Gerardo “Tata” Martino is leaving Atlanta United after the MLS season. His effect will not be forgotten.
Tata Martino is leaving MLS after two seasons at the helm of Atlanta United. The club confirmed the news on Tuesday, with the star Argentine manager looking at other, potentially Mexican opportunities. Martino played a leading role in establishing Atlanta’s status as the league’s most progressive team, setting all sorts of positive precedents and jolting the 2017 expansion team to the top.
His long-held international clout attracted young South American stars Atlanta would have struggled to draw without him. Atlanta pioneered the model of targeting younger, international talents with the intention of selling them on for profit, a model that could benefit Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez this offseason with big-money moves to Europe.
Players like Almiron and Martinez were lured primarily by Martino, who had been coaching Lionel Messi in two different locations in the years immediately leading up to his appointment as Atlanta’s inaugural manager. Martino, the former Barcelona, Argentina and Paraguay leader, is a South American legend. His influence on ATL’s cast of talent could secure them greater opportunities on worldwide stages.
Martino legitimized the entire operation with his presence. MLS’s growth is partially banked on that legitimacy sticking, both on the sideline and on the field. Great managers draw great talent, and that talent, as it skews younger, has more upside and more motivation to perform than MLS’s earlier aging legend demographic.
Atlanta will surely go big with its next coach. In a press release, they said they will embark on “a detailed global search for a replacement.” More than any other MLS team, that ambitious language can be trusted. Tata was one of the best, if not the best, coaching hires in league history, and not long ago, the last-place San Jose Earthquakes hired former River Plate manager Matias Almeyda. Atlanta will up the bar.
In the meantime, the Five Stripes will try to clinch the Supporters’ Shield on Sunday and enter the playoffs hoping for a last hurrah with Almiron and Martinez, if the two club stalwarts are sold this winter. Already, 25-year-old Argentine international Pity Martinez has been heavily linked to an Atlanta move, even without Martino.