Atlanta United's 2026 Season Ends With the Same Problems It Started With

Atlanta United started the 2026 season hoping that Tata Martino’s return would restore some of what the club had lost in recent years. The club’s first manager, who led the club to the 2018 MLS Cup championship, was back. And a rebuilding roster offered hope that the Five Stripes could return to playoff contention.

Ten months later, Atlanta is facing another failed season.

Wednesday night’s 2-1 loss to New York City FC at Citi Field officially eliminated Atlanta United from playoff contention. For the first time in club history, Atlanta will miss the MLS Cup Playoffs in consecutive seasons.

The loss followed a pattern that had developed early in the year. Atlanta created opportunities but struggled to finish them, while individual mistakes at the other end continued to cost the team points. Martino and his players recognized these problems throughout the season, but they didn’t always agree on what was causing them. Despite roster changes, tactical adjustments, and repeated signs of improvement, many of those same problems were still costing Atlanta matches in October.

Martino’s Changing Assessment of Atlanta

Martino’s comments show how his assessment of Atlanta changed over the course of the season. Early concerns about the team’s approach gave way to problems with its attacking play as well as defending. By October, he was struggling to explain why Atlanta continued losing despite the improvements he saw in the team’s performances.

After Atlanta lost its second match of the season at San Jose on February 28, Martino expressed concern about the team’s poor first-half performance. The Five Stripes struggled from the opening whistle and only began showing improvement after halftime.

A week later, Martino saw improvement despite Atlanta’s 3-2 home loss to Real Salt Lake. The Five Stripes created more scoring opportunities and found the net twice, but individual mistakes left the club with its third consecutive defeat.

By mid-April, Atlanta was still struggling to find results. Following another home defeat against Nashville, Martino admitted just how far the team had fallen below his expectations.

In April, Atlanta faced a different problem against New England. The Five Stripes created several scoring opportunities and took the lead, but failed to finish their chances and made costly defensive mistakes. Martino acknowledged that the team often became disorganized when it fell behind, making it more difficult to recover.

By July, Martino’s frustration was becoming more apparent. Following another narrow defeat at Nashville, he praised Atlanta’s performance against one of the league’s strongest teams. In March, he had been encouraged by the improvements he saw despite losing. Four months on, he was expressing frustration that those performances were still ending in defeats.

By October, Martino had identified many of Atlanta’s problems and tried different approaches to address them. Following the 2-1 defeat at NYCFC that officially eliminated Atlanta from playoff contention, he again praised his team’s performance but struggled to explain the result. The problems he had discussed earlier in the year were still affecting Atlanta, and the improvements he recognized had never produced enough victories.

Questions About the Team’s Mentality

Atlanta’s mentality was already being questioned in February. As the season progressed, Martino and his players sometimes disagreed about how much the team’s attitude and concentration contributed to its struggles. By July, players were questioning whether the team truly believed it could win, and those concerns were still being raised in October.

Following Atlanta’s second consecutive defeat at San Jose on February 28, Juan Berrocal questioned the team’s mentality. Despite a strong preseason and a good week of training, he believed the players had failed to approach the match with the attitude needed to compete.

Following Atlanta’s loss to Columbus on April 4, Martino raised concerns about the psychological effects of the previous season. He believed the players were beginning to see a repeat of 2025 and that those memories were affecting their confidence.

Will Reilly, speaking after the same match, disagreed with Martino’s assessment. He acknowledged how difficult the previous season had been, but questioned whether those experiences were responsible for Atlanta’s performance against Columbus.

Following Atlanta’s April 22 defeat against New England, Martino believed the team had played well enough to win. He blamed the result on missed chances and defensive mistakes rather than the players’ mentality.

Fafà Picault saw things differently. While Martino blamed missed chances and defensive mistakes, Picault believed Atlanta had lost its focus after taking the lead. He questioned the team’s ability to maintain its intensity and concentration for the entire match.

By July, Atlanta’s repeated defeats were taking a toll on the players’ confidence. Following another narrow loss at Nashville, Enea Mihaj expressed frustration that Atlanta had created several scoring opportunities but failed to convert them, while another defensive mistake had cost the team the match. He believed the problem had reached a point where the players were beginning to doubt their ability to win.

Nearly eight months after Berrocal questioned Atlanta’s mentality, the same concerns were still being raised. Following the 3-1 home defeat against Cincinnati on October 10, Breel Embolo pointed to lapses in concentration that were costing Atlanta at both ends of the field. The players were still struggling to maintain the focus needed to turn their performances into victories.

