2020 Atlanta United FC season explained

The 2020 Atlanta United FC season was the fourth season of Atlanta United FC's existence, and the twelfth year that a professional soccer club from Atlanta, Georgia competed in the top division of American soccer. Atlanta United played their home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Outside of MLS, the team made their second appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League, and were set to participate in the 2020 U.S. Open Cup as defending champions, before the tournament's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the club's elimination from the MLS is Back Tournament, manager Frank de Boer was fired, with Atlanta United 2 manager Stephen Glass taking over as interim manager for the remainder of the season.^[1] The 2020 season was the first time Atlanta United FC finished worse than fourth in the Supporters' Shield table and failed to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs.

Club

Squad no.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Previous club	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Brad Guzan (VC)		GK	9 September 1984	Middlesbrough	125	0
13	Brendan Moore		GK	16 April 1992	Rochdale	0	0
25	Alec Kann		GK	8 August 1990	Sporting Kansas City	25	0
Defenders
2	Franco Escobar		RB	21 February 1995		81	5
4			RB	8 February 1997		43	2
6			CB	21 March 1990		17	0
11			RB	22 September 1997		26	2
12	Miles Robinson (GA)		CB	14 March 1997		77	1
19			LB	3 October 1986		4	0
21	George Bello (HGP)		LB	22 January 2002		25	2
26			RB	24 February 1996		16	4
32	George Campbell (HGP)		CB	22 June 2001		1	0
34	Jack Gurr		RB	26 November 1995	Atlanta United 2	1	0
Midfielders
5	Eric Remedi		DM	4 June 1995	Banfield	78	3
8	Ezequiel Barco (DP)		AM	23 March 1999		78	11
9	Matheus Rossetto		AM	3 June 1996	Athletico Paranaense	17	0
10	Marcelino Moreno (DP)		CM	25 June 1994	Lanús	7	2
15	Manuel Castro		RW	27 September 1995	Estudiantes	11	0
18	Jeff Larentowicz (C)		DM	5 August 1983		132	5
20	Emerson Hyndman		CM	7 April 1996	AFC Bournemouth	45	5
22	Jürgen Damm		RW	7 November 1992	UANL	14	0
23			AM	5 April 1996	Hearts	21	1
27			DM	20 September 1996	Atlanta United 2	7	0
28	Tyler Wolff (HGP)		RW	13 February 2003	Atlanta United Academy	5	0
29	Mo Adams (GA)		CM	23 September 1996	Chicago Fire FC	22	1
Forwards
7	Josef Martínez (DP)		CF	19 May 1993	Torino	103	90
14			CF	5 January 1991		24	3
16	Erik López		CF	27 November 2001	Olimpia	1	0
31	Erick Torres		CF	19 January 1993	Tijuana	14	1
36	Jackson Conway		CF	3 December 2001	Atlanta United 2	1	1

International roster slots

Atlanta had eight International Roster Slots for use in the 2020 season. During the 2020 offseason, Franco Escobar, Ezequiel Barco, and Eric Remedi acquired green cards, making them domestic players for MLS roster purposes.^[2]

Slot! style="background:#80000a; color:#fff; text-align:center;"

Player	Country
1	Manuel Castro	Uruguay
2	Jürgen Damm	Mexico
3	Fernando Meza	Argentina
4	Marcelino Moreno	Argentina
5	Jake Mulraney	Ireland
6	Matheus Rossetto	Brazil
7	Anton Walkes	England
8	Laurence Wyke	England

Results

Non-competitive

Friendlies

Major League Soccer

See main article: 2020 Major League Soccer season.

On March 12, 2020, the season entered a month-long suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, following the cancellation of several matches.^[3] On March 19, the suspension was extended until May 10,^[4] and on April 17, the suspension was extended further to June 8.^[5] The COVID-19 pandemic caused the first interruption of regular season play since the 2001 MLS season, in which many late regular season games were cancelled due to the September 11 attacks.

On June 10, MLS announced that a bracket format dubbed the "MLS is Back Tournament" would begin July 8 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, and end with the final on August 11.^[6] The three group stage matches would count towards the regular season standings. Following the tournament, the MLS regular season resumed with a revised schedule, concluding with the playoffs and MLS Cup 2020.^[7]

League tables

Overall

MLS is Back Tournament - Group E

Results summary

• Table does not include three group stage matches of MLS is Back Tournament*

Matches

U.S. Open Cup

See main article: 2020 U.S. Open Cup. Originally, Atlanta United FC were to begin play by the 19th or the 20th of May. However, the tournament was suspended and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCACAF Champions League

See main article: 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.

