Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer didn’t hesitate when asked yesterday about squad rotation in 2019. “We have to rotate,” he said. It seems like an obvious answer as Atlanta prepares to enter what will be the busiest season since the team launched two years ago. And yet this represents a significant shift for a team that rarely rotated under previous manager Tata Martino.



“Here (in MLS) there are a lot of teams that have more reserve players and can rotate them throughout the season,” Martino said last November. “Since last year, that’s something that I don’t necessarily agree with, so I don’t do it. Because no one can guarantee that if I don’t win in the eighth, ninth or 10th fixture, I’ll make the playoffs.”



De Boer has a deeper roster to work with and different priorities than his predecessor. Sources indicate that Martino was given the objective of qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions...