Atlanta United held its season-ending media session two weeks ago at the training ground in Marietta.
I've posed a few stories from interviews with Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra and players Michael Parkhurst, Brad Guzan, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Josef Martinez, Hector Villalba, Andrew Carleton and Chris Goslin and Julian Gressel.
Here are excerpts from Miguel Almiron:
Q: Were you surprised how quickly you adapted to the league?
A: I’m happy with what I was able to accomplish in my first season. I want to say thank you to all my teammates and the fans for their support because without the help, especially my teammate’s help, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything this season.
Q: Do you regret asking to go fifth in the penalty shootout?
A: No. I don’t know if I regret it. I think we have very talented players on this team and everyone is capable to stepping up and taking a penalty.
Yes, it was painful not being able to have a shot, but I don’t regret it because all of the players on our team are very talented, high-level players. Everyone is capable.
Q: What was the biggest adjustment for you coming from Argentina to MLS?
A: Soccer in Argentina is just different. It’s a little more dynamic. But the way people experience soccer in Argentina is a bit different than MLS, but saying that, what surprised me a lot this season was the fans and support in the U.S., and for our team in Atlanta.
Q: Did the injury hold you back in the playoff game?
A: Yes. It was a tough year for. It came at a difficult time, not only because we were fighting for a playoff spot but even more so because of the World Cup qualifiers we had.
I missed the two most important games of my career to this point, which would have been those World Cup qualifiers with Paraguay. That hurt a lot. It was tough to overcome that.
With Atlanta, I wasn’t worried because I know we had really talented players who were able to step up in my absence.
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