Saturday not only marks the return to the pitch for Atlanta United after nearly two weeks without action. But the talk at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground this week was about the return of Darlington Nagbe, who re-joined training this week following a nearly three-month injury absence. It’s a return of an important player for Atlanta United, and the players were fully aware of that during training this week.
“He’s a top player in this league, an excellent player,” Chris McCann told reporters. “He’s a big player for us and there’s been some matches we probably could’ve had him and missed him. But he’s been fantastic, so to add him back into the mix adds that competition, it only makes us stronger.”
After one of the longest injury layoffs in Nagbe’s career, it’s important to ease him back into action. Because as important as these matches are in the Supporters’ Shield race, with a playoff spot clinched, the team needs Nagbe even more come late October. But coach Martino was tight-lipped about how much the American international would feature on the team’s road trip this week.
“We’ve had talks with him ever since he’s rejoined the team training fully, and we’ll continue to talk to him to get his point of view and evaluate him,” Martino said through a translator. “If he thinks he’s ok to start or come off the bench, those are talks we will continue to have. But with a player like Darlington, he’s so gifted technically those are things he’s not going to lose. So mostly it’s just a matter of fitness.”
“He’s looked sharp in training,” said Brad Guzan. “That’s a credit to his willingness to come back and be fit and be ready to go. I think for sure he’s able to contribute in some capacity, what that capacity is is up to Tata. But the last few days he’s looked good.”
So what makes Darlington Nagbe so important to Atlanta United? In just his first year, the central midfielder had already turned into a vital cog in the midfield, a connector who did so many little things that don’t shot up in the stat sheet.
“I think Darlington’s probably one of the best players in the league at relieving pressure,” said team captain Michael Parkhurst. “You can play the ball to Darlington in any way, shape or form and he’s able to take it down, shield it and turn. He’s just incredible. He just doesn’t lose the ball.”
“It’s his technical ability on the ball,” McCann added. “He gives us that pivot between the defense and the forwards. He picks up pockets of space, you know you can just give him the ball because he’s so gifted and comfortable on the ball. He can receive it anywhere and keep making space for himself. For a defender or someone looking to get the ball to our attackers, to create attacking players, he’s a fantastic link. You can lay it in to him, you know the ball’s going to be safe, he’ll be comfortable receiving it wherever and he can feed that ball up to the dangerous players.”
Nagbe’s return does create a little bit of selection headache for head coach Tata Martino. With Eric Remedi’s seamless transition into the lineup since Nagbe’s injury, the gaffer is spoiled for choice in the center of the field. Martino didn’t give much hint about how he would line up his team with the embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
“It’s a challenge when you have as many talented players as we do that can all play in those positions, especially in midfield, then it’s a big challenge for the coach. So we’ll see what we do. To get points, that’s the challenge. Because we want to win the Supporters’ Shield.”