Atlanta’s Struggles in the Final Third

Atlanta struggled to score goals throughout the season. Poor decisions, a lack of movement in the box, and missed chances repeatedly hurt the team. Martino and his players frequently spoke about these problems, with much of their criticism directed at the attack, even when they avoided naming individuals.

Following Atlanta’s March 21 match against D.C. United, Martino was frustrated with how his players handled the ball near goal. Atlanta was getting into promising attacking positions, but too often those opportunities were wasted through poor decisions.

Following Atlanta’s April 18 loss against Nashville, Martino acknowledged that the team’s approach was limiting its attack. Atlanta was putting so much effort into containing its opponents that it was struggling to get players forward and create scoring chances.

Mihaj saw things differently after the same match. While Martino focused on Atlanta’s difficulty creating chances, Mihaj believed the team had done enough to score. He was more concerned with what happened once those opportunities arrived.

Mihaj also questioned the effort being made when Atlanta attacked. He believed the team was leaving too few players in dangerous positions and that teammates weren’t doing enough to get into the box when opportunities to cross arose.

By October, Atlanta’s problems in front of goal remained unresolved. Following the 3-1 home defeat against Cincinnati, Martino was frustrated that his team had created several good scoring opportunities but had little to show for them.

A week later, following Atlanta’s 3-1 loss against Inter Miami, Martino was even more direct about where the team was falling short. Despite conceding three goals, he was more critical of Atlanta’s performance in front of the opposition’s goal.

Atlanta’s Inability to Manage Games

Atlanta repeatedly struggled to protect leads and respond when matches started turning in favor of the opponents. Turnovers, defensive mistakes, and a lack of concentration cost the team points throughout the season. Players questioned whether Atlanta knew when to keep attacking and when to focus on defending a lead.

The problems appeared in Atlanta’s season opener against Cincinnati on February 21. Atlanta remained competitive for much of the match, but two late goals turned a close contest into a 2-0 defeat. One came after Atlanta lost possession in attack, while the other followed a corner.

Following Atlanta’s March 7 defeat against Real Salt Lake, Tristan Muyumba questioned how the team responded when it lost possession. He believed Atlanta was leaving its defenders in difficult situations and that the responsibility for preventing those attacks belonged to everyone on the field.

Atlanta’s May 9 defeat against LA Galaxy showed how quickly mistakes could cost the team. Jay Fortune put Atlanta ahead in the 69th minute, but Gabriel Pec scored twice in five minutes to give Galaxy the lead. Martino pointed to turnovers and poor defending as the reasons Atlanta lost control of the match.

Fortune saw a bigger problem with how Atlanta managed the match. The team knew the Galaxy were dangerous on counters, yet failed to adjust after taking the lead. He believed Atlanta needed to be smarter about protecting its advantage.

Berrocal agreed that Atlanta needed to do a better job of protecting its lead. He went further than Fortune, suggesting the team needed to change how it played when it was ahead, even if that meant being less aggressive.

Against Philadelphia on August 1, Atlanta took the lead despite playing with ten men, only to concede twice in quick succession and lose. Miguel Almirón recognized that this was becoming a recurring problem and that the players needed to take responsibility.

Atlanta showed it could manage a match better in its 3-0 victory at Montréal on October 14. Martino praised the players for staying organized and calm when they lost possession, particularly when they needed to drop back and defend.

Almirón agreed that Atlanta had defended better against Montréal, but acknowledged that the team was still working to understand Martino’s approach. He believed the players needed to improve how they defended without the ball and how they attacked after winning it back.

Atlanta’s final chance to reach the playoffs ended in similar fashion against NYCFC on October 28. After fighting back to equalize, Atlanta conceded the winning goal in stoppage. Matt Edwards saw the late collapse as another example of the problems that had followed the team throughout the season.

Rebuilding a Team Mid-Season

Atlanta started the season with a rebuilt roster, but made another round of significant changes during the summer. During the early months, Martino used different players and formations, averaging roughly two and a half changes to the starting lineup between matches. Injuries and lack of depth limited his options in July and August. Atlanta averaged fewer than two starting lineup changes per match during those months, with young players such as Cooper Sanchez and Will Reilly receiving significant playing time.

The arrival of Breel Embolo, Mauricio Amaro, and Giuliano Galoppo gave Martino more options, and all three quickly became regular starters. Sanchez saw his playing time decrease, while other players lost their places in the lineup. Fafà Picault started seven of eight matches during July and August, then didn’t start any of Atlanta’s last ten. Cayman Togashi, who had already seen limited playing time, made no appearances during September or October.

