Throughout the 2024 MLS Next Pro season, Alan Carleton has been a standout player for Atlanta United 2. He earned his first professional brace in the 2’s 3-2 victory against the New England Revolution 2 last weekend. This has been a cumulation of years of hard work that began way before he wore the crest for Atlanta.
Many Atlanta fans recognize the last name of Carleton and think of Andrew Carleton, who was the first homegrown signing for Atlanta in 2016. Alan’s love for soccer didn’t just stem from his brother, it is something his whole family enjoys as well.
“It started with my older brother, Andrew,” said Carleton. “He started playing when he was seven or eight, and then my older sisters followed him on soccer, so I really had no choice but to hop in. I was like four when I started and I've been playing ever since, but I love it.”
Alan is forging his own path with the Five Stripes and it all started back in 2016. He was a member of the first-ever Atlanta United Academy class in 2016 and took the field in the Generation adidas Cup that year.
“When the club started, they had some trials around here, and just hopped in that,” said Carleton. “I played well at the trial, and was good enough to get a spot on the U12 team at the time. I’ve just been playing ever since, going up every age group, from U12 to now, up to the 2’s, hopefully first team soon.”
He continued to progress through the Academy and earned his professional debut with the 2’s in April 2022 against Hartford in the USL Championship season opener. He played in twelve games in that first season, starting two. Last year, he featured in 19 games in MLS Next Pro and earned his first assist. So far in 2024, he has four goal contributions in 15 MLS Next Pro matches. This growth has been steady for the Powder Springs native, but the jump from Academy to a professional setting was very eye opening.
“It was tough. Obviously, it's just bigger, stronger guys. You thought you were scanning enough in the academy. You got to go to the 2’s and then the first team, but yeah, it's tough,” said Carleton. “You just got to play quick, be on your toes and just be ready to play, but it was good. I had a lot of nice coaches, Jack Collison, Steve Cooke, and a bunch of guys just helped me out. It was really nice.”
Carleton has trained with the first team and had an impact with the first team in the Open Cup match against Charleston Battery earlier this year. In those sessions, many of the veteran players will help younger players like Carleton with the adjustments.
“I think some guys, like the older guys, Dax McCarty, does a good job of it,” said Carleton. “He'll come over to you and maybe point out some things that you don't even notice, and you're like, wow, I didn't even think about stuff like that before. A lot of the older guys, like Quentin Westberg, he does a lot of coaching around the field too. He’s a good guy to look up to.”
All of Alan’s hard work would pay off on August 3 when he scored a 25-yard golazo in the 36th minute and gave the 2’s the 2-0 lead. He would make it 3-0 in the 38th after Rodrigo Neri slotted a pass to him and Alan was wide open in the box. This moment was something Alan has been waiting for since he joined the 2’s.
“It felt good. I've been looking for that first goal for a while now, and it does mean a lot to me, because I've scored in every age group I've played in, except for the 2’s,” Carleton said with a smile when asked about the goals. “It felt good to finally get that weight off my shoulder that I can't score, and I just hope they're going to keep on coming.”
Alan’s first professional goal is cumulation of what the 2’s staff and Head Coach Steve Cooke have been working on with Alan these past few months. They want him to take those chances and be a little bit more selfish.
“I've always kind of been more of an assist guy. If you look at my like Academy numbers, I probably have three assists to every goal. They've been telling me, you get around these areas. You're at the top of the box, you're always looking for the extra pass or setting up the next guy, and sometimes you just gotta take control,” said Carleton. “The shot for 25 out, I don't think maybe 12 months ago, I'm taking that shot. I think I'm looking for the pass to somebody else, and they've been really good about helping me out with that with lots of extra shooting drills at the end of practice, and just let me know, you can do this like you just gotta take the shots.”
From being a part of the first Academy class in 2016 to scoring his first professional brace, Alan has grown into a phenomenal player with a bright future ahead of him.
“I always smile looking back at those pictures. There's some good times, but it's crazy. I just can't believe I was really that short when I was that young. I look at myself and I'm like, five or six inches shorter than everyone else on the field, but that's funny. I love those pictures,” said Carleton. “I look at the U12s now, and I'm like, Dude, there's no way I was like that, and then I'll look at the pictures, and I'm like I might have been smaller than them.”
The future is looking bright for the 19-year-old, but there are still a few things that he needs to improve before he gets to the next level. Alan is a very technical player, and as Jason Longshore said in our interview with Alan, he is a throwback player, but the balancing act will be to have the technical side along with dealing with bigger and stronger players.
“I think for a player like me who's not as physical, I think that's the biggest thing for me. I think it's gonna be a little different for everyone, but I've never really relied on my athleticism, so now that I play against more athletic people, I gotta be even more switched on just to match how much more physical they are,” said Carleton. “I just got to play quick, be on your toes, just nice touches, be clean on the ball, and just get the ball off your feet before the guys can get too close and just muscle you off it.”
Through his time with Atlanta United, there is one thing that always sticks out to Alan. At every level, it feels like you're a part of one big family. This even extends to Atlanta United 2 even when some of the players are off training with the first team or with the Academy.
“We’ll go a week without seeing each other. Guys will be down at the academy, or the first team guys training up there all week, but it’s weird how when we all get together, it’s just like we have been together every day,” said Carleton. “It goes all the way back to you U12. I think that's how the whole Academy and the whole club is because I can remember just U12 year, and everybody just hanging out together. It was no small small groups or anything. It was just everybody kind of getting along.”
Like many of the academy players, Alan’s goal is to one day make it to the first team, and seeing academy products like Noah Cobb, Caleb Wiley and Efrain Morales getting first team minutes, it pushes him more towards that goal of representing the club that made him the player he is today.
“It does motivate me a little bit. Obviously, I'm so happy for them. It's good for them making it from the 2s to the first team,” said Carleton. “It's a tough thing to do, but it lets me know that obviously everybody can make that jump, so I just got to keep working hard, keep taking my chances, and then hopefully that'll be me soon.”
✍️: Madison Crews
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