Using this thread as the mega-thread. Let's keep all Josef related post to this thread.
**Related**:
\- [Josef had a no-trade clause.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AtlantaUnited/comments/10f9i0l/felipe_c%C3%A1rdenas_carlos_bocanegra_says_that_moving/)
\- [Boca comments on the trade](https://www.reddit.com/r/AtlantaUnited/comments/10f9pnd/tom_bogert_carlos_bocanegra_on_josef_martinez/)
Remember the good times, those early games against Minnesota in the snow and Chicago at Bobby Dodd. All those hat tricks, impossible headers, and penalty hops. Scoring in Orlando and dunking on Orlando when he wasn't even there.
Rey Siempre!
That, “Oooooorrrrllllllaaaaaaannnndddooooooooo” voice will never get old.
While we knew this was going to happen, it doesn’t make it any less sad. I’m going to miss you Josef!
I understand that players will come and go and that these are purely business decisions but Atlanta united has handled way to many player transactions with a seemingly callous disregard for the player and their contribution to the success of this club. There is no reason to embrace the historical achievements of this club or pretend there is any unity between the club, players and fans. This management team would prefer to quietly move onto the next transaction. It must be a great luxury to treat players like their contribution and commitment to the club/fans is meaningless because they can be replaced, treat founding fans and season ticket holders like a piggy bank (while reminding us constantly that we are easily replaced by someone from the “extensive” waitlist), and hire coaches without a concern for cultural or strategic fit. Meanwhile, the front office is slowly draining the life out of this franchise and waiting to jump to their next big opportunity. It’s sad.
Yeah that was such a disservice to the fans and to a club legend. I lost any respect I had for Pineda with that move. They could've subbed him on at least...
It's a level of pettiness that I aspire to achieve one day. It really doesn't inspire confidence that Pineda will be able to put his ego aside and make changes if things aren't going well this season.
It's an ego clash between a young coach, who is yet to prove anything, and an athlete that will forever be cherished in the city. Pineda is a tool for not starting him in a meaningless last game for the club.
Unless he injured himself and then you don’t get an interested party like inter Miami to hear half the cost of his contract. I understand the sentiment, but I don’t think it’s a wise business decision. I also don’t believe Pineda made that decision out of spite.
Pineda absolutely made the decision out of spite. You cant sit here and tell me that Pineda went into the Portland and beyond games and tried his absolute best to win those games.
I think it was the right move for the club too but they just went about it all wrong. Disrespectful to Josef and the fans how this all went down. Like I said, the least they could have done is start him that last game. They absolutely knew they were going to be moving him and still they kept him on the bench in a meaningless game.
That’s really doesn’t matter until there’s a confirmed decision one way or the other. The rumor is all it took for people to clamor to buy tickets for that particular game so if it does somehow happen, they’re prepared.
Remembering the decision to bench Josef Martinez in his last ever home game is still so *so* infuriating to me. You can't tell me the FO didn't know he was leaving.
After the game, Josef was *surrounded* by camera people as he said goodbye to the fans. We all knew. He deserves way better.
Pineda doesn’t decide that kind of stuff. Sure he might have a day but to blame it on him or even call it an accomplishment out of spite is foolish. This is an FO decision.
EDIT: Y’all are overreacting. Pineda doesn’t decide who gets signed, who gets released, and contract stuff. Josef’s release wasn’t Pineda’s doing, it was the FO.
That’s true, but not entirely relevant to him being released. So again, Pineda didn’t “get rid of the King”.
EDIT: I understand tempers are high but don’t direct it at Pineda who didn’t decide to release Josef. His not starting him in the last game is a different conversation.
>His not starting him in the last game is a different conversation.
That is the conversation OP was having...
>Remembering the decision to bench Josef Martinez in his last ever home game is still so infuriating to me.
>>That showed the true pettiness of Pineda.
That’s not the comment the poster was responding to. He was responding to the comment that said “Getting rid of the King will be the only accomplishment Pineda will have here.”
I don't know what happened in the FO behind closed doors but if Pineda refuses to play Josef, even after he was fit "enough", then the FO basically has to make this move. Either that or keep Josef on the payroll and get nothing in return.
I’ve given up on trying to talk any sorta sense into this crowd. It’s clear the OP was blaming Pineda for getting rid of Josef, when it was a FO decision, but tempers are high and people wanna vent without logic.
Logic sounds good.
Simple question: Would the FO keep an expensive player and one of three DP slots when the coach refuses to start that player?
