Training Ground Notebook: Tata Martino knows exactly where Atlanta United is breaking down

The buildup is working. The final third is not. What happens next depends on whether this group can find the clarity the coach believes is already there.

Atlanta United training a day before the New England Revolution visit the Benz. (photo: Jason Longshore)

Atlanta United trained Tuesday morning in Marietta with one clear priority ahead of Wednesday's home match against New England Revolution: find the emotional reset this run of results demands. The conversations around it were honest, specific, and pointed in the same direction. They also produced one of the more encouraging individual stories of the season so far.

The final third is the frontier

Martino spent considerable time Tuesday breaking down what he sees as Atlanta's central challenge right now, and it is more specific than the results table might suggest.

"In many occasions the team arrives very well up to three-quarters of the rival's field, and there we lack clarity."

That is not a sweeping condemnation. It is a surgical diagnosis. Martino is not describing a team that is confused or disconnected in its buildup. He is describing one that has learned to move the ball well through the middle portions of the field but has not yet found a reliable way to break teams down in the final 25 to 30 yards.

When asked why that clarity is missing, his answer was instructive. Building through three-quarters of the field relies on good movement and technical ability, and critically, it is an area of the field where you can still create numerical advantages. The final third is different. That numerical superiority disappears, and what replaces it has to be creativity, individual dribbling, combination play, and deception. That is the part that is costing Atlanta right now.

"When you get into the last 25 to 30 meters of the field, that numerical superiority doesn't exist anymore. So what it requires in the final third is creativity, dribbling, good movements, and different ways to break down the team."

He was also pointed about the solution not coming from a tactical overhaul. When asked directly whether a back five and a more counter-attacking approach might be the answer, he was measured but firm.

"I'm not considering it, except for certain specific games where it might make sense. Putting us in a low block doesn't mean we'll be solid defensively."

When asked specifically about structuring the team to get the best out of Latte Lath, he went further.

"As coaches, we don't like to modify our whole idea around one player, because maybe we'll do things to improve the play of one specific player, but other characteristics of the team as a whole might not benefit."

The shape is staying. The demand is for the players within it to grow into it.

Midfielders, run the whole field

Alexey Miranchuk and Cooper Sanchez in Tuesday's session. (photo: Jason Longshore)

One of the more direct conversations Tuesday was about the midfield's responsibility in both phases of the game, and Martino did not leave much room for ambiguity.

He pointed to the midfielders and fullbacks specifically, arguing that the same players involved in buildup have both the physical ability and the decision-making capacity to continue their runs and get into the attacking third. He used Federico Valverde at Real Madrid as a reference point, not as a comparison, but as a model of what is physically and tactically possible.

"I don't imagine Valverde participating in the buildup of Real Madrid and then not being able to get forward and participate in the attack. I'm not comparing the players, just using the example of physical qualities and decision-making. Our midfielders are used to making long runs. They're typically the players who cover the most distance during matches. We shouldn't settle for 'we built out well' and then act like the final third is too far away."

He named Cooper Sanchez, Matías Galarza, and Jay Fortune as players he believes can do exactly that and who have done that.

Sanchez acknowledged the challenge directly when asked about it Tuesday. He said he noticed it himself during Saturday's loss to Nashville.

"I felt at times during the weekend, I was kinda far away, and it was only Manu in the box. So I think I can help out and make more dangerous runs and affect the game more, and goals, and yeah, things like that."

That kind of self-awareness is notable for a 18-year-old. It also reflects how the coaching staff's messaging is landing. When asked whether pushing higher was a directive from the bench or something he arrived at on his own, his answer was both.

"The coaching staff wants me to get higher and start affecting with goals and assists, which I also think I need to start doing. Obviously, in the professional game, to keep your spot, you need to provide goals and assists in the position I'm in."

Cooper Sanchez, ahead of every timeline

Before this season started, Cooper Sanchez set a goal for himself: five starts for the entire year.

