¡Buenos días!
Atlanta United had its first full day in Mexico on Wednesday. And Club Atlas Colomos, the place where the team will train during its stay, gave Atlanta United a warm welcome.
The day began with an introductory press conference. The U.S. consulate and leaders of Club Atlas welcomed Atlanta United to Guadalajara. Club president Darren Eales, head coach Gonzalo Pineda, and vice president and technical director Carlos Bocanegra represented Atlanta United.
Both groups made introductory statements then answered questions. It was a packed room full of Mexican media (ballpark estimate around 30 people). Maybe all but one question was directed toward Pineda, and he answered in his native Spanish. Some of the topics included his thoughts on Liga MX and how he likes Atlanta United so far.
10 a.m.
Practice began around 10 a.m. local time. For the most part, the team stayed together on the pitch. The goalkeepers broke away for specific workouts. Santiago Sosa practiced separately on the next field over as he continues his rehab, but rejoined the team toward the end for the final huddle.
Brooks Lennon and Marcelino Moreno are still day-to-day with their injuries and watched training from the sideline.
Emerson Hyndman was back, officially a full participant in today's training. The midfielder has been working his way from an ACL tear he had early in the 2021 season.
The team started off with passing drills, working on playing the ball off teammates positioned for give-and-go's. Next, they moved into a possession game where the team had to complete a certain number of passes before sending the ball to the other half of a condensed pitch.
The last drill of practice, the team worked on corner kicks. After a few near chances, practice ended with a goal from Franco Ibarra on a nicely redirected header.
The session ran until around noon. It was a busy session, hard and pressing. Our team photographer, Jacob Gonzalez, who's been photographing the club since 2019 even said it was one of the longest sessions he can remember. (Consequently, after learning he'd been mentioned in this post, Gonzalez responded with a facepalm emoji. This may be the last quote we ever get from Gonzalez.)
On that note, here are some of the amazing photos he took from practice today:
Noon
Alan Franco and Gonzalo Pineda spoke to the media after practice. Both provided early impressions of Guadalajara and the experience so far.
"It’s great," Pineda said. "I feel the players are going to experience a different environment. Guadalajara is treating us fantastic. The hotel is great, the food is great, and these training facilities are awesome, so I think the players are enjoying this preseason. Obviously on the field they are going to suffer a little bit, but in the game hopefully they can enjoy it as well and improve because we're here to improve the game model and try to get a better understanding of how we're going to play this year."
"Since we arrived the weather is really nice, very tropical and honestly, it’s nice because we were in Atlanta, and it was so cold," Franco said. "This place is beautiful. I hadn’t visited, and honestly it surprised me so much."
The weather was much more sunny and warm than the team's training lately back home. And the team was moving around a lot on Wednesday, something Pineda said we can expect during these training sessions in Mexico. The head coach plans to build up to the games against Celaya FC, Chivas and Tepatitlán. And with players rejoining the club from international duty, his goal is to reintegrate these ideas with a full squad then really go full force into working on attacking.
For Pineda, these 13 days in Mexico are really about creating cohesion for the team:
"I think we have the overall type of players that we want, so now we're in the kitchen trying to make sure that the combination in between the ingredients is good. That's the idea. We have all the ingredients, which are great. If we can bring the cherry for the cake, it's fantastic. But we're very, very happy with what we have."
One of the missing ingredients is midfielder Jürgen Damm. Damm is a popular player here in his home country of Mexico, so during the media session a local reporter asked whether he'd be joining the team on the trip. Pineda addressed Damm's status:
"At this time, it is not in the team's plans," Pineda said. "He's training on his own, and we thank Jürgen for what he has contributed to the team. At this time, we are looking in another direction. I hope that the board and his representative seek the best for him and he continues his career and that he has many successes. In this moment, we are looking in another direction."
1:30 p.m.
Two more defenders also spoke on Wednesday, this time over Zoom to Atlanta media. George Campbell and Mikey Ambrose talked about being part of Atlanta's preseason.
Both players had a personal relationship to George Bello, the Homegrown defender who just signed a deal with Arminia Bielefeld in German Bundesliga. Ambrose said that Bello is like a little brother to him and that he mentored Bello during his time at Atlanta United. Campbell, a fellow Homegrown, said he was really happy for his good friend.
"I told him, 'Hopefully I can do what you do,'" Campbell said.
The players have had different experiences at Atlanta United. Ambrose, a Texas native, has been with the club since 2017. Campbell signed a Homegrown deal effective January 2020. Both players are vying for time on the backline, Ambrose at fullback and Campbell as a center back.
"I've been here for a long time, so I know how we want to play," Ambrose said. "I know the role of the left back position. I'm always trying to fight for minutes and see how I can help the team."
"It's been about building on what we've been learning and training and then taking the most out of the opportunity that I have, which is getting game time, regardless of who's here and who's not," Campbell said.
Who's here and who isn't will change a lot in the next 24 hours. Several players who have been away on international duty will be rejoining the team in Mexico in that time. Caleb Wiley, who was with the U.S. U-20's, was already at the hotel when we returned from covering practice on Wednesday. Ronald Hernández and Josef Martínez, who've been with Venezuela in the World Cup Qualifying matches, are expected Wednesday night. Machop Chol should be here soon as well (just wait until you hear more about his flight to Mexico). Miles Robinson, playing tonight for the U.S., will be joining the team soon after.
Which means... Friday's training could potentially be Pineda's first in Mexico with a full preseason squad.
We'll have more coverage on Thursday when the team returns to Club Atlas for training. Follow our daily updates from Mexico at ATLUTD.com/mexico and ATLUTD on Twitter.