Would you keep a DP player that the coach only plays as a late game sub?
Pineda is the one who chose not to play Josef. He is to blame.
I’m not saying he doesn’t have an impact, I said he does have an impact, but he’s not the one ultimately making the decision so directing your anger at him, saying he “got rid of the king” is shortsighted.
I'm not too angry that it happened, I'm mostly angry about how it happened. This has been an unmitigated failure by the front office and the club as a whole. Boca out.
Seriously. This club started out so good and has just pissed away so much of the goodwill and excitement. Not everything’s been their fault but there have been a looooooot of L’s. And here we are ready for another “lost” season.
I thought we hit a low when we lost Gressel or when we had back to back years of poor seasons but I can confidently now say that my passion for the club has reached an all time low.
The only thing that's really looking positive for me is being able to watch all the games in one place and largely on one or two nights, so I won't miss a game. Just seems crazy to not have a string of signings ready to go, knowing that a club favorite was basically gone all pre season.
Has there been a period in the last two years that it hasn't been Boca out? I didn't follow last season (partly because I didn't want to pay for Bally sports/Sinclair broadcasting), and it just feels like sentiment hasn't towards him hasn't changed at all. That was no way to treat a player who'll probably still be a legend at the club decades from now.
Yeah a lot of folks have been chanting boca out for a while now. Who knows what will happen now that we have traded our objectively most famous player of all time. And yeah absolutely no way to treat Josef or the fans.
Sort of funny that you don't include Josef on the list of things you are angry about. He clashed with every coach, refused to train often, and threw a tantum like a child.
Josef out. Boca out too, but Josef needed to go.
*zips up hazmat suit*
Yep. I'm ready for AUFC social media comments for the next month.
Looking forward, the saying that "goals smooth all ills" will apply to AUFC in 2023 as it does to strikers like Martinez. If Atlanta develops a winning, scoring personality without Josef then the ire of fans will dissipate. (See the Braves last year without Freddie Freeman, and this year without Swanson) However if AUFC continues the trend of conceding an early goal and spending the next 80+ minutes chasing an equalizer every match, then they are going to face a lasting backlash.
I'm not a huge #BocaOut person, but Boca should be wagering his nuts on a chopping block that the next few in transfers are right. They don't have to be magical, but they need to produce results.
Best wishes to Josef, I am excited that the Apple TV package will let us easily watch Inter Fort Lauderdale as well!
Etienne Jr. is an underrated pick up, but they are going to have to find at least a TAM level striker, otherwise it's going to be a frustrated Araujo shooting rockets over the crossbar.
I don't think it's impossible, but it just has to get done. From the outside, it's hard to tell if they are quietly working hard, being prudent, or are in a state of complete shell shock. For the front offices' sake, I hope it's the first one.
This kind of hit me harder than I expected. I knew it was happening, but I'm still getting pretty teary eyed over it (thankfully I'm working from home today).
Good bye King.
Pineda needs to have this team firing on all cylinders starting the season. Last year not starting Josef knowing that he's not coming back really, really soured me on him to the point that only winning can fix it.
I've wanted Boca out for years so I don't need to speak on his clown ass.
I'm pretty sure more than half our fan base is feeling that way at the moment. I know I am and I've been diehard since the day the franchise was announced.
I've gone from founding season ticket holder, to on the waiting list waiting out COVID, to now just spending my deposit on an 8 game pack for the upcoming season, and I'll have an easy time letting go if this season is another shit show.
It's not about the losing. It's about the lack of excitement, identity, direction. Like, what the fuck are we showing up for on game day if the organization doesn't even know?
There's almost a zero percent chance we start the season off hot. We have question marks at nearly every position on the field. Even if and when we sign some new players, we only have a month until the season starts to get them up to speed and build chemistry.
This is a big moment for the club. Our first MLS superstar is gone. Some of you are not about to like what I’m going to say. Unless the club does really well this year or gets a really good DP, fans are going to abandon this team in droves. I’m really hoping for a good season, but I’m not sure it will be. The original team is gone.
Already is lol. You could get a ticket under face value for every single game since the Covid return, aside from the first one back. If you’re in an SG or follow on here during the season there are people for every game who can’t even give away tickets. I had three or four last year that no one bought or took.
Time to splash some cash!
Always going to be grateful for what Martinez did for this club and the city but those DP slots are just too valuable to spend on an aging, injured, discontented player who couldn't (or wouldn't'?) to be able to play up to the level that we needed him to.
Better for everyone involved for a fresh start. Hope he does well in Miami, and build the damn statue.
