Breakfast with Nico: An early morning interview with Austin FC's new head coach

So, technically, it wasn't a breakfast, unless you count coffee as breakfast (which I sometimes do).

But as many of you were making your morning commute to work on Tuesday (assuming it was in the 8 am hour), I was at St. David's Performance Center, checking in with new Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez over our respective cups of java as he prepares for his first season in charge of the team.

The club's comms team gave us enough of a window to ask some questions that Estévez hasn't yet answered, and Estévez was nice enough to delay his coaches' meeting until we asked everything we wanted to ask.

Here's a transcript of the conversation (lightly edited for length and grammar, though you'll be able to hear an audio edition soon on Emergency Podcast if you prefer your interviews that way).

First of all, last time we got to talk to you, you were talking about some possible formation changes ... just curious about how you think about formations generally, and with the offseason player moves that have happened, what that's doing to influence your thinking?

I know that in the past, you've gravitated toward the 4-3-3, [being from the] Berhalter school and all that. I know [previous Austin FC head coach Josh] Wolff has done that too during his time, but you talked about some other flexibilities.

The first thing is, a formation is used by the people that don't have a big understanding and knowledge about soccer, so they can understand better the team's shapes on the field. That's why usually, as coaches, we talk about different formations, because the numbers are easier to identify players, for fans, for everyone around that, how the team can shape.

My understanding is it goes more to having clear principles, clear concepts, where the formation, it's not the main thing. You can change formation, but the principles of the game, the idea, the philosophy and the concepts, are going to stay there. The formations is coming also for the profile of players that you have, and depending on the players that we decide to put into the field, some formations shape better for some players or others.

The idea about formations is we use different formations when we have the ball, shapes between 4-3-3, the 4-4-2, the 4-2-3-1, also the 3-4-3, then it could shape differently depending also on the opponent. I always said that the opponent, the context that the opponent is showing you, and is bringing to you, is the way that you have to adapt to break them.

Then, for example, if the team is more like in a 4-4-2, they have two forwards pressing. Do we need a plus one in the build-up, instead of building with two center backs, but do we need a plus one? And then three, do our players more comfortable building with two, building with three ... And then this will make us decide what type of shape we're going to do on the attacking side.

And the defensive side is very similar, because you could start in, as you mentioned before, Austin was attacking in a 4-3-3, but it was defending in a 4-4-2, and we could use that 4-4-2, we could go to a 4-3-3 we could also sag some of the wingers back and go more like a 5-2-3, that most of the teams in the world are using when they play against a team that plays a 3-4-3 ... depending on the profile of players.

It's something that when I have the opportunity to travel around the world and meet some coaches that are in top teams, they always say that we adapt depending also on the players that we have.

I think what we are doing now is we are trying different things to see how we feel more comfortable depending what the opponent is doing to us in the games. The league has grown so much that coaches and teams change shapes during the game, and we have to be able to adapt very quickly and make tweaks during the game too.

So it sounds like it's kind of a piece in teaching in terms of players understanding where they should be, what parts of the field they should occupy ...

Yes, because the concepts are going to be the same. We're going to need players that run in behind. We're going to need players that gravitate in pockets. We're going to need to draw the opponent towards us, towards one side, to switch the field. Then at the end of the day, the principles are going to be the same, but yes, the positioning of the players is what is going to change depending on how the opponent is shaping themselves, in order to break them.

I want to talk a little bit about fullbacks, just because Austin's used them in some innovative ways, fulcrums behind the final third to initiate attacks, but then also, kind of more conventionally, bombing down the wings, putting in crosses, things like that. So I'm curious about your philosophy around fullbacks and how you want to use them, and just given the group that you have, what kind of things do you think are possible with that particular position?

Fullback has become a really important position in every team around the world, because when you're looking at their profile ... they can be versatile, they can adjust and adapt to different positions [on] the field. They can play inside. They can play wide, they can arrive to put crosses, and I think we have a really good set of fullbacks that can adapt to those positions. Mikkel [Desler] is a player that arrives very well, underlapping, overlapping. [Guilherme] Biro is a player that also can overlap, but he feels comfortable at the top of the box, arriving to the box for crosses — then we have to utilize their characteristics.

