Josh Atencio Loved Seattle Sounders. He’s Ready to Thrive With Colorado Rapids.

COMMERCE CITY – Josh Atencio spent seven years in the Seattle Sounders organization. The Bellevue, Washington native rose through the ranks of the academy alongside now Rapids Assistant Coach Chris Little. He played for Tacoma Defiance. He signed with the first team. With his family ties, he was as Seattle Soccer as Brian Schmetzer was at 23-years-old.

Seattle is home, but Colorado is home away from home:

Atencio’s grandfather had 11 siblings. His dad is the third oldest of five siblings. All six of them played college soccer. Grampa Atencio coached Hole Solo and aunt Cynthia to a state title in high school. Josh himself is the middle child of three boys. Such holding midfielder energy. The Atencios are to high school and college soccer in greater Seattle what the Weasleys are to Gryffindor.

You’d then think that getting traded to Colorado would feel like a million miles away. It’s anything but for Josh. An uncle went to University of Denver and still lives in the area. One of his brothers lives in Colorado Springs. Both have come to see him play in Burgundy.

“Family’s huge. Really big family but really close. It’s nice to be close to my uncle, close to my brother. They took me to Boulder last weekend. Showed me around downtown,” Atencio told Burgundy Wave. He added, “Colorado, I’ve been here a bunch to visit family. My grampa had 11 siblings. Having a relationship with Chris Little, it’s been easy to acclimate.”

Josh Atencio Revenge Tour? Not exactly.

This weekend, Colorado plays host to Seattle Sounders. This will be Atencio’s first ever game against Seattle.

“I’m really excited. I played there for 7 years. It was the same group. Those are some of my best friends on that team. I want to kick their butts.”

Josh remembers the day of the trade well. It caught him by surprise.

“I was getting adjusted to become a center back at Seattle, playing on the right side of a back three. Walk in one morning. ‘Coach wants to see you.’ GM’s in there. Something’s happening. Couldn’t be happier the way it turned out. I love it here so far. Everyone’s amazing. I feel welcomed.”

That’s not too different from the culture Chris Armas has fostered. The familiarity between Colorado and Seattle has made adjusting easy for Atencio. So too was having a familiar face in Djordje Mihailović. The two struck up a friendship during the Olympics last year. It’s just another way Atencio feels confortable and ready to thrive in a new environment.

Lucky #12 and fitting in:

Tactically, Colorado’s becoming a good fit. Atencio was a 6 and an 8 growing up. He became a proper box-to-box midfielder as he aged out of the academy. The #8 shirt meant a lot to him joining the Sounders first team. He’s now wearing #12 in Burgundy since Oli Larraz has #8.

“My mom told me it’s my lucky number. She’s been on TikTok too much. It’s your birth month then the last digit of your birth year.”

January 2002 comes out to #12.

Tactically, the style suits Josh. But they’re still figuring out the shape. He’s certainly happy to be back at d-mid instead of third center back. Armas has kept the game model from last year but the shape has varied. Atencio came into a 4-3-3 alongside Larraz and Cole Bassett. More recently, it’s been a 4-2-2-2 that becomes a 4-4-2 defensively. Atencio and others provide the shape, allowing talisman Djordje Mihailović to find the game. The concepts are the same. The adjustment has been in situational roles.

“It’s a triple pivot sometimes. Moving forward it’ll look more like a 6 and two 8s. I try to stay home and have the game in front of me. A couple times the last couple games, I got sucked too high. I want to attack things.

“It’s nice to build chemistry with the guys around us and be able to switch formations in a week and win on the weekend.”

Between Atencio, Larraz, and Bassett, everyone has taken responsibility. Whether it’s the rest defense or getting into the attack, there’s no finger pointing. Atencio had a tough moments a few weeks ago, conceding an own goal in a 3-0 loss to Portland. Larraz took responsibility for that one:

“He can’t do anything about it. He knows that. He should feel any sort of way. I feel more responsibility for letting that cross come on.”

Atencio is still working on being more vertical on the ball while not sacrificing his role as center back safety valve. He’s set a goal of five red zone (crudely Armas’ term for the final third) per game.

“I want to get on the ball more and help the team in possession. I come from a system (in Seattle) where it’s rotating the ball. Switch the point of direction. (Colorado) wants to be more vertical and aggressive. I want to get better at getting the ball to Djordje’s feet. Make the game fast.”

Atencio’s got some Jack Price in him. Covering ground. Dropping between the center backs Chido Awaziem and Andreas Maxsø to cover gaps and create a numbers advantage. When the team’s done well defensively, Atencio’s been preventing fires.

There’s still work to do. But Armas has been happy with the early returns on that $1.3 million GAM they gave up to get him.

“I’m happy with Josh. He’s a really good fit for us. Everything we knew about him, I’m getting to see and more. Things I value as a midfielder. His mentality. Character. He’s seamlessly fit into the group. isrupting plays. He covers a lot of ground. It helps us meet the demands of the way we want to play. Kudos to our club, we got a nice one.”

Josh Atencio’s not a revenge tour is tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.