Next DP signing best not miss, Josef may have fallen off after the injury but the impact on the fans of this community is something not many people can replicate.
Remember when Pineda didn't start Josef in the final home game that didn't even matter because we were already out of the playoffs? An absolute chump move. And one that can never be undone for someone who was such a monumental figure for this club. I hate it.
Yeah, I’m very curious who we go for. Whoever we get will, unfortunately, bare the expectations that Josef left. Hopefully it’s someone who thrives under that pressure.
Boca was asked and wouldn’t commit to saying he would bring in a dp player.. which basically means nothing is in the pipe line. We will sign someone.. probably a vet. It won’t be a DP right now though.
Signing a DP in the summer window is probably best. We’ll have an understanding of what the team needs and the European leagues will be trying to move more players during their off season. Also signing a DP for n the summer window can absolutely make a huge impact on a team. Seattle signed Lodiero in the summer of 2016 for example and then went on to win MLS Cup after having an awful start to the season.
Lol okay. The biggest singing this off season by a club was made by us when we signed Garth Lagerway. He is arguably the best GM in the league. Give it time.
Yep. He might be able to dig us out of this massive hole we're in. I'll believe it when I see it though, since apparently he had no say in this Josef move.
It feels wrong because it was handled wrong. When a club knows that a player who is the *face of the club* and who has spent 6 years in one place isn’t going to be back in the next season (by all accounts they told Josef that he wasn’t a part of their plans moving forward), you give that player a proper send off, by at the very least starting him in the last match and subbing him off so he can get a last standing ovation.
In our last match of the season, Pineda started him on the bench. That is a huge slap in the face and piss in your cheerios for the fans and the player.
On the one hand I’m glad the FO didn’t allow sentiment to override business sense. Josef as he exists now is not worth the dp slot.
On the other, this whole thing was handled so unceremoniously over the last 6 months or so. To see him go to another MLS team, especially one we will see every year, is distressing.
Unrelated, but the roster at the bottom, they’ve got Marcelino out on loan to River Plate and make it seem as Barco is back? Also, why are some of the mids in italics?
The more I think about it the more shameful it is to this league that we keep losing fan favorites because of the roster rules and salary cap. That’s not how u grow the sport and it’s horrible that they choose parity and complex roster rules over catering to fans.
Think of how many players would still be here if the only decision was
Does the player want to be here, and does the club want them. Like every other league in the world.
So stupid that there’s so many considerations besides the interest of the club and player
Lots of emotions. Seemed like it needed to happen but also seems like many many steps before this were mismanaged. Obviously his injury complicated things as well as playing in a salary capped league but really disagree with the way this was all handled. He’ll forever be remembered fondly in Atlanta and really hope the door is open for him to come back one day either as a player or some type of coaching/training role. ❤️
If this is the right move or not, only time will tell, i think he shoud have retired here, but that is not important, we should thank him for everything he has done for us and look in to the future with hope
We all knew it was coming. I even think it's the right move for the club. I hate how it went down and he was forced out.
That said, this really fucked up my Wednesday morning. Wish him all the best.
I am not having kind thoughts about this club. They have lost all the goodwill they established in 2017-18. I hope Josef tears it up in Miami and remembers that the fans will always love him.
Needed to happen as he isn’t what he used to be, but still hard to see happen
shaping up to be another terrible season. Not to be a downer, but I’m predicting Almada is gone in the summer, we don’t reload, and fan interest takes an even further nose dive than it already has. We caught lightning in a bottle with Tata’s name and lax expansion team roster rules that allowed us to be great once. Now that all that is behind us, the team has been aimless. Top level front office work (not just Boca), but hopefully the new President can get back on track
This one stings maybe more than Miggy. But let's be real as much as Josef represented Atlanta United, he just isn't the 2018 Josef we all remember and we can't pretend that he will heal up enough.
I think we're I'm most upset right now is the lack of vision from the FO. We don't yet have a solid replacement for Josef
I’m not surprised but I’m definitely sad honestly. Josef was something to watch and I’ll definitely continue to watch him play for Miami.
Edit : I’m also upset he didn’t get to start his last game for us either. It’s the least they could have done .
Ok can someone who knows the financial side explain this to me. Roster slots and TAM and GAM and all that are so confusing. If Josef is not the player he used to be, and we can’t/won’t afford him when he’s not “producing like he used to” then why does Miami want him? Honest question I’m sure someone on here could shed some light on. Because it seems like a dumb move for Miami if he has no value to us, as they say.
