Gabriel Heinze’s Atlanta United in 2021 is expected to be a vastly different team tactically than the teams Frank De Boer and Stephen Glass fielded in 2019 and 2020. It will reflect their new manager as a younger, more athletic, more aggressive group that’s capable of executing in a style beloved by Atlanta United fans.
Most expect the team to open the season in a 4-3-3 attacking formation with an aggressive pressing system akin to Tata Martino’s 2017 Atlanta United team. Ahead of the 2019 season, DSS’s TiotalFootball broke down Atlanta United’s tactical identity under Tata Martino and how it evolved from a 4-3-3 to something of a hybrid 3-5-2.