You might have noticed that the field at BMO Stadium was not in pristine shape for Wednesday’s Leagues Cup match, in which Austin FC fell 2-0 to LAFC. Don’t worry: Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff noticed it as well.
Initially, Wolff’s assessment of the possession-heavy style his team returned to last night — following two pragmatic, defense-minded efforts against Liga MX teams that earned the squad group stage wins — was positive.
“We have like 10 shots inside the penalty box, 21 shots overall, a handful, plus on goal, corners, possession, all these things that put you in a decent spot,” Wolff said. “They’re metrics. But ultimately, you have to make plays inside the penalty box. And whether that's a clean look or the opportunity to find someone else with a cleaner look, you know, end of the day, it's finishing.”
But then, in assessing Denis Bouanga’s opening goal for LAFC a little more than 10 minutes into the match, sprung from a Hugo Lloris goal kick evading everyone in a Dillo kit, Wolff said, “I think they’re very opportunistic on their first goal. Obviously, it's the ground, you know that the stadium’s fields [is] in shambles. The ball [gets] a funky bounce. And, you know, obviously, Bouanga does quite well with it. But it's frustrating in many ways.” (There’s that word again, for those of you who remember it from the various doldrums that have punctuated the 2024 season.)