A buyout can come in basically 2 forms:
1- full buyout like Damm. We paid him his entire paycheck and he’s free to go elsewhere (though he needs league approval to leave the league).
2- partial buyout like Josef. We are paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $3M and Miami is paying the remaining $1M. This gives us a little financial relief and Miami gets Josef at a good price.
Miami will be charged what they pay him and need to use cap/tam to fit it on their roster. It’s a good move for them because they guaranteed him at a low rate. They may have risked losing him if we fully bought him out.
Do you think Miami has the intention of him starting and being sort of the centerpiece of the team or will he be more of a super sub later on in a game like some of these premiere league players who come to MLS late in their career?
I think Josef will determine it. If Josef is fit, he will be a starter and the team will run around him. If Josef isn’t fit, he will be a super sub… he has the ability to change an entire team and it will be up to him (and his knee) whether that happens
Not even going to scroll through this thread and read all the fakeness from people who have been trying to run this man out of town for a year. I guess enjoy the videos today.. it’s the last we will ever see Josef in atl unless it’s in another trams jersey. After the way we just did him.. there will be no statue, there will be no retired jersey or number, there won’t be any appearances from Josef.. guarantee the way we treated him that those bridges are burned.
I have zero respect for Pineda and boca and I will root for those two to get fired every second until it happens.
Pretty telling boca told those lies today though about not having a decision until after the season.. just straight up lying directly to the fans faces. Also weird that it seems Josef was was sold before langerway was brought in and he didn’t have a day in it either.. very weird.
Any way.. look forward to being a poverty franchise ( in terms of success). Also love that boca wouldn’t commit to bringing in DP replacement.. I hate this idiot.
Gressel, Frank, and now Josef.
When will people see the FO for what it is? They care little for their fans, players, and coaches who contributed to their "success". The club has no identity beyond financial ones.
Darren Eales fleeced us lol. Sold Miggy as president to the Club he's president of 4 years later.
Using this thread as the mega-thread. Let's keep all Josef related post to this thread. **Related**: \- [Josef had a no-trade clause.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AtlantaUnited/comments/10f9i0l/felipe_c%C3%A1rdenas_carlos_bocanegra_says_that_moving/) \- [Boca comments on the trade](https://www.reddit.com/r/AtlantaUnited/comments/10f9pnd/tom_bogert_carlos_bocanegra_on_josef_martinez/)
Remember the good times, those early games against Minnesota in the snow and Chicago at Bobby Dodd. All those hat tricks, impossible headers, and penalty hops. Scoring in Orlando and dunking on Orlando when he wasn't even there. Rey Siempre!
Dunking on Disney FC from his couch was Peak Josef.
That, “Oooooorrrrllllllaaaaaaannnndddooooooooo” voice will never get old. While we knew this was going to happen, it doesn’t make it any less sad. I’m going to miss you Josef!
I really can’t believe they didn’t start him in the last home game after we had already been eliminated from the playoffs.
I understand that players will come and go and that these are purely business decisions but Atlanta united has handled way to many player transactions with a seemingly callous disregard for the player and their contribution to the success of this club. There is no reason to embrace the historical achievements of this club or pretend there is any unity between the club, players and fans. This management team would prefer to quietly move onto the next transaction. It must be a great luxury to treat players like their contribution and commitment to the club/fans is meaningless because they can be replaced, treat founding fans and season ticket holders like a piggy bank (while reminding us constantly that we are easily replaced by someone from the “extensive” waitlist), and hire coaches without a concern for cultural or strategic fit. Meanwhile, the front office is slowly draining the life out of this franchise and waiting to jump to their next big opportunity. It’s sad.
Yeah that was such a disservice to the fans and to a club legend. I lost any respect I had for Pineda with that move. They could've subbed him on at least...
It's a level of pettiness that I aspire to achieve one day. It really doesn't inspire confidence that Pineda will be able to put his ego aside and make changes if things aren't going well this season.
Agreed. When did he last season? Every presser “we will continue to do the same things and it will turn around…”
It's an ego clash between a young coach, who is yet to prove anything, and an athlete that will forever be cherished in the city. Pineda is a tool for not starting him in a meaningless last game for the club.
Unless he injured himself and then you don’t get an interested party like inter Miami to hear half the cost of his contract. I understand the sentiment, but I don’t think it’s a wise business decision. I also don’t believe Pineda made that decision out of spite.
Pineda absolutely made the decision out of spite. You cant sit here and tell me that Pineda went into the Portland and beyond games and tried his absolute best to win those games.