Quarter-finals

Statistics

Appearances and goals

^[8]

|-! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers|-! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders|-! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders|-! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards|-! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Players who have played for Atlanta United this season but have left the club:|}

Top scorers

width=30	Place	width=30	Position	width=175	Name	width=75		width=75		width=75		width=75		width=75	Total
1	MF	Jon Gallagher	4	0	0	0	4
	MF	Pity Martínez	2	0	0	2	4
3	FW	Adam Jahn	3	0	0	0	3
4	FW	Ezequiel Barco	2	0	0	0	2
	MF	Emerson Hyndman	2	0	0	0	2
	MF	Jeff Larentowicz	2	0	0	0	2
	DF	Brooks Lennon	2	0	0	0	2
	FW	Josef Martínez	0	0	0	2	2
	MF	Marcelino Moreno	2	0	0	0	2
10	DF	George Bello	1	0	0	0	1
	MF	Jake Mulraney	1	0	0	0	1
	MF	Eric Remedi	1	0	0	0	1
	FW	Erick Torres	1	0	0	0	1
	FW	Jackson Conway	0	0	0	1	1
Total			23	0	0	5	28

Player movement

In

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Type	US	Fee/notes	Date	Source
—	DF			Loan return	Non–US	Free	November 21, 2019
35	FW		Atlanta United 2	Loan return	US	Free	November 21, 2019
23	MF			Loan return	US	Free	November 30, 2019
11	DF			Trade	US	$300K in GAM & TAM	December 2, 2019	[9]
	20	MF		AFC Bournemouth	Transfer	US	Undisclosed	December 9, 2019	[10]
32	DF		Atlanta United Academy	Transfer	US		January 1, 2020	[11]
4	DF			Transfer	Non-US	Undisclosed	January 9, 2020	[12]
6	DF			Transfer	Non-US	Undisclosed	January 10, 2020	[13]
19	DF			Transfer	US	Free	January 17, 2020	[14]
14	FW			Transfer	US		January 21, 2020	[15]
23	MF			Transfer	Non-US	Undisclosed	January 23, 2020	[16]
9	MF			Transfer	Non-US	Undisclosed	February 3, 2020	[17]
27	MF			Transfer	Non-US	Undisclosed	March 5, 2020	[18]
24	FW			Transfer	US	Undisclosed	March 8, 2020	[19]
22	MF			Transfer	Non-US	Free	July 1, 2020	[20]
28	FW		Atlanta United Academy	Transfer	US		July 2, 2020	[21]
31	FW			Transfer	US	Free	July 31, 2020	[22]
—	MF			Transfer	Non-US		September 22, 2020	[23]

SuperDraft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of 2020 MLS SuperDraft are listed in the notes. Atlanta had two selections in the draft.

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Status
1	23	Patrick Nielsen	align=center	DF	Michigan State	Non-US
3	75	Phillip Goodrum	align=center	FW	UNC Wilmington	US

Loan in

No.	Pos.	Player	Loaned From	US	Start	End	Source
15	MF		Estudiantes	Non-US	February 12, 2020	End of Season	[24]
33	FW		Atlanta United 2	US	February 18, 2020	February 22, 2020	[25]
27	MF		Atlanta United 2	Non-US	February 29, 2020	March 3, 2020	[26]
37	GK		Atlanta United 2	US	December 15, 2020	December 19, 2020	[27]
34	DF		Atlanta United 2	Non-US	December 15, 2020	December 19, 2020
16	FW		Atlanta United 2	Non-US	December 15, 2020	December 19, 2020
33	FW		Atlanta United 2	US	December 15, 2020	December 19, 2020

Out

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Type	US	Fee/notes	Date	Source
3	DF		N/A	Retired	US	Free	October 31, 2019	[28]
6	MF			Trade	US	$1.05 Million in TAM & GAM, 2020 International Roster Slot	November 13, 2019	[29]
19	FW			Expansion Draft	US	$50K in GAM	November 19, 2019	[30]
4	DF			Option Declined	Non-US	Free	November 21, 2019	[31]
14	MF			Option Declined	US	Free	November 21, 2019
20	DF			Out of Contract	US	Free	November 21, 2019
22	DF			Option Declined	US	Selected in first round of re-entry draft	November 21, 2019
27	MF		End-of-Year Waivers	Option Declined	US	Free	November 21, 2019
32	MF		End-of-Year Waivers	Out of Contract	US	Free	November 21, 2019
35	FW		End-of-Year Waivers	Option Declined	US	Free	November 21, 2019
—	DF			Option Declined	Non-US	Free	November 21, 2019	[32]
28	MF		Free agent	Released	Non-US	Free	January 9, 2020
5	DF			Transfer	US	Undisclosed	January 10, 2020	[33]
24	MF			Trade	US	Up to $1.1M in TAM	January 21, 2020	[34]
15	MF			Transfer	US	Undisclosed	January 31, 2020	[35]
22	MF		Free agent	Waived	Non-US	Free	July 1, 2020	[36]
10	MF			Transfer	Non-US	$18 Million	September 7, 2020	[37]

