It might just be a few weeks into the 2017 MLS season, but expansion side Atlanta United FC has started so well that there has been some talk of the club being the best expansion team in MLS since, well, Seattle. The Sounders are no longer the fresh face of the league—they’re the grizzled, honored veterans celebrating their first MLS Cup.
As the two sides are set to duke it out for the first time in a competitive match this Friday, Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey praised the expansion team’s efforts so far.
“You’re seeing the crowds they have in Atlanta, the size of that launch, it’s a really, really successful organization,” he said.