On Tuesday evening, Atlanta United’s social media launched a new video series called Table Talks. It starred Carlos Bocanegra, the club’s vice president and technical director, in an informal interview-style show in an Atlanta restaurant with some of the club’s players.
“(I) just want to have a proper conversation and get into it,” Bocanegra said in the video. “Ask yourself about your journey in football and how you got here and how you ended up at Atlanta United.”
Less than 24 hours after the video was posted on YouTube, Atlanta United announced that Bocanegra had been relieved of his duties.
The decision to part ways with one of the club’s key football decision-makers now, rather than at the end of the season, signaled an increased urgency on behalf of chief executive Garth Lagerwey to change the course of the club once and for all.
Bocanegra’s contract was set to expire at the end of 2025 but he was not expected to continue in his role beyond this season. Lagerwey hasn’t said so publicly but after he fired head coach Gonzalo Pineda in June, it felt like changes within the front office, including canceling Bocanegra’s contract, were a matter of when and not if.
On Wednesday, Lagerwey explained his decision to move on from Bocanegra, one of the club’s most important voices for nearly a decade. According to Lagerwey, it was necessary to have a new general manager this offseason to target and sign Atlanta’s two open designated player spots.
“I don’t think it’s about hanging the fate of the club on any one person,” Lagerwey said. “I think we value everyone collectively, and in the end, any problems with the club stop with me. So I don’t know if we ever lost confidence (in Bocanegra). We just wanted to develop our player model.”
Bocanegra during an interview in September 2021 (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
This was Lagerwey’s first suggestion that the decision to separate from Bocanegra was rooted in a difference in ideology. And when Lagerwey added that the club’s philosophy would also be renewed under new leadership, it was obvious why Bocanegra’s time at the club was over.
“We thought a change in leadership at the head coach and GM positions was the best way to do that,” Lagerwey said Wednesday.
When he fired Pineda in June, Lagerwey set the table for how he would assess the current state of Atlanta United. If the team improved under a new coach, in this case interim manager Rob Valentino, maybe the player models and recruiting strategies weren’t the problem.
“If you believe we have a good team,” Lagerwey told reporters three months ago, “then with a new voice or a new start, that team should start getting points at a higher level. And again, if not, then we have to pass more time really evaluating what the root causes of that are.”
Despite a few bursts of positive play, Atlanta United hasn’t taken a step forward since Pineda was let go. The first team is void of identifiable personality and they have been beaten consistently in both league and cup competitions. This points directly to the type of player Bocanegra has acquired.
Change was needed in Atlanta. And Lagerwey, one of the most successful sporting directors in MLS history, now has the freedom to transform Atlanta United as its CEO.
By removing Bocanegra in September rather than December, Lagerwey sent a message to potential candidates that the role was open. It allows those individuals to consider a possible relocation and start conversations with their current employers. In the meantime, Lagerwey will take over Bocanegra’s responsibilities.
September is also a key month for a corporation’s strategic planning initiatives. By setting the table now for sweeping changes in the winter, Atlanta United can begin making decisions this fall that align with their goals and vision for the future.
Bocanegra may not have been the right fit for Lagerwey’s big-business approach to running a sports organization. Bocanegra and Darren Eales, the previous president of Atlanta United, depended on relationships with player agents and a large amount of capital to build Atlanta’s rosters. They signed some expensive players and won trophies in a short time but, as successful as they were from 2017 to 2019, Eales and Bocanegra did not set Atlanta United up for long-term success in a league that has its unique idiosyncrasies.
“There was definitely an initial mindset here,” Lagerwey said The Athletics in 2023. “There was literally boom and bust. What we’re trying to do now is just level things out and say, ‘How do we operate this company now in a sustainable way going forward so that we stay out of those cycles?'”
Lagerwey told reporters that his evaluation of Bocanegra and the entire sports department spanned the last five seasons. It wasn’t a decision based on the last 18 months, he added, although mediocre results in Atlanta had become the norm.
“Look, I don’t think the results have been up to our standard for the last, you know, five years,” he said this week. “(Bocanegra) really did a tremendous job for the organization for many years. And finally, as we developed our player model, we got into more of an analytics-based player evaluation process. We just felt like we needed to evolve.
