Brad Guzan is gone. He retired following the 2025 season. Bartosz Slisz is gone. He was transferred to Bronby IF of the Danish Superliga earlier this month. Ronny Deila is gone. The former Five Stripes manager was fired after his only season in Atlanta. Derrick Williams is gone. The former Atlanta center back is playing his football in English League One with Reading FC.
Last week began a new season for Atlanta United in more ways than one. And not all of those reasons are because players and coaches are no longer with the club.
Gerardo “Tata” Martino is back. The former MLS Cup championship manager has returned to run the club. Tomas Jacob is here. The Argentine center back will man the middle of the pitch in Mercedes-Benz Stadium as Williams did before him. The team also announced that defender Ronald Hernandez had been re-signed through the 2026 season with a team option for the 2027 season.
Amongst the chaos, Hernandez had a career year in 2025. He played in a career-high 21 games, starting 16 of those games in the process. A key to a quality season for the Five Stripes will be having familiar faces on the back line in Hernandez, along with Stian Gergersen, Matt Edwards, Pedro Amador, and Juan Berrocal.
Preseason training camp began last week, and there’s a lot Atlanta United, Martino, his coaching staff, and the Five Stripes supporters will want to put behind them from 2025. Wednesday was the third day of preseason training camp, and the second day the media was allowed access to the team.
On Wednesday, January 14, the team underwent training, and later that day, Martino and Atlanta United’s Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director, Chris Henderson, spoke with the media.
What will the preseason bring?
Atlanta United (5-13-16 overall in 2025) has released its 2026 preseason schedule. Along with a match at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, the team will play several matches in Texas.
Last season, Atlanta United finished at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference standings. The story of the 2025 season will include injuries to key players, 16 losses, tough draws, and ultimately, a coaching change, Deila was fired at the end of the season.
The preseason will also provide an opportunity for some of the team’s young players, such as Matt Edwards and 21-year-old goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert, to continue their development.
The Five Stripes will begin the preseason on their training grounds on Friday, January 30. The opponent, Lexington SC, is a United Soccer League club out of Kentucky. The match will take place at 11 a.m.
Next on the schedule will be MLS opponent, the Houston Dynamo, on Saturday, February 7. That match will take place at 8 p.m. on the Dynamo’s home turf, the Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
Atlanta United will remain in Texas, playing matches against Red Bull New York on Wednesday, February 11 (noon), and on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14 (1 p.m.). Both matches will take place at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.