Soccer <\/p>\n
It was almost exactly 10 years ago that Garth Lagerwey left Real Salt Lake<\/a> to join the Seattle Sounders<\/a>, becoming a colleague of Chris Henderson as the Rave Green sought to reach another level in their evolution as an MLS club.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The recruitment of Lagerwey, now Atlanta United<\/a>‘s president & CEO, proved a vital step in Seattle\u2019s ascension, a prelude to a historic Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> triumph, two league titles, four trips to the MLS Cup final and various other successes. And the echoes of those first days on Puget Sound reverberated again on Tuesday, as Lagerwey welcomed Henderson to Atlanta, a major coup for the Five Stripes\u2019 ambitions of rejoining the league\u2019s elite in 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality was that the year before I came, the Sounders won the Open Cup<\/a> and the Supporters\u2019 Shield in 2014. So I’ve always said I was the knucklehead that was like, \u2018Oh, I’m definitely gonna make this better,\u2019\u201d Lagerwey recalled dryly in a press conference at the Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, where Henderson was introduced as ATLUTD\u2019s new chief soccer officer and sporting director.<\/p>\n \u201cChris, from day one, was open to me, and said, \u2018Hey, I’d love to have you aboard. I think we’re going to work great together.\u2019 And given his own success to that point, he definitely didn’t have to do that. And so there was that trust, the fact that he wanted to work with me, that always meant a lot to me. That really was the beginning of a great relationship working together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The largest fanbase in the league \u2014 at least going by home attendance \u2014 hopes, and expects, the duo can reprise that magic in Georgia, where a roaring start to life in MLS cooled markedly in recent seasons, necessitating what figures to be a sweeping overhaul over the next year or two.<\/p>\n In attracting Henderson to ATLUTD \u2014 and convincing their Eastern Conference rivals Inter Miami<\/a> to let him leave after four impressive years of shaping the Herons into a Goliath \u2014 Lagerwey has made perhaps the biggest signing of an MLS offseason that\u2019s mere days old.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have everything we need, from a player and a competitive side, to prepare to be a team that can be an elite team in this league,\u201d said Henderson. \u201cI’m really excited to get to work with Garth. We have a long history together. I understand his vision, his leadership style. There’s a lot of really great people here that I’ve met in the first few days who are going to be tremendous to work with, and we’re going to build something really special here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Time to get to work ???? pic.twitter.com\/iXdS5LNkmK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) December 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Henderson did not wade too far into the specifics of his decision to leave IMCF some 18 months into their current paradigm-shifting, Leo Messi<\/a>-driven project, where he earned immense credit for moving the squad past painful sanctions for roster-rule violations, laying the groundwork for their current lofty status and expertly juggling a tricky salary-budget situation. Instead, he emphasized the desirability of Atlanta and their rebuild, while expressing his belief that, like Seattle, he\u2019s left Miami in good shape for the future.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it has changed. It changed when I first arrived there, and then dealing with the sanctions and how we can get a competitive team based on the money we had,\u201d Henderson said of his IMCF tenure in a roundtable with reporters after the press conference. \u201cThen, obviously, since the summer of \u201823, things completely changed at the club. So I feel really fortunate to go through all those experiences. I loved those four years. They were intense. And now I’m really excited for the next opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think when this opportunity came up, I was really excited for a new change, something where I can build with a group of people who I really trust and like. And Inter Miami is in a good place. Their team is good. I feel similar to when I left Seattle; the team was in a really good spot. So I’m proud of each of the clubs I’ve worked at, and now really looking forward to getting things started here and building something again.\u201d<\/p>\n Henderson is jumping straight into the fire at his new gig. He arrives at the final stages of the Five Stripes\u2019 search for their next head coach and will spearhead their shopping for two new Designated Players this winter and probably other acquisitions of note, with a huge war chest accrued from some profitable outbound transfers over the summer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Henderson builds champions ????#UniteAndConquer<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3z7Vuiq21I<\/a><\/p>\n“We have everything we need”<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n
Reclamation project<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n