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Atlanta United manager Ronny Deila (center) huddles the squad together at the end of training on Tuesday afternoon.
Credit: Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
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Trust and Time are top of mind for 2025 Atlanta United squad as preseason begins this weekend in Chattanooga
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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Atlanta United veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan, back for another season in red and black, stood on the 30-yard line and barked orders from the back. “Squeeze up”, “Turn,” “React, react,” and “Up we go.”
First-year manager Ronny Deila, fresh to the club from managing in Norway, stood in the middle of the field, whistle in hand, “Let’s talk,” he said. Deila frequently stopped practice to give pointers and talk strategy. He is still getting familiar with the players and vice versa. The Five Stripes were training inside the Atlanta Falcons indoor training facility on Tuesday. Hours before the start of a second snowstorm in less than two weeks, the club thought it made sense to work out indoors. Smart choice.
Deila, who won a Major League Soccer (MLS) title with NYCFC, and Guzan, the oldest and most experienced player on the club, each have high expectations for the 2025 season. Top that off with the fact that this might be Guzan’s last season in Atlanta and the team having come off of what could be seen as a successful postseason run, the time is now for Atlanta.
Asked what his expectations are for the coming season, Deila showed a slight annoyance with the question before saying, “Of course, we want to win. That’s number one”.
He added that at the same time he, his staff, and the fan base have to be “realistic” about what Atlanta United is and was at the end of last season prior to making a postseason run that includes a series victory over Supporters Shield winners Inter Miami.
“It’s so even in this league that things can happen quickly if you develop the team in the right direction,” Deila said. “I want to see that the team is shaping the way I have in my head. I want to see that the team has energy, that they have legs, that we see improvement in what they are doing.”
Deila said they all want to achieve something special this season. “And to win is special and that’s something you will be remembered for the rest of your life,” he added.
“Nothing better than to do it the first year,” Deila, 49, said.
The team’s preseason schedule begins on Saturday with a match at Chattanooga FC on Jan. 25 at 3 p.m.
They will also play matches in Birmingham, Alabama as part of a six-game preseason schedule. That schedule includes a pair of matches against the New England Revolution and FC Cincinnati scheduled to take place in Bradenton, Florida on Feb. 8 and 12 that will be closed to the public.
The match against FC Dallas in Marietta, which is scheduled to take place on Feb. 15, is also closed to the public. The match, which will take place at the team’s training facility, will be streamed live at www.atlutd.com/live, according to a release from the team.
Veteran fullback Ronald Hernandez said the preseason is a chance to get Deila’s attention outside of training. Playing against teammates in training is one thing, but playing against another club, even if it isn’t a Major League Soccer club is another, he said.
Asked if the match in Chattanooga is a way to build trust with Deila as he decides on the lineups going forward, Hernandez said, “100 percent.”
“Every friendly game is a test for ourselves to see where we are and to see things that we have been working on,” said Hernande, who added that then the coaches and players can watch film, and go on from there.
Ajani Fortune, one of a very crowded midfielders roster on the squad, also said he’s looking forward to getting out on the pitch against someone else.
“Just seeing the signs of what we have been working on in training, that’s the biggest thing,” Fortune said. “Against a team that has their own ideas, to see how it matches up. To go out there and treat Chattanooga with the utmost respect, to play them as if the season has kind of started, to go out there and work on what we have been working on in training is really important.”
With starting midfielder Brooks Lennon set to miss the preseason, there’s an opportunity for Fortune to turn Deila’s head from the game film from last season to what the manager has available right now. Fortune said getting fitness in during the match at Chattanooga is also on his list of goals for the preseason opener. For the upcoming season, he added scoring more goals would be nice too. He did not give the media a specific number of goals, though.
“I think if we are able to see those things and most importantly win, I think that would be a great start to the preseason,” Fortune said.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Atlanta Voice.
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