ANDREW CARLETON’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER JOURNEY TAKING THE NEXT STEP AS ONE OF THE TOP PROSPECTS IN THE UNITED STATES By Jason Longshore
Feature - andrew carleton With the U.S. men’s national team failing to qualify for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia, much of the national conversation has turned to player development. Minutes played in Major League Soccer by promising young American players are being tracked and compared to other leagues. Judgements are being made about what is best for the next generation of talent coming through the U.S. soccer pipeline. Meanwhile, Andrew Carleton is focused on learning on the job as a professional soccer player. With three appearances under his belt in Major League Soccer this season, one of the most exciting attacking players in the U.S. youth national team system is becoming part of Tata Martino’s first team squad at Atlanta United. Strong performances during the preseason, first in Nashville and then at the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, had both fans and experts from across the country asking to see Carleton on the field with Atlanta United’s first team. An injury to new signing Ezequiel Barco seemed to open a door to first team minutes ahead of the season opener in Houston on March 3. However, while Carleton made the 18-man roster for the match, he did not appear in the 4-0 loss to Dynamo. Atlanta United returned home for a March 11 match against D.C. United. Carleton again made the 18-man roster, and was preparing to enter the match in the second half with Atlanta leading 3-0. However, as he was getting his final instructions from the coaching staff D.C. pulled a goal back to cut the score to 3-1. Tata Martino held onto his final substitution to see if defensive reinforcements might be needed. Carleton did get to see the field late in stoppage time to the roar of the crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The following week against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Carleton entered the match in the 78th minute with Atlanta leading 3-0. A few minutes after he came into the match, his turnover led to a Vancouver goal to cut the lead to 3-1. Carleton’s response showed his increasing maturity. He talked about it with the media afterwards.
“For me, I gave the ball away on top of the box and two seconds later the ball was in our goal. I was like, ‘I got to go get this back real quick.’ They almost made it 3-2 after that so I was like, ‘We’ve got to put this game to bed real quick.’ So yeah, there was a little bit of urgency and mostly just playing the flow of the game, it’s just what the game called for. It worked out well.” Carleton was also interviewed on the Full Time Report on Atlanta’s 92.9 The Game after the match. When asked about what he has to do to earn more playing time, he said: “Just maturing, I’m still 17. I think they want me, whenever I go on, to be successful. They do a great job helping me out and getting me better each and every day. I try to work as hard as I can in practice. The harder you work, the more you put in, the more you get out. I think they’re doing a good job making sure I’m ready to go in. Hopefully as the time goes on, I can make more and more of an impact.” After a trip with the U.S. U20 national team, where Carleton is one of the youngest players in the group, he returned to Atlanta United to see time off the bench in the Five Stripes’ 5-0 win over Los Angeles Football Club on April 7. 2018 is a big year for Andrew Carleton on the professional level. Last year, he was called away from Atlanta United often to prepare for the FIFA U17 World Cup. His performances there were impressive and
demonstrated that his focus on national team duty was the correct decision. However, there are no major competitions in 2018 that would pull him away from his club. This is the year that Carleton can solidify himself as a professional. Tony Annan has seen much of Carleton’s development up close, first in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with Georgia United, then with Carleton leading the way for Atlanta United’s U16 squad to a national championship last summer. Annan, now the Academy Director for Atlanta United, said this on the Soccer Down Here program on March 21: “Andrew has been working really hard, but there’s still parts of his game that are needing to improve to get bigger minutes with the first team. I believe he will get there. Tata loves him. But, it’s a process. Don’t rush the kid into the first team until he’s completely ready to do it. He steps on the field, sets up a goal, puts a few nice passes through, he’s now progressing in his career.” That progression in 2018 will be important. Whether it takes place with the first team, the new Atlanta United 2 squad in the USL (where Carleton scored an equalizer from the penalty spot in his debut), or a combination of both, the process will continue as Andrew Carleton becomes a professional.