Žan [Kolmanič] is a fullback that is really good in early crosses, overlapping, he has a special quality on that, be also feels comfortable, in trainings, we've seen playing a little bit more inside. He has a good range of passes, like a diagonal pass to the the other side, connecting passes. And we've been using John Gallagher as a fullback, but also as a winger. He's a type of fullback that adapt also to different kinds of positions, I think, depending on the game and the other players that we play on the wings. We'll have a really good variation of of how the fullbacks are going to play the games.

Just wanted to have you think back a little bit to last year. You had this project of acclimating Petar Musa to MLS. He had five goals by the time that you had departed. He had 11 goals afterward. So it seems like he did eventually make that transition to the league, so just kind of curious about what you did, coaching-wise, to prepare him, and what you saw in terms of his evolution, again, thinking you'll have a similar project with [Myrto] Uzuni, who's new to MLS. [Brandon] Vázquez is going to reacclimate to MLS after some time at Liga MX. So just curious about that in particular.

I think every player is a different case, and they have different circumstances. Like, I think Petar should have scored more goals while I was there, because he told me. We had a lunch after my departure ... and he was telling me he had good chances, but I think he acclimated very well.

You don't know the personal situations of the players who come to America. It's a big step, a huge difference between Europe and coming here. And for Petar, his wife was pregnant, she had a baby in May, and then he was worried about her being alone with the baby and everything. And I think it took a little bit more to acclimate, but I think he did a fantastic job dealing with all these situations. I think the club has helped him a lot to get settled. And you could see after the result, once you are free in your mind that you're focused on the task, I think you can get yourself going, and I think we'll have a similar situation here.

I think Brandon is different. He has played in the league already. He's American. His wife is American. They are already settled. It has been very quick for them to settle down. And I think, as always, we need to connect the dots here with the team and put everyone on the same page. But as soon everyone is on the same page, I think he will have an easier adaptation to what is the league.

With Uzuni, we'll see. You never know. I think, because of the mentality that he has, it could be something that he can adapt soon. But, you know, it always takes a little bit of time. And I always put examples on players that came to the league. And then at the beginning, it took a little bit, and then after, as they got into the riding of games and getting settled in the culture, they were able to perform really, really high. But we'll help everyone here to adapt quickly to the culture and to the club — hopefully, the sooner the better.

You had mentioned Musa's wife being pregnant. I mean, the sleep deprivation, I've been a dad; it's no joke. Is Uzuni in the same situation? Is his wife pregnant right now?

Yes, but she's going to stay in Barcelona with her family. Because they don't want, like, it's going to be very close to come here and they probably will stay there. They have already everything settled in Spain with her family and everything. And I think they've made a good decision with that. And when he comes, he can be focused on performing.

What's the time frame on that?

We don't know. The visa is one of the things that you never know. They could speed it up real quick and then have him in the next week, but so far, we don't know.

The club recently announced it was retaining Davy Arnaud, so you've been working with him a little bit. Obviously, he brings some institutional knowledge, but you also brought a number of other coaches to Austin FC. So I'm just curious about the mix and how the assistant coaches are working, and what they all bring individually to the table.

Davy has an amazing CV that speaks for itself, as a player in the league, and then as an assistant coach in different teams in MLS, and now here he has been four years. almost five ... He brings a lot of knowledge about the players, the club, the culture here. He's a great, great person. I knew him before, had a great relationship with Josh [Wolff], and he spoke always very highly about him. And when [sporting director] Rodo[lfo Borrell] mentioned to me that Davy would like to stay at the club, and he also values him a lot, he has a lot of things to bring to the table. I didn't hesitate to say, "Yeah, of course."

And I think he will be great and then I think he fits very well with the other stuff that we're bringing, because his knowledge of the league. The other coaches have less knowledge of the league, but have other qualities that [by] mixing everyone, it will make us work really efficiently and [in a] really detail[ed way] to improve the players and the team.

So, just looking back on the interview process, and given this relatively quick turnaround from leaving FC Dallas to coming to Austin, just wondering what most appealed to you about this position, and then in particular your conversations with Rodo, and just thinking about that relationship as that is continuing to be forged?

