Stephen Glass confident he can put Atlanta United’s star attackers in better positions to succeed

With all the uncertainty surrounding Atlanta United currently, one thing is for sure: Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and a host of other talented players need to play better and produce more in the attacking end. Interim manager Stephen Glass is hard at work to give those players the best chance of making that happen.

Glass addressed the media ahead of his debut MLS match against Nashville SC on Saturday. The Scot explained his work to try and put players like Pity and Barco in the right positions to improve and succeed.

“I’m well aware of what they’ve been doing and what they’ve not been doing,” Glass said in a teleconference. “I watched them in the environments that made people bring them to this club. They are in the same boat as a lot of [our players]. They are fantastic players that I think can be used slightly different to get more out of them. And they are willing to do it because they know that we’re actually trying to put them in the best situations.”

Glass added that he went back to look at footage of Pity Martinez’s play with River Plate to study where he fits best and how to get the most out of him.

In many of his most memorable highlights from his best days in Argentina, Pity has been deployed on the left wing. Despite that, he’s played very little in that position since arriving in Atlanta. Mainly being asked to play central as a supporting striker or on the right side of the field. The former South American Player of the Year revealed that while he’s comfortable playing many positions, left wing is a spot he’s been training at more under Glass recently.

“[Glass] likes to play the style the majority of the players on the team prefer,” Martinez said.” Which is an attacking style, being on the front foot. I’m a player who’s comfortable playing in any position. I’ve been playing on the left wing, but I have no problem playing on the left or on the right and just doing whatever is necessary to help the team.”

While the squad is mainly the same as it was under Frank de Boer, the new regime seems hard at work to make the proper tweaks to turn things around and make Atlanta United a successful, attacking side once again. Finding the right formula to getting the most out of Pity, Barco and the team’s other attacking weapons will be a big key to whether or not that goal is met.