The summer break is finally here

Not a moment too soon.

Atlanta United ended the first half of the season with another miserable result, losing 2-0 in Columbus on Sunday.

We now get nearly two whole months to watch some World Cup soccer and hopefully discuss a boatload of interesting transfer rumors about players leaving and arriving.

There is zero doubt that this roster needs massive changes. The question is, can/will Chris Henderson swing for the fences and make big moves to overhaul this mess of a squad?

As things stand, there’s not a ton of room for maneuvering. You can probably add one TAM player if both Matias Galarza and Juan Berrocal have their purchase options declined. While not official, Galarza has already departed the club and according to Tata, is highly unlikely to be brought back. He says the club is still negotiating for Berrocal’s return but that his situation is in a similarly difficult spot.

While all of that is fine, it’s clear this team needs more than one TAM addition. The Designated Player situation needs to be addressed somehow. Whether that’s offloading one or more on the cheap and losing a ton on investments or even possibly exploring a buyout. Something big clearly needs to happen to open up the chance for the team to recruit players that can change games.

A lot has been made about the team’s defensive issues the last few years and while center back is a clear need, so is finding some dynamic attackers to score some goals.

Basically, the squad needs just about everything and Henderson has a bunch of worthless or depreciating assets to try and deal from. It was this time last year we saw a few questionable decisions to trade some homegrown players to bring in the likes of Berrocal and Enea Mihaj because there were no other movable pieces. Here’s to hoping we don’t see more of those types of panic moves this summer.

We’re expecting a busy summer. Whether that materializes or not, who knows? What we do know is that we have some plans percolating for content all throughout the summer break that will look back on the first half, look ahead to the summer transfer window, and examine some difficult questions surrounding the club and its decision makers.

Can Chris Henderson pull multiple rabbits out of his hat and build Tata Martino a competitive roster? We can only wait and hope so.

We’ll be following up soon with some more in-depth analysis of what needs to happen this summer for that to come to fruition. For now, enjoy your Memorial Day.