Atlanta United parts with both reserve goalkeepers as part of year-end roster moves

Atlanta United announced it’s annual year-end roster moves Wednesday, notably declining options on both of it’s reserve goalkeepers as well as midfielder Mo Adams and striker Cubo Torres.

Per the club’s press release this morning:

Atlanta United today announced its year-end roster moves ahead of the 2022 MLS season. In addition to the 21 players already under contract for 2022, the club exercised contract options on Mikey Ambrose, George Bello, Jackson Conway, Alex De John, Franco Escobar, Brooks Lennon and Amar Sejdic.

The club declined contract options on Mo Adams, Josh Bauer, Alec Kann, Ben Lundgaard and Cubo Torres. The loan for Ronald Hernández expires at the end of the calendar year.

Players under contract for 2022 (21): Luiz Araújo, Ezequiel Barco, George Campbell, Machop Chol, Jürgen Damm, Alan Franco, Andrew Gutman, Brad Guzan, Emerson Hyndman, Franco Ibarra, Erik López, Josef Martínez, Efrain Morales, Marcelino Moreno, Jake Mulraney, Miles Robinson, Matheus Rossetto, Santiago Sosa, Anton Walkes, Bryce Washington, Tyler Wolff

Option exercised (7): Mikey Ambrose, George Bello, Jackson Conway, Alex De John, Franco Escobar, Brooks Lennon, Amar Sejdic

Option declined (5): Mo Adams, Josh Bauer, Alec Kann, Ben Lundgaard, Cubo Torres

Players out of contract: none

End of loan (1): Ronald Hernández

The MLS offseason officially begins Sunday, Dec. 12 at 9:00 a.m. with the Half-Day Trade Window. The MLS Expansion Draft is set for Tuesday, Dec. 14. End-of-Year Waivers and MLS Free Agency will open Wednesday, Dec. 15. For a full breakdown of the MLS offseason calendar, click here.

2022 Atlanta United roster (as of Dec. 1, 2021)

Goalkeepers (1): Brad Guzan

Defenders (12): Mikey Ambrose, George Bello, George Campbell, Alex De John, Franco Escobar, Alan Franco, Andrew Gutman, Brooks Lennon, Efrain Morales, Miles Robinson, Anton Walkes, Bryce Washington

Midfielders (10): Ezequiel Barco, Jürgen Damm, Emerson Hyndman, Franco Ibarra, Marcelino Moreno, Jake Mulraney, Matheus Rossetto, Amar Sejdic, Santiago Sosa, Tyler Wolff

Forwards (5): Luiz Araújo, Machop Chol, Jackson Conway, Erik López, Josef Martínez

Initial Thoughts

Parting with Kann is indeed a surprising move as he’s typically looked the part of a decent MLS goalkeeper when called upon, including this year when Brad Guzan left for international duty. Moving on from both of its backup goalkeepers means they will definitely look to add one to the MLS roster — possibly the youngster Rocco Rios Novo, who featured for the club on multiple occasions last year.

As for other cuts, Mo Adams never seemed to either get healthy or be able to make an impact once he was able to regain fitness. Cubo Torres played a more substantial 620 league minutes, but failed to score and overall didn’t add much to the team’s on-field quality.

I’d say there were two surprising options that the club decided to pick up — those of Mikey Ambrose and Amar Sejdic. Ambrose only played 63 league minutes this past season and they did not go well. Sejdic is more understandable, but seeing as how he didn’t see the field much down the run-in to the playoffs (similar to Adams), it’s a bit surprising to see him back. And good for Alex De John, too. Guy played with a broken elbow.

We will have more details on this story after Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra and head coach Gonzalo Pineda speak with media this afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.