First of all, I accepted position in the US Men's National Team. I was assistant coach there. I signed a contract in July and started working in August, and it was previous to Gregg's departure (Note: Berhalter, who left his U.S. Men's National Team post on July 10), and I helped the federation in the upcoming camps that they had in this transition, with Mauricio Pochettino coming.

And it was after our camp here in Austin, and we played a game against Mexico in Guadalajara [on Oct. 15], and I received a call from Rodo showing interest to talk with me, to know me better. He mentioned in that call that he had three candidates that he felt very, very good about it, and then that I was one of them, even though I didn't interview yet. But I think that's how he operates, when he has a very clear – knowing him more now and working with him closely, he has a very clear idea of what he wants.

And the reason ... he gave me is he, I know the league, training in the heat, he likes the way that my teams play. He also ... he knew, he saw every press conference that I had, my relationships with everyone, details that maybe people don't look at. But he had a lot of details about me that I didn't know.

The only time that I met him, it was when we played against Austin and saod hello to him. But in the soccer world, we have a lot of people that they know him, and I know them. And probably he also asked people about me, and then after we had the interview, and I felt the interview went very well, and that we connected a lot of things — also, my knowledge about the salary cap and knowledge about players in the league, and all these things, the traveling, helped. And I think I felt that after that interview that we had, the next day of the call, it went very well.

And then three days later, Monday, he called me, and he mentioned to me that he wanted to to offer me the job. He had to present it to the ownership and the president and everything right then after that, but he felt very, very strong about bringing me.

Then, just thinking about your settling into life in Austin with Austin FC, just curious about how the transition has been for you, what you're enjoying most, about the club, about the city, what challenges you're seeing as most pressing, and what opportunities you're seeing as present for you here?

It's a fun question because usually coaches, we don't have much life outside of being here [at the office] a lot of the time, but we were lucky, my family and me, to explore different places, the South Congress area. We walked around, went to some restaurants, went to The Domain. Also, we live in a place where we had a lot of places [nearby] for hiking, and then we explored those things also. But as the good weather comes, I think we will have more time to explore more things.

And the typical things as any other people, or any other coaches that we have now, players that are coming, a lot of things to do ... the house, all the electric, arrange all these things. Make sure the the wife is happy, you know, "Happy wife, happy life, right?"

Is she?

And she's getting settled; my daughter's still in Dallas until the end of the the school year, and it's the first time, mom and daughter always have a very close relationship and sometimes they miss each other, but I think overall, it's really, really good. It takes time to feel like that your new home is your home ... but I think with the things that we're doing, and now we're putting all the pictures in the walls and all these things, it will feel better.

But so far, the city has welcomed us really good. The people around, the fans have had an amazing welcoming to us, and the club also. Anything that we need, they are always ready to help us, and I think so far, we are really, really happy about it, and we want to keep growing these relationships between everyone here, and as soon the wives of the staff members come and we can gather together, I think we'll feel like a family here.

But so far, it's really, really good. My son has adapted very well to the school here. He's playing soccer. He has adapted really well and and I think that's the most important thing, seeing them smiling. You know, my daughter is doing a lot of home task that she didn't do before, and my wife is so happy about it, and when she comes, she will be ready to do it at home. And it's part of the growth. And I think these projects and what we have is not only professional, it's about life and and we welcome always to have these opportunities.

You talked about the fans and all that ... so were you surprised with the open practice and the turnout, given the weather?

In Europe, we're used to doing open trainings ... and other opportunities that the team have, and usually the response of the fans are really, really good. And it was here in Austin, it was the first time, and you never know how they're going to respond, but I think they're responding really, really well, you know.

And I think if it's something that we continue doing, I think that it is going to be growing, and if the weather is a little bit warmer, it will be. But I was very surprised in a good way, because the response was amazing. We felt them in the training, and I think the players saw that they are behind us. That's very important.

To hear the whole interview (including the bonus question that Moisés Chiullan asked), subscribe to Emergency Podcast on Apple or Spotify, or experience it on YouTube (but, really, better to subscribe so you can get notified whenever a new one goes up).

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