A whole lot can happen over the course of seven weeks, which is precisely how far from Decision Day we are as of this writing. Phil and I pushed back recording Emergency Podcast from our usual Friday to see how recording the day after the week’s match goes. It was nice to free up the last chunk of my day. I ran some errands and got some things done in advance of a very busy weekend.
Here’s the problem: It gave me free time to think and speculate while in the headspace of wondering just what the next seven weeks will be like, with a gravity well attached to the orbit of Austin FC. I got to wondering about how the intertwining threads of the MLS Multiverse could twist into a compelling, interesting, and somewhat plausible end to the 2024 season.
Don’t you dare call this fan fiction! It’s informed speculative punditry. Or something.
Ok, I’ll level with you: I wanted to posit something fun that the Aug. 31 matchday results will almost certainly relegate to being worthy of scorn and ridicule. Being right on the Pumas and Monterrey match results went to my head, I guess. I figured I could do this in the name of fun, OK?
Aside from winning every match (or as many as possible), speculating on what helps Verde becomes a tangled mess of causality and chaos. Most wins and draws by other teams in the West have a direct causal effect on yet another team fighting for the range of points and places in the West standings, because of how tight the standings are in the middle of the pack. So what do we know for certain helps Austin FC get where it wants to go?
“Not much” and simultaneously “it depends” from this vantage point in space-time.
Let’s take, as a given, that “make the playoffs” does not mean finishing 8th or 9th, the play-in positions that have to duel for the final spot. Anything above eighth counts. Higher would be nicer, but let’s not get too happy-go-lucky.
Aside from “win every game,” what helps Austin get above The Hated Eighth Place? Here are a few general themes you’ll see that form the foundation of our jaunt through a possible future.
