Tata Martino is the best coach on the board

Welcome back to your annually scheduled coaching search

Ronny Deila is out and there’s only one clear option at the top of the board. Tata Martino is available and, reportedly, looking for a job in MLS. He’s already been connected to the LAFC job opening up at the end of the season and, for obvious reasons, he’s going to be connected to the Atlanta job now.

There will be two, totally valid reactions to this. 1.) Yeah, of course, go get him. 2.) Does Atlanta really want to go for the nostalgia option a year after Miguel Almirón’s return preceded the worst season in club history?

Look, I get it. But I’m inclined to think that you shouldn’t shy away from the best relationship you’ve ever had simply because you’ve been in the relationship before. Besides, it’s not like Martino has gotten worse at this since he left. We’re a year removed from Martino guiding a Messi-dictated team to an MLS record for points despite Messi starting only 15 games.

He’s the best coach available. You don’t have to overthink this.

There are a few obstacles to bringing him back to Atlanta, though. First, he’s typically known to want some level of control over his rosters. Is his relationship with Chris Henderson good enough for a lack of control to not be an issue? In a similar vein, would he even want to try and fix this particular roster? If you’re choosing between LAFC and Atlanta United right now…well, I know which one I’d choose. Maybe there’s something more enticing about a roster that’s about to be overhauled. But, I dunno, give me Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min and I’m not gonna worry much about the rest of it.

From there, who knows? We don’t know exactly what Martino wants out of his next job. Whatever it is, Atlanta should, in my opinion, be prepared to give him pretty much anything he wants short of total control of the roster.

And other candidates

Let’s say, for whatever reason, Martino doesn’t work out. Who’s next on the board?

Well, technically, it’d probably be Jim Curtin. Atlanta reached out to him last cycle and will, in theory, reach out again. Unfortunately, Curtin seems to be locked into staying at home until his kids graduate high school. You can’t say never when you’re talking billionaire money, though.

Which brings us to our less available candidates. These are the folks who already have a team but don’t have a plane with gold spinning rims on the wheels. Arthur Blank can pay whatever it takes to get any coach who could reasonably come to Atlanta. I’m not talking Jurgen Klopp. I’m talking about proven MLS coaches in smaller markets who might take a new job in exchange for a ton of cash and a roster made with help from the highest-spending owner in MLS.

In particular, I’m talking about a guy like Wilfried Nancy. Nancy has been regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and has led both CF Montréal and the Columbus Crew to best-ever seasons. He’s obviously a long shot, but it’s worth seeing if he’ll pick up the phone. He’s worth it.

A potentially more reasonable option in the same vein is Jesper Sørensen. Sørensen led Vancouver to their best-ever season this year and is a bonafide candidate for Manager of the Year. He took a middling team and helped turn them into a side that finished on 63 points after making the Concacaf Champions Cup Final. Again, tough sell. But it’s worth giving him a call.

From there, I’m sure we’ll eventually hear about other candidates we hadn’t even considered. We know the club will want a proven winner, but there are only so many of those. We’re open to guesses right now. But unlike the last search, there is a clear and immediate frontrunner. Will find out soon whether a second Tata tenure is in the cards.