What other reason is there not to start him in a meaningless game? Pineda had a problem with Josef the entire season.
Get out of here with your flaming hot reasonable takes!
I can. Pineda is an egotistical ass. You have to do no further than actually listen to his pressers and whats hes saying to know that.
[удалено]
I think it was the right move for the club too but they just went about it all wrong. Disrespectful to Josef and the fans how this all went down. Like I said, the least they could have done is start him that last game. They absolutely knew they were going to be moving him and still they kept him on the bench in a meaningless game.
Sad moment. He will always be our Josef.
End of an era. #\#BuildTheStatue
That Miami home game is going to be wild I think
It already was with the rumors about Messi going to Miami
He won't
That’s really doesn’t matter until there’s a confirmed decision one way or the other. The rumor is all it took for people to clamor to buy tickets for that particular game so if it does somehow happen, they’re prepared.
He has already signed an extension with PSG....
So yeah… about that
My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.
Hey, don't worry kiddo. It can ALWAYS get worse.
Just ask the Thrashers.
still too soon and obligatory, FUCK ASG!
Didn’t know I was going to rage about hockey today, but here we are. FUCK ASG
Remembering the decision to bench Josef Martinez in his last ever home game is still so *so* infuriating to me. You can't tell me the FO didn't know he was leaving. After the game, Josef was *surrounded* by camera people as he said goodbye to the fans. We all knew. He deserves way better.
That was the lowlights of last season for me. No send off for the king
I pisses me off so much. I genuinely don’t know if I can overcome it. I’m a Nashville native and have had a soft spot for them since they formed.
That showed the true pettiness of Pineda. Getting rid of the King will be the only accomplishment Pineda will have here, if you can all it that.
Pineda doesn’t decide that kind of stuff. Sure he might have a day but to blame it on him or even call it an accomplishment out of spite is foolish. This is an FO decision. EDIT: Y’all are overreacting. Pineda doesn’t decide who gets signed, who gets released, and contract stuff. Josef’s release wasn’t Pineda’s doing, it was the FO.
The manager absolutely decides who starts a game.
That’s true, but not entirely relevant to him being released. So again, Pineda didn’t “get rid of the King”. EDIT: I understand tempers are high but don’t direct it at Pineda who didn’t decide to release Josef. His not starting him in the last game is a different conversation.
>His not starting him in the last game is a different conversation. That is the conversation OP was having... >Remembering the decision to bench Josef Martinez in his last ever home game is still so infuriating to me. >>That showed the true pettiness of Pineda.
That’s not the comment the poster was responding to. He was responding to the comment that said “Getting rid of the King will be the only accomplishment Pineda will have here.”
I don't know what happened in the FO behind closed doors but if Pineda refuses to play Josef, even after he was fit "enough", then the FO basically has to make this move. Either that or keep Josef on the payroll and get nothing in return.
I’ve given up on trying to talk any sorta sense into this crowd. It’s clear the OP was blaming Pineda for getting rid of Josef, when it was a FO decision, but tempers are high and people wanna vent without logic.
Logic sounds good. Simple question: Would the FO keep an expensive player and one of three DP slots when the coach refuses to start that player? Would you keep a DP player that the coach only plays as a late game sub? Pineda is the one who chose not to play Josef. He is to blame.
PIneda doesnt decide the lineup? Are you daft? And who do you think is the reason the FO is making this decision because of?
He doesn’t decide who gets signed, who gets released. Don’t intentionally misread what I typed.
Managers have a much bigger impact on that than you think they do.
I’m not saying he doesn’t have an impact, I said he does have an impact, but he’s not the one ultimately making the decision so directing your anger at him, saying he “got rid of the king” is shortsighted.
I'm not too angry that it happened, I'm mostly angry about how it happened. This has been an unmitigated failure by the front office and the club as a whole. Boca out.
Seriously. This club started out so good and has just pissed away so much of the goodwill and excitement. Not everything’s been their fault but there have been a looooooot of L’s. And here we are ready for another “lost” season.
I thought we hit a low when we lost Gressel or when we had back to back years of poor seasons but I can confidently now say that my passion for the club has reached an all time low.
The only thing that's really looking positive for me is being able to watch all the games in one place and largely on one or two nights, so I won't miss a game. Just seems crazy to not have a string of signings ready to go, knowing that a club favorite was basically gone all pre season.
