Atlanta United: Frank De Boer Deserves Patience

Atlanta United are off to their worst start in franchise history. After a disappointing draw, at home, against expansion franchise FC Cincinnati, the chatter of doubt has started about the new manager, Frank De Boer.

The questions for Atlanta United are fair, but we all need to give De Boer time to figure this out. That doesn’t mean he will figure it out, but he deserves the chance to make it right. The result yesterday will make his timetable to fix it all smaller.

There was a lot of baggage that followed Frank De Boer when he was named Atlanta United manager. His time in Italy and England, especially England, left a lot to be desired when it came to De Boer as a manager. He has also had a lot of success with Ajax, but that seems to be forgotten or looked over most of the time. Winning four league championships should never be overlooked, but we are in a win now society. His time in Crystal Palace lasted a grand total of 85 days on the job. De Boer is close to that mark with Atlanta now. And after a couple of disappointing results in Atlanta, De Boer is being placed on the hot seat.

This is ridiculous! This is a new team under new management. There is going to be some stuff that will have to be ironed out. There will be missed opportunities. These mistakes shouldn’t cost De Boer his job already.

De Boer hasn’t been the only problem for Atlanta. This team has had a Miggy problem. Or a lack of Miggy problem. I don’t think anyone could have predicted what a hole Miguel Almiron would leave in the middle of this team when he left for Newcastle.

Atlanta had his replacements lined up in Barco and Pity Martinez, the record-setting transfer. The transition hasn’t been as smooth as we all thought it would be. Martinez has not been good so far, but that’s okay. He’s getting used to a new game, new country, and new team. It’s a lot for a player to deal with who was already being taunted as the next big time before he even touched the field. Barco has been a disappointment, but there is still plenty of time to get him going. Pity Martinez is the guy that De Boer has to get on the same page with. There is still a lot of time to get him going. The season isn’t a loss, but until De Boer can figure out how to best utilize his South American talent, there will be a hole in the middle of this team that wasn’t there last season.

I keep hearing the expression, “De Boer was handed the keys to a Ferrari. Just don’t wreck it”.Well, I don’t know about you, but I would have some reservations my first time behind the wheel of a Ferrari. And it’s not that simple. This is not the same team Tata was running. Almiron is gone. McCann is gone. Greg Garza is gone. Atlanta is playing in the Champions League this season. That means more games that Tata never had to deal with while trying to do it with less depth. It’s a tough task that no one is talking about.

There are a lot of moving parts that De Boer is going to have to figure out to get this humming again. It’s going to take time. And calling for his job after being here less than three months is not the way to get the results the fans want. De Boer has a great team on his hands. Give him so time to figure it out before we call for his head.