By September, Martino believed he finally had the competitive squad he wanted, although Atlanta had already fallen well behind in the playoff race. He continued making roughly four substitutions per match, but his decisions didn’t always reflect the depth he now had available. Against NYCFC on October 28, with Atlanta fighting to keep its playoff hopes alive, Martino used just two substitutes despite having several attacking and midfield options available. His decision to leave three substitutions unused raised questions about how much confidence he had in the players outside his preferred lineup.

After Atlanta lost its first three matches, Martino was asked whether he would make changes to his lineup. He argued that replacing players only made sense if their replacements could improve the team. He also believed changes needed to account for the players’ development and confidence.

Martino took a different approach in Atlanta’s May 19 US Open Cup match against Orlando City. He changed the formation and rotated in seven players, hoping to take advantage of their extra rest. After the loss, Martino admitted he had made the wrong decision.

The Open Cup loss may have given Martino reason to reconsider how he used his reserves, but the changes didn’t happen all at once. Reilly, Brennan, and Edwards continued receiving opportunities through July and August. Togashi’s playing time dropped sharply, while Amador disappeared from the lineup. By September, with new signings taking regular starting roles, the opportunities for several other players had become increasingly limited.

Atlanta’s lack of depth became more apparent during the summer. After the July 25 defeat at New England, assistant coach Rodrigo Ríos acknowledged that the team was struggling physically and didn’t have enough players available to rotate. As the match wore on, Atlanta had trouble pressing opponents and recovering possession.

Ríos also pointed to Cooper Sanchez as an example of how thin Atlanta’s midfield had become. Despite his age, Sanchez had become a regular starter, and the coaching staff continued relying on him even as his physical workload increased.

Atlanta had several young players on the bench against New England, but the coaching staff was reluctant to turn to them while trailing by two goals. Ríos explained that the players were gaining experience with the first team, even if they weren’t ready to take on the responsibility of changing a match.

By late August, Atlanta was still struggling to turn its opportunities into goals. After the August 29 defeat against Charlotte, Cooper Sanchez discussed how the arrival of Breel Embolo could help address the team’s problems in attack.

By September 19, Martino’s assessment of the squad had changed considerably. After Atlanta’s 1-0 victory at Portland, he spoke about the improvement in depth and how the summer signings had given him more options.

Atlanta’s improved depth was tested eight days later against NYCFC. With Miguel Almirón, Alexey Miranchuk, and Fafà Picault unavailable, Martino had only Luke Brennan as a natural winger. He chose to use a midfielder out wide rather than change to a formation with two strikers.

The frequent changes also affected how much time players spent together on the field. After Atlanta’s October 17 defeat against Inter Miami, Fafà Picault acknowledged that he had played limited minutes alongside some of his teammates and understood how difficult the adjustments could be for regular starters.

Closing Thoughts

After Atlanta’s October 28 loss to NYCFC, Matt Edwards spoke about the frustration of continuing to discuss progress after another defeat. Martino had pointed to improvements in the team’s performances, while Edwards recognized how difficult it was to keep talking about building towards something when the results weren’t improving.

Throughout the season, Martino and his players kept returning to the same problems. In February, players talked about concentration. By April, Martino was discussing poor finishing and defensive mistakes, while others raised concerns about mentality and movement in attack. In May, players spoke about protecting leads and managing matches better. By October, many of those problems remained.

Atlanta showed it could play better. The victories against Portland and Montréal came when the team defended well and made the most of its opportunities. Cooper Sanchez also gained valuable experience, and the summer signings improved the squad. Yet Atlanta struggled to produce those performances from one match to the next.

Martino acknowledged some of his mistakes, but he struggled to find solutions to the problems that continued all year. His tactics, lineup decisions, and substitutions deserve scrutiny, just as the players must answer for missed chances, defensive mistakes, and lapses in concentration. The sporting department also bears responsibility for a roster that lacked depth for much of the year and required significant changes during the summer.

After Atlanta was eliminated from playoff contention, Martino addressed the disappointment felt by the club’s supporters after the failed season.

Edwards also spoke about the need for everyone at the club to take responsibility rather than simply promise a better season.

Atlanta has now missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. With two matches remaining, beginning Sunday against Toronto FC, Martino has an opportunity to give other players more minutes and try different lineups. The club also needs to decide which players should return next season and where the roster needs improvement.

Edwards summed it up in four words.