Loan out

No.	Pos.	Player	Loaned to	Start	End	Source
26	MF		Aberdeen	June 21, 2019	May 30, 2020
23	MF		Phoenix Rising	January 21, 2020	End of season
30	MF		Indy Eleven	January 24, 2020	End of season	[38]
24	FW		Birmingham Legion	September 10, 2020	End of season	[39]

Non-player transfers

Honors

Weekly / monthly

MLS team / player / coach of the week

Week	Team of the week		Player of the week	Coach of the week	Ref
	Starting XI	Bench
1		Ezequiel Barco			[41]
2	Ezequiel Barco (2) Pity Martínez				[42]
MLS is Back Round 1		Brad Guzan			[43]
6	Pity Martínez (2)				[44]
10		Adam Jahn			[45]
13	Fernando Meza				[46]
15	Jon Gallagher Brooks Lennon				[47]
16	Brad Guzan (2)				[48]
18		Brad Guzan (3)			[49]
22		Marcelino Moreno			[50]

MLS goal of the week

Week	Player	Ref
1	Emerson Hyndman	[51]
6	Pity Martínez	[52]
15	Brooks Lennon	[53]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stephen Glass Named Atlanta United Interim Head Coach . . July 27, 2020.
2. Web site: Ezequiel Barco, Franco Escobar, Eric Remedi become U.S. permanent residents, no longer occupy international roster spots . . January 15, 2020 . January 14, 2020.
3. March 12, 2020 . MLS suspends 2020 season for 30 days due to coronavirus. Major League Soccer. March 12, 2020.
4. March 19, 2020 . MLS extends season suspension in accordance with CDC guidance on COVID-19. Major League Soccer. March 19, 2020.
5. April 17, 2020 . MLS postponement extended until at least June 8 due to ongoing impact of COVID-19 pandemic . Major League Soccer. April 17, 2020.
6. Web site: MLS is Back tournament. Major League Soccer. June 10, 2020. June 10, 2020. June 16, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200616043154/https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-is-back-tournament. dead.
7. Web site: MLS is Back Tournament format: Your essential guide to the event . Major League Soccer . June 10, 2020 . June 10, 2020 . September 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200913125839/https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-is-back-tournament/tournament-structure . dead .
8. Web site: By Season MLSsoccer.com . . February 19, 2020 . February 19, 2020.
9. Web site: Catanese . Ryan . Atlanta United acquires Brooks Lennon . . December 2, 2019 . December 2, 2019.
10. Web site: Atlanta United finalizes permanent transfer of Emerson Hyndman . . December 9, 2019 . December 9, 2019.
11. Web site: Catanese . Ryan . Atlanta United signs George Campbell as Homegrown Player . . November 5, 2019 . July 9, 2019.
12. Web site: Atlanta United signs Anton Walkes from Portsmouth FC . . January 9, 2020 . January 9, 2020.
13. Web site: Atlanta United signs Fernando Meza . . January 10, 2020 . January 10, 2020.
14. Web site: Atlanta United signs veteran defender Edgar Castillo . . January 17, 2020 . January 17, 2020.
15. Web site: Atlanta United acquires Adam Jahn from Phoenix Rising . . January 21, 2020 . January 21, 2020.
16. Web site: Atlanta United signs Jake Mulraney from Heart of Midlothian F.C. . . January 23, 2020 . January 23, 2020.
17. Web site: Atlanta United signs Brazilian midfielder Matheus Rossetto. . February 3, 2020 . February 3, 2020.
18. Web site: Roberson . Doug . Castro, Rossetto have joined Atlanta United . . March 5, 2020 . March 5, 2020.
19. Web site: Atlanta United acquires JJ Williams . . March 9, 2020 . March 9, 2020.
20. Web site: Atlanta United signs free agent Jürgen Damm . . July 1, 2020 . July 1, 2020.
21. Web site: Atlanta United signs Tyler Wolff to HGP contract . . July 2, 2020 . July 2, 2020.
22. Web site: Atlanta United signs Erick "Cubo" Torres . . July 31, 2020 . July 31, 2020.
23. Web site: Atlanta United signs Marcelino Moreno from Club Atletico Lanus . . September 22, 2020 . September 22, 2020.
24. Web site: Atlanta United signs Manuel Castro on loan from Estudiantes. . February 12, 2020 . February 12, 2020.
25. Web site: Atlanta United signs Phillip Goodrum to Short-Term Agreement . . February 20, 2020 . February 18, 2020.
26. Web site: Atlanta United signs Laurence Wyke to Short-Term Agreement . . February 29, 2020 . February 29, 2020.
27. Web site: Atlanta United signs four players to Short-Term Agreements . . April 14, 2021.