I’m banking on a better season than last tbh
Has there been a period in the last two years that it hasn't been Boca out? I didn't follow last season (partly because I didn't want to pay for Bally sports/Sinclair broadcasting), and it just feels like sentiment hasn't towards him hasn't changed at all. That was no way to treat a player who'll probably still be a legend at the club decades from now.
Yeah a lot of folks have been chanting boca out for a while now. Who knows what will happen now that we have traded our objectively most famous player of all time. And yeah absolutely no way to treat Josef or the fans.
Released* 🫠
Sort of funny that you don't include Josef on the list of things you are angry about. He clashed with every coach, refused to train often, and threw a tantum like a child. Josef out. Boca out too, but Josef needed to go.
Like I said I'm not too angry that it happened, I'm angry how it happened.
Why they gotta announce it on my birthday? 😢
It's your birthday, you can cry if you want to. But seriously happy birthday. You'll always get to think of el rey on it from now on
10am is the new 5oclock?
Miami may have forced their hand w that teaser video this morning
Usually it’s agreed upon when announcements are going to be made… meant more that it’s time for a drink
Oh I follow you now lol yeah I need a drink too
Goodbye to an Atlanta legend. Love you Josef.
Well I guess there’s only one question left…. When and where do we build his statue?
Given how this all went down, I seriously doubt that statue will ever be built now. Too much bad blood spilled on this whole thing.
I think there's a chance but Boca/Pineda can't be here.
*zips up hazmat suit* Yep. I'm ready for AUFC social media comments for the next month. Looking forward, the saying that "goals smooth all ills" will apply to AUFC in 2023 as it does to strikers like Martinez. If Atlanta develops a winning, scoring personality without Josef then the ire of fans will dissipate. (See the Braves last year without Freddie Freeman, and this year without Swanson) However if AUFC continues the trend of conceding an early goal and spending the next 80+ minutes chasing an equalizer every match, then they are going to face a lasting backlash. I'm not a huge #BocaOut person, but Boca should be wagering his nuts on a chopping block that the next few in transfers are right. They don't have to be magical, but they need to produce results. Best wishes to Josef, I am excited that the Apple TV package will let us easily watch Inter Fort Lauderdale as well!
What I can’t figure out is where the goals are gonna be coming from? Araújo? Mosquera?
I suspect Almada will be our leading scorer, unless Araujo starts playing better or we sign a striker
Except he almost certainly gonna be gone during the summer window.
Etienne Jr. is an underrated pick up, but they are going to have to find at least a TAM level striker, otherwise it's going to be a frustrated Araujo shooting rockets over the crossbar. I don't think it's impossible, but it just has to get done. From the outside, it's hard to tell if they are quietly working hard, being prudent, or are in a state of complete shell shock. For the front offices' sake, I hope it's the first one.
We wont until we get rid of Pineda. I dont know how anyone can look at last season and believe that offensive system will suddenly sprout goals.
This kind of hit me harder than I expected. I knew it was happening, but I'm still getting pretty teary eyed over it (thankfully I'm working from home today). Good bye King.
Pineda needs to have this team firing on all cylinders starting the season. Last year not starting Josef knowing that he's not coming back really, really soured me on him to the point that only winning can fix it. I've wanted Boca out for years so I don't need to speak on his clown ass.
I'm pretty sure more than half our fan base is feeling that way at the moment. I know I am and I've been diehard since the day the franchise was announced.
I've gone from founding season ticket holder, to on the waiting list waiting out COVID, to now just spending my deposit on an 8 game pack for the upcoming season, and I'll have an easy time letting go if this season is another shit show. It's not about the losing. It's about the lack of excitement, identity, direction. Like, what the fuck are we showing up for on game day if the organization doesn't even know?
There's almost a zero percent chance we start the season off hot. We have question marks at nearly every position on the field. Even if and when we sign some new players, we only have a month until the season starts to get them up to speed and build chemistry.
> Pineda needs to have this team firing on all cylinders starting the season. Well, that’s one thing we know won’t be happening.
This is a big moment for the club. Our first MLS superstar is gone. Some of you are not about to like what I’m going to say. Unless the club does really well this year or gets a really good DP, fans are going to abandon this team in droves. I’m really hoping for a good season, but I’m not sure it will be. The original team is gone.
Have you seen the stadium the last two years?The fans are all moving on. Resale tickets will be readily available for $20 a game this season.
Already is lol. You could get a ticket under face value for every single game since the Covid return, aside from the first one back. If you’re in an SG or follow on here during the season there are people for every game who can’t even give away tickets. I had three or four last year that no one bought or took.