He has already surpassed that with the regular season still in its early stages. When that was pointed out to him Tuesday, his reaction was genuine.

"To be at this point is, obviously, like, mind-blowing to me. If you were asking me at the start of the year, I would say no. No chance."

He is now 18 years old and starting MLS matches regularly. He is three weeks away from graduating from Atlanta International School, where he has been finishing his coursework at his own pace around a professional schedule. He will walk at his graduation ceremony. He is already thinking about what comes next, including studies that might eventually point him toward coaching. He credits the school's flexibility for making all of it possible.

The X-factor in his growth has been pressing. It is what caught Martino's attention first and what has sustained his place in the lineup.

"I never really had the bite to my game. So I think adding that helps my game a lot on the defensive side of things. If I can add that to the team, then obviously that's gonna be great for the team. And what the coaching staff saw is they love it."

He describes his style plainly:

"I think I need to go into tackles harder than the bigger guys, obviously, because if not, you're not gonna win the ball. When I'm going into tackles, I'm going in 100%, no matter the size of the player."

When asked which players he watches for inspiration, he did not reach for generic answers.

"Frenkie de Jong, honestly. That's my favorite player right now. Watching Barça, like PSG, any of those, like Vitinha, Pedri, just controlling the game pretty much. The game's on their terms, affecting with goals and assists."

He also had a thoughtful read on teammate Matías Galarza, who has brought an unmistakable energy and work rate since arriving.

"The biggest thing that stands out to me is his fight. He's always 100% during the game, whatever it is, for 90 minutes. There's times where he's tired, but he's always giving 100% for the team. If we have 11 guys doing that every weekend, then the results will come."

Philadelphia remains the proof of concept

Tomás Jacob eludes Dominick Chong Qui in Tuesday's training session. (photo: Jason Longshore)

Martino returned more than once Monday to the win over Philadelphia Union as the clearest example of what this team can be when everything connects. That game produced three goals out of a possession-based buildup, which is exactly what the system is designed to do.

When asked directly whether Atlanta's three designated players are capable of executing his plan at the level he wants, his answer was built around that reference.

"With Philadelphia, were we capable of doing it? For me, it's enough, because if I'm capable of doing it in one match, I can do it in the following matches. We did it poorly, but we showed that we're capable of doing it. Those are different things. When you are incapable of doing something, there are no exceptions. If we showed an exception, that means we are in a position to repeat it."

He was also careful to spread the responsibility beyond the designated players.

"Why do those decisions have to be made only by the three DPs? Any other player can make them without any problem. They're playing professional soccer. I understand that the responsibilities will fall more on the three DPs, but the reality is that we have more players capable of making that type of decision."

Emotional superiority is the key to Wednesday

When Martino was asked what the main challenge will be against New England, his answer was not tactical.

"The challenge of the match is to overcome it fundamentally from an emotional standpoint. That, for me, is the key of tomorrow's match."

He was also asked how he is handling this stretch personally, and he did not pretend it is easy.

"It's not easy. But I've probably been here three months, and it's my coaching staff and the two or three players who arrived this year who are the least contaminated. So those of us with the greatest responsibility to get out of this situation are us."

Cooper echoed that sense of collective belief.

"The energy is not lacking. The fight, the desire to win is not lacking. Now it just comes down to little details throughout the game that we need to fix. And that's what's gonna turn the results around."

Three weeks from graduation. Already a regular starter in MLS. Still learning, still growing, and already pointing at what needs to change. There is a lot of Atlanta United in Cooper Sanchez right now.

Wednesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a chance for all of it to show up at once. The emotional reset Martino is demanding, the midfielders running beyond the build, the clarity in the final third that has been there in flashes but not consistently enough. Cooper Sanchez is ahead of every timeline he set for himself. Now the team needs to catch up to its own belief. Coverage starts at 6:30 on 92.9 The Game and the Audacy app with the Five Stripes Countdown with Abe Gordon and Madison Crews, followed by kickoff at 7:40 with Mike Conti and me.