28. Web site: Michael Parkhurst announces retirement . . November 5, 2019 . September 23, 2019.
29. Web site: Atlanta United acquires more than $1 million in allocation money, international roster spot from Columbus. . November 13, 2019 . November 13, 2019.
30. Web site: Fuhrmeister . Chris . Nashville SC selects, trades Atlanta United's Brandon Vazquez in MLS Expansion Draft . ProSoccerUSA . November 19, 2019 . November 19, 2019 . November 20, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191120195026/https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/atlanta-united-fc/brandon-vazquez-nashville-sc-mls-expansion-draft-2019-atlanta-united/ . dead .
31. Web site: Atlanta United announce year-end roster moves . . November 21, 2019 . November 21, 2019.
32. AtleticoVzla . Atlético Venezuela . Atlético Venezuela C.F. . 1214988435309682688 . January 8, 2020 . ✍ #Temporada2020 | 2021. Un mundialista se suma a nuestro equipo... ¡Bienvenido, José Hernández! . January 9, 2020.
33. Web site: Atlanta United transfers Leandro González Pirez to Club Tijuana . . January 10, 2020 . January 10, 2020.
34. Web site: Atlanta United acquires up to $1.1 million in allocation money from D.C. United . . January 21, 2020 . January 21, 2020.
35. Web site: Atlanta United transfers Tito Villalba to Club Libertad . . January 31, 2020 . January 31, 2020.
36. Web site: Atlanta United waives Luiz Fernando . . July 1, 2020 . July 1, 2020.
37. Web site: Atlanta United transfers Gonzalo "Pity" Martínez to Al-Nassr FC . . September 7, 2020 . September 7, 2020.
38. Web site: Atlanta United loans Andrew Carleton to Indy Eleven . . January 24, 2020 . January 24, 2020.
39. Web site: Atlanta United loans JJ Williams to Birmingham Legion FC . . September 10, 2020 . September 10, 2020.
40. Web site: Atlanta United sends $50K to Houston for Jürgen Damm's discovery rights. . . July 1, 2020 . July 1, 2020.
41. Web site: Quillen . Ian . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Loons, Red Bulls show big in Week 1 . . March 2, 2020 . March 2, 2020.
42. Web site: Quillen . Ian . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Sporting KC, Atlanta United and Minnesota United dominate Week 2 . . March 9, 2020 . March 9, 2020.
43. Web site: Team of the Week presented by Audi: Columbus Crew get plenty of love in Round 1 MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . July 14, 2020.
44. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: The common theme of Week 6? Brace yourself MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . August 24, 2020.
45. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: We're living in the LA Galaxy's world in Week 10 MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . September 7, 2020.
46. Web site: Borg . Simon . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Chicago Fire FC names lead the way in Week 13 MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . September 24, 2020.
47. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: It's a midfield takeover in Week 15 MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . October 5, 2020.
48. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Portland Timbers erupt for six goals, three Week 16 nods MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . October 8, 2020.
49. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Whitecaps lead Week 18 selections after win over LAFC MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . October 15, 2020.
50. Web site: Quillen . Ian Nicholas . Team of the Week presented by Audi: Week 22 was all about dynamic duos MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . November 2, 2020.
51. Web site: Liljenwall . Ari . Atlanta United midfielder Emerson Hyndman wins AT&T Goal of the Week for Week 1 . . March 5, 2020 . March 5, 2020.
52. Web site: Liljenwal . Ari . Atlanta United's Pity Martinez claims AT&T Goal of the Week for wonder-strike vs. Nashville SC MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . August 25, 2020.
53. Web site: Sigal . Jonathan . Atlanta United's Brooks Lennon wins Week 15 AT&T Goal of the Week with top-bin strike MLSSoccer.com . . April 14, 2021 . October 6, 2020.