Atlanta United’s 2022 season arrived to much fanfare with the exciting potential of an attacking threat consisting of some combination of Josef Martinez, Thiago Almada, Luiz Araujo, and Marcelino Moreno, a quartet aptly given the nicknames MA’AM or MAMA. In reality, injuries and formational necessities kept the four from simultaneously occupying the pitch for most of the year, but one of those names consistently led the team in minutes throughout the early- and mid-portions of the season: Marcelino Moreno.
Moreno entered the season coming off a stout 2021 year where he scored nine goals and notched five assists, along with a lingering foot injury at the dusk of the season that forced him to slowly enter back into the starting lineups in 2022.