Why 2024 is a make-or-break year for Atlanta United's Gonzalo Pineda | OneFootball

Atlanta United have bolstered their squad in the winter transfer window, meaning more expectations will be placed on the shoulders of head coach Gonzalo Pineda in the upcoming 2024 season.

Pineda is set to take charge for his third full season in Atlanta, and the club have worked in the offseason to give him a squad fully capable of challenging in all three competitions they'll take part in -- MLS, Leagues Cup and US Open Cup.

The Five Stripes haven't really competed for silverware since 2019 when they lifted Campeones Cup, and for a club with a fanbase hungry for trophies, a lackluster 2024 season simply won't be up to par. Many coaches are given two-to-three seasons to make their mark on a team after a few transfer windows completed, and 2024 will be a defining one for the former Seattle Sounders assistant.

Thiago Almada remains an Atlanta United player

Almada wasn't transferred in the winter window / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Midfielder Thiago Almada remains a part of the Atlanta squad after the European winter transfer window closed. Not many were expecting that to happen, as Almada himself expressed a desire to leave Atlanta to join a European side before the start of the MLS season.

While some European sides were interested in him, it appears that there weren't any formal offers brought to CEO and president Garth Lagerway's desk. Almada is set to begin the first-half of the 2024 season with Atlanta after starring for the U23 Argentina national team at the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Venezuela.

Almada has been a hit after his record-breaking $16m transfer to Atlanta from Velez Sarsfield in the winter of 2022, and he's bailed out Pineda plenty of times. It's more a matter of when than if regarding Almada moving to Europe, so Pineda must take full advantage of the quality that the young midfielder has to propel Atlanta to new heights this season.

The quality and depth of the current Atlanta squad

Derrick Williams joined Atlanta as a free agent / Jose L. Argueta/ISI Photos/GettyImages

Atlanta are more than likely done making additions to the squad this transfer window, which has been touted as one of the Five Stripes' best in their short history. Lagerway and technical director Carlos Bocanegra have reshaped the Atlanta squad and offloaded unwanted players, adding the likes of Bartosz Slisz, Stian Gregersen and Josh Cohen, who are all expected to compete for starting role this term.

Many argue that the current Atlanta squad is the most complete team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since the 2018 campaign where they lifted MLS Cup in just their second season as an expansion side. On paper, Atlanta's potential starting lineup is up there among the best in MLS, as they also have the likes of Tyler Wolff, Edwin Mosquera, Jamal Thiare, Derrick Williams and Dax McCarty to fill in here and there as rotation pieces for depth.

Pineda -- who's in his first-ever head-coaching job after serving as a Seattle assistant -- has certainly been backed and he now has a squad that should be fully-capable of playing 'Pineda-ball' to the fullest-extent, and we saw there were improvements along the way last season. But the team must take it up another level and limit the amount of goals conceded to have a deep run in league play as well as Leagues Cup and US Open Cup action.

2024 will be his third season in charge

Pineda took over in 2021 / Ira L. Black - Corbis/GettyImages

Pineda was brought in as head coach in August 2021 after Atlanta fired Gabriel Heinze, becoming the team's fourth permanent coach in the middle of their fifth season as an expansion side.

There weren't many expectations for Pineda in his first one-and-a-half seasons in charge, with included a postseason appearance in 2021 and missing out in 2022. He guided the team to the first round of MLS Cup playoffs in 2023 after a sixth place finish in the Eastern Conference, and his team were outmatched against Columbus Crew -- which showed his 4-2-3-1 system has shown signs of promise, but it relies heavily on Almada's creativity, which can be good and bad.

There's no denying that all managers rely on their best players to bail them out at times. But in this situation, whenever Almada is unavailable -- usually when he's on international duty with Argentina -- Pineda's side tends to look disjointed and out of ideas. This is something that could really be exposed when Almada likely departs Atlanta in the summer transfer window, meaning pressure would continue to mount on Pineda to make his system work and become more fluid and not over-reliant on one or two players.

The team made strides last season, specifically in the back-half of the season after Leagues Cup. But his defense looked questionable at times as they continued to leak in goals in the worst moments possible, resulting in points dropped from winning positions.

The 2024 campaign will be his third full season in charge, and he reiterated several times last season that Atlanta United is a club that must challenge for trophies and continually finish in the top four of the Easern Conference. If Atlanta is unable to finish in the top four or seriously challenge for a trophy, there could be a new head coaching job open down south in the Peach State.