rainy day. That stuff matters.

• He’d come… more financially flexible. I don’t want to say “cheap,” and I certainly don’t want to shortchange his ability as a coach. Nor do I wish to express that this is a primary factor in the decision for such an important role. But someone getting their first head coaching job is just obviously not going to command as many total dollars of financial commitment from the club as someone like Viera or Curtin. And less important than the money might be the type of contract the club would sign him on. You can make the argument that the most prudent course of action for Garth Lagerwey would be to extend Valentino and let him continue to build, while giving the club flexible solutions should things not continue in such a fairy tale way next year.

Team selection for vs. Orlando City

After being thrust into a tricky situation in the Miami series after losing Brooks Lennon and Stian Gregersen to injuries in Game 1, Valentino absolutely nailed the tactics that helped Atlanta advance to the stage of the MLS Cup Playoffs. But can/should he continue with that way of playing? On the one hand, you can make the argument that it’s best not to do much tinkering with a setup that led to so much success and confidence from the players executing the gameplan. But on the other hand, the reason the shape worked so well was because it specifically dealt with the threats Miami posed, and Orlando will play the game differently.

This is Creed Thoughts, so I don’t have answers to this question. I need to talk to Sam about it on the podcast (stay tuned for more this week) to get his opinion on how Orlando likes to create chances under Oscar Pereja, who will set his team up in some version of a 4-3-3. Valentino fielded a 4-2-3-1 against them in their most recent win on Decision Day that had Tyler Wolff in the starting lineup. I doubt we see that again, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the team go back to a similar type of shape that incorporates Dax McCarty into the starting XI. We shall see.