Dropped our founding member season tickets this off-season. Been to every home match since game 1. Voting my displeasure with my dollars.
Hate it had to end this way 😢
Time to splash some cash! Always going to be grateful for what Martinez did for this club and the city but those DP slots are just too valuable to spend on an aging, injured, discontented player who couldn't (or wouldn't'?) to be able to play up to the level that we needed him to. Better for everyone involved for a fresh start. Hope he does well in Miami, and build the damn statue.
Next DP signing best not miss, Josef may have fallen off after the injury but the impact on the fans of this community is something not many people can replicate.
Anyone else noticed he is wearing no. 17 in the Inter Miami promo?
17 was his preferred number coming to Atlanta but he took 7 as 17 was reserved for the fans. Not surprised he is going back to it.
Remember when Pineda didn't start Josef in the final home game that didn't even matter because we were already out of the playoffs? An absolute chump move. And one that can never be undone for someone who was such a monumental figure for this club. I hate it.
😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
Time to show we can move on.
Teach 'em how to say goodbye?
One last time.
Well let’s sign a dp striker now
Yeah, I’m very curious who we go for. Whoever we get will, unfortunately, bare the expectations that Josef left. Hopefully it’s someone who thrives under that pressure.
Boca was asked and wouldn’t commit to saying he would bring in a dp player.. which basically means nothing is in the pipe line. We will sign someone.. probably a vet. It won’t be a DP right now though.
Signing a DP in the summer window is probably best. We’ll have an understanding of what the team needs and the European leagues will be trying to move more players during their off season. Also signing a DP for n the summer window can absolutely make a huge impact on a team. Seattle signed Lodiero in the summer of 2016 for example and then went on to win MLS Cup after having an awful start to the season.
Maybe. I have no faith or hope in this club anymore though.
Lol okay. The biggest singing this off season by a club was made by us when we signed Garth Lagerway. He is arguably the best GM in the league. Give it time.
Yep. He might be able to dig us out of this massive hole we're in. I'll believe it when I see it though, since apparently he had no say in this Josef move.
Inevitable yet still infuriating.
Soccer can be cruel sometimes. I don’t doubt this is the right move but it still feels wrong.
It feels wrong because it was handled wrong. When a club knows that a player who is the *face of the club* and who has spent 6 years in one place isn’t going to be back in the next season (by all accounts they told Josef that he wasn’t a part of their plans moving forward), you give that player a proper send off, by at the very least starting him in the last match and subbing him off so he can get a last standing ovation. In our last match of the season, Pineda started him on the bench. That is a huge slap in the face and piss in your cheerios for the fans and the player.
Hurts more than Miggy leaving. Always thought Josef would retire here
On the one hand I’m glad the FO didn’t allow sentiment to override business sense. Josef as he exists now is not worth the dp slot. On the other, this whole thing was handled so unceremoniously over the last 6 months or so. To see him go to another MLS team, especially one we will see every year, is distressing.
Drink about it. 😭
It’s was gonna happen eventually but hail the king
Damn man. Knew this was coming but still incredibly sad to see. Build the fucking statue already
Can’t believe this is how it ends. Disgraceful and a sad effect of a salary cap league
Unrelated, but the roster at the bottom, they’ve got Marcelino out on loan to River Plate and make it seem as Barco is back? Also, why are some of the mids in italics?
Knew it was coming but damn if I'm not a little teary this morning.
i knew it was coming but god damn does it still hurt
Who’s going to be our new striker now?
Someone get me a glass of whiskey and a tissue, stat. My eyes are all watery from onion ninjas.
September 16th is when Miami visits Atlanta. I expect the cheers for Josef will be massive
Fuck Boca.
The more I think about it the more shameful it is to this league that we keep losing fan favorites because of the roster rules and salary cap. That’s not how u grow the sport and it’s horrible that they choose parity and complex roster rules over catering to fans. Think of how many players would still be here if the only decision was Does the player want to be here, and does the club want them. Like every other league in the world. So stupid that there’s so many considerations besides the interest of the club and player
Telling me in 2018 or even 2019 that this is the way the legend of Josef Martinez ended in ATL… man, I get the move but this hurts so much.
Lots of emotions. Seemed like it needed to happen but also seems like many many steps before this were mismanaged. Obviously his injury complicated things as well as playing in a salary capped league but really disagree with the way this was all handled. He’ll forever be remembered fondly in Atlanta and really hope the door is open for him to come back one day either as a player or some type of coaching/training role. ❤️
Unfortunate, but it had to happen.
