Opinion: Atlanta United fans' reaction to Mauricio Culebro's introductory press conference is understandable

Urgency is the buzzword of the window

The reaction to Mauricio Culebro’s introductory press conference on Monday has been fascinating. In the Five Stripe Final Subscriber Discord, it was predominantly negative. Someone on social media asked me why the response has been so visceral. They’d tuned out of the Atlanta United scene a while ago and told me Culebro seems like a great hire for the NWSL Atlanta side of things.

Therein lies the disconnect.

The Atlanta United supporters who have stuck around through these dark times are completely fed up. If you’re subscribed to this website, you’re most likely one of those passionate fans waiting for any sign of hope to grasp onto.

So while it may look like an overreaction from the outside, anyone paying attention to the pain diehard Five Stripes supporters have endured shouldn’t be surprised.

To be fair to Culebro himself, the man just arrived to the country, let alone the club, and anyone in his position isn’t going to publicly lay out an entire strategy to execute upon. But for Atlanta United’s fans, Culebro’s totally fine, totally predictable answers during his introduction did nothing to reflect how dire this situation actually is. All fans want to see is absolute urgency from the people in charge. We want them to do whatever it takes to give us a reason to feel excited about this team for the first time in years.

For years, under several regimes, leadership has done nothing but preach patience. Patience wears thin when all the time, money, and energy you invest doesn’t pay off.

If the dwindling attendance numbers, lack of overall interest, and complete absence of relevance in American soccer don’t paint the picture of how desperate a situation Culebro is walking into, I don’t know what does.

For people on the outside who don’t suffer week in and week out with this team’s failures, it probably does seem silly to judge a single press conference. For those of us desperate to see this club get back to being fun to watch, anything less than swift and decisive action will be met with outrage.

These are the same fans who built those attendance records, the same fans MLS pointed to nine years ago as proof American soccer culture was real. You can’t expect that passion to disappear or stay positive when the club they fell in love with has fallen into unrecognizable pieces.

All fans are asking for is urgency and an acknowledgement that difficult decisions need to be made to get this club back to winning. Corporate buzzwords and preaching patience aren’t going to cut it anymore. If you want those passionate fans back on your side, give them a tangible reason to invest again.

While Culebro’s first impression didn’t inspire or conjure confidence within the supporters that remain, ultimately he’ll be judged on the decisions he makes to turn Atlanta United around and help build NWSL Atlanta. Once there is a strong enough sample size to judge him in action rather than his just his words, we can reconvene and give a better assessment.