Miguel Almiron believes Gerardo Martino's return to Atlanta United is going to be "very important" for the club.

Last season, Atlanta finished 14th in the Eastern Conference on 28 points, 25 off ninth place and a place in the playoffs. It was the worst season in the club's history.

It was a stark contrast to 2024, when Atlanta made it to the postseason and beat Inter Miami, then led by Martino, in the first round before ultimately exiting against Orlando City in the Conference semi-finals.

In October, Atlanta sacked Ronny Deila, with Martino returning to the club after seven years away, having previously been in charge from their inaugural season in 2016 to the end of the 2018 campaign, winning the MLS Cup before his departure. 

As Almiron highlighted the importance of the team bouncing back from last year, he predicted Martino will have a major impact.

"We appreciate him a lot, and I think his arrival is going to be very important for Atlanta," he told Goal.

"We have a good group of players, a group of talented players, so we just have to work on fixing some small details to try to reach our objectives this season.

"These things can happen in football. All we can do is try to learn from our mistakes."

Emmanuel Latte Lath joined Atlanta in February 2025 on a four-year deal for a record transfer fee from Middlesbrough.

He scored six goals in 20 matches for Atlanta in MLS last season, and he also acknowledged the need for Atlanta to put on a better show this time around.

"The only thing we have to do is just to show our potential. We just didn't show it at all last season," Latte Lath said.

"It was a tough season. Things just didn't go well. It was just really, really tough.

"I learned how to suffer. And this, I will bring with me to the next season. We just need to find our identity. And then the positive things will come."

Atlanta begin their 2026 MLS campaign away to FC Cincinnati on February 21.