As Atlanta United’s inaugural season progresses, the fans are continuing to learn more and more about the team. One thing we’re beginning to find out is that Tata Martino is a man of few words. Since Josef Martinez returned to training on May 4th, fans have been anticipating his return.
Last week, when asked about Josef Martinez returning to the 18, Tata simply responded by saying “closer.” Of course “closer” isn’t a bad sign, but such a vague response left Atlanta United fans wondering if they could still be weeks or possibly even a month from seeing the 23-year-old return to the pitch.
On Thursday, the Atlanta United manager continued to keep his responses to a bare minimum. However, what he said is a lot more promising than last week. “We’ll see.” said Martino.
It gets better.
Friday, Atlanta United fans received some encouraging news via the Atlanta United twitter account.
https://twitter.com/ATLUTD/status/868137764369428481
Beautiful, isn’t it? The second picture shows Josef Martinez grinding in training with the team. Does this mean he’s back? I don’t know, but it definitely means he is close.
It has been 8 matches since fans last saw the Venezuelan in match form. In his absence, Miguel Almiron tied him as the teams leading scorer with five goals after scoring a hat trick against Houston last week.
Although we are still unaware if he will be available for Sunday’s rematch against NYCFC, “we’ll see” should give the fans a lot more hope to see Martinez return in the near future. The staff will continue to monitor his progress and maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll give him the all-clear for this weekend.