When Eales left the club in the summer of 2022 to become CEO at Newcastle United, Atlanta United became Bocanegra’s club for a short period. Without a president or CEO in place, Bocanegra’s recruiting strategies and player profile models, along with the scouting department he oversaw, were responsible for improving an inferior team on the field.
Since then, many players have come and gone, including four of the most expensive MLS signings in league history (Thiago Almada, Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and most recently Aleksei Miranchuk). Despite an appetite to spend big, the improvements on match day never happened. Atlanta United has finished in the top five of the Eastern Conference just once since 2019.
Thiago Almada left Atlanta (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
No trophies have been won since the US Open Cup title that same year, and two head coaches Bocanegra headhunted have been fired since 2022.
The only star above the Atlanta United badge came in 2018 under manager Tata Martino, now head coach at Inter Miami. Martino’s high-flying style of play turned casual soccer fans in Atlanta into die-hard supporters of the club. His influence and Bocanegra’s vision, however, did not line up.
Martino and Bocanegra had a falling out during that championship season. Martino’s exit soon after, along with several key players in the following years, established a new culture at the club.
“I came to Atlanta United just to win championships. It’s nothing less than that,” Lagerwey said. “And you know, I really felt like we were on a path where we weren’t capable of winning championships, and so we had to undo a lot of things to set us up with a different foundation to go forward and be successful in the long run because at the end of the day, making the playoffs is not our goal.”
Lagerwey told reporters on Wednesday that the search for Bocanegra’s replacement will begin immediately, noting that MLS experience or experience with a similar salary cap is important.
“I’m happy and excited about the ability now to pick a general manager and pick a head coach and have a lot of flexibility,” Lagerwey said.
A few candidates immediately come to mind but whose current roles will make Lagerwey’s job a bit more difficult. Seattle Sounders general manager Craig Waibel has a close history with Lagerwey, having replaced Lagerwey as general manager twice at both Real Salt Lake and Seattle.
Minnesota United athletic director Khaled El-Ahmad, hired in 2023, was interviewed by Lagerwey in 2021 for the open athletic director position in Seattle. At that time, El-Ahmad was working as a scout for City Football Group.
If Lagerwey were to target either El-Ahmad or Waibel as Bocanegra’s replacement, both candidates would need permission from their owners to interview to avoid abuse allegations. Contract purchases should also occur. The same would apply to sports director of Inter Miami Chris Henderson, who also worked together with Lagerwey in Seattle to great success. With changes already happening in the Inter Miami front office, a lateral move to Atlanta with added influence could be attractive to Henderson.
Lagerwey was emphatic when asked if he would consider hiring a head coach who could double as the club’s sporting director. Most recently, Bruce Arena and Greg Vanney held those roles with the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy, respectively.
“We’re not going to do a dual role,” Lagerwey said Wednesday. “We believe very strongly in the separation of church and state. You need one person to do on the field, one person to do off the field. That’s the structure I’ve had my whole career. So it’s going to be two people. We will hire GM.”
Fox Sports reported last month that Atlanta United spoke with former French World Cup winner Patrick Vieira for the head coach vacancy. On Wednesday, Lagerwey would not confirm or deny that report. Vieira would be a big-name hire, as would former US men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter.
Berhalter left the USMNT after a disappointing Copa America (John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
During his five seasons as head coach of the Columbus Crew (2013-2018), Berhalter served as both coach and athletic director and was quite successful in establishing a playing style and player profile for the club. Berhalter lives in Chicago and will undoubtedly be among the top candidates who could potentially serve as head coach and GM for the Fire. Chicago parted ways with athletic director Georg Heitz in August.
Meanwhile, Bocanegra’s work will make him a viable candidate for a similar position in MLS, if that’s what he chooses to pursue. Bocanegra acquired some of the biggest signings in league history during his time in Atlanta and three trophies were won under his leadership. He also helped launch an expansion club in a market that few believed would embrace professional soccer. In June 2023, he interviewed with his former club in Scotland, Rangers, for a director of football role. Perhaps a role with US Soccer in Atlanta could be next.
Despite Lagerwey’s authority in Atlanta, he was methodical as an agent of change. Until now, that is. It looks like Lagerwey has finally been given a card to make the changes he feels are necessary.
“For the first time, we’re getting a clean slate,” Lagerwey said. “We have an ability to kind of relaunch the franchise, and we’re really excited about that.”
(Top photo: Brad Guzan and Stian Gregersen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA, in July. Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