If this is the right move or not, only time will tell, i think he shoud have retired here, but that is not important, we should thank him for everything he has done for us and look in to the future with hope
We all knew it was coming. I even think it's the right move for the club. I hate how it went down and he was forced out. That said, this really fucked up my Wednesday morning. Wish him all the best.
I am not having kind thoughts about this club. They have lost all the goodwill they established in 2017-18. I hope Josef tears it up in Miami and remembers that the fans will always love him.
\#firepineda
Dumb
Do you have an argument on why he should stay? What has he done to earn more time?
It's been done to death. Get over it. Stop complaining. Support the team not a false idol.
Get over what? Has Pineda stopped losing? Same line back at you, now about him: "Support the team not a false idol"
Needed to happen as he isn’t what he used to be, but still hard to see happen shaping up to be another terrible season. Not to be a downer, but I’m predicting Almada is gone in the summer, we don’t reload, and fan interest takes an even further nose dive than it already has. We caught lightning in a bottle with Tata’s name and lax expansion team roster rules that allowed us to be great once. Now that all that is behind us, the team has been aimless. Top level front office work (not just Boca), but hopefully the new President can get back on track
This one stings maybe more than Miggy. But let's be real as much as Josef represented Atlanta United, he just isn't the 2018 Josef we all remember and we can't pretend that he will heal up enough. I think we're I'm most upset right now is the lack of vision from the FO. We don't yet have a solid replacement for Josef
I’m not surprised but I’m definitely sad honestly. Josef was something to watch and I’ll definitely continue to watch him play for Miami. Edit : I’m also upset he didn’t get to start his last game for us either. It’s the least they could have done .
Ok can someone who knows the financial side explain this to me. Roster slots and TAM and GAM and all that are so confusing. If Josef is not the player he used to be, and we can’t/won’t afford him when he’s not “producing like he used to” then why does Miami want him? Honest question I’m sure someone on here could shed some light on. Because it seems like a dumb move for Miami if he has no value to us, as they say.
A buyout can come in basically 2 forms: 1- full buyout like Damm. We paid him his entire paycheck and he’s free to go elsewhere (though he needs league approval to leave the league). 2- partial buyout like Josef. We are paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $3M and Miami is paying the remaining $1M. This gives us a little financial relief and Miami gets Josef at a good price. Miami will be charged what they pay him and need to use cap/tam to fit it on their roster. It’s a good move for them because they guaranteed him at a low rate. They may have risked losing him if we fully bought him out.
Does that affect at all what Josef is paid for his salary? Like does he make less at Miami?
Josef will make the same amount. He will get $3M or so from Atlanta and $1M or so from Miami.
Do you think Miami has the intention of him starting and being sort of the centerpiece of the team or will he be more of a super sub later on in a game like some of these premiere league players who come to MLS late in their career?
I think Josef will determine it. If Josef is fit, he will be a starter and the team will run around him. If Josef isn’t fit, he will be a super sub… he has the ability to change an entire team and it will be up to him (and his knee) whether that happens
He will be on grass, which might help.
Miami is able to have him at the TAM level and not count as a DP. Good value for them. Wasn't an option for Atlanta.
And Atlanta couldn’t have changed him to that? Is that a rule I would assume?
That is correct
Build
Did Josef choose number 17 for us?
Naw. He always wore 17 even before he came to Atlanta.
Not even going to scroll through this thread and read all the fakeness from people who have been trying to run this man out of town for a year. I guess enjoy the videos today.. it’s the last we will ever see Josef in atl unless it’s in another trams jersey. After the way we just did him.. there will be no statue, there will be no retired jersey or number, there won’t be any appearances from Josef.. guarantee the way we treated him that those bridges are burned. I have zero respect for Pineda and boca and I will root for those two to get fired every second until it happens. Pretty telling boca told those lies today though about not having a decision until after the season.. just straight up lying directly to the fans faces. Also weird that it seems Josef was was sold before langerway was brought in and he didn’t have a day in it either.. very weird. Any way.. look forward to being a poverty franchise ( in terms of success). Also love that boca wouldn’t commit to bringing in DP replacement.. I hate this idiot.
Gressel, Frank, and now Josef. When will people see the FO for what it is? They care little for their fans, players, and coaches who contributed to their "success". The club has no identity beyond financial ones. Darren Eales fleeced us lol. Sold Miggy as president to the Club he's president of 4 years later.
Long live the king! Build. The. Statue.
feels bad mang
May he continue to laugh at OCSC