Let’s just say that Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff was more unbothered by the heart-in-throat moments to transition from the end of the 90 to stoppage time, in what eventually finished a 1-1 draw against San Jose on Saturday night, than you might have been.
On paper, it was a Jeremy Ebobisse miss, followed by high xG shots by Cristian Espinoza and Hernán López that found the woodwork, and then a Niko Tsakiris shot that went wide. In the stadium and on the screen, though, it was an undistilled moment of Quakes-branded chaos, exemplifying what they can bring to any given game.
“I was grabbing my water and sit down in the chair, relaxing,” quipped Wolff. “Watching the game, trying to enjoy it.”
He then shifted into a bit of freeform analysis, noting, “Yeah, no, we didn't do ourselves any favors. We had the ball the last five, six minutes because … if we just wanted to keep them longer in the corner, just to have attacks, we could have also done that, but the guys wanted to score a goal, and that we also appreciate.”
Commenting on multiple players going forward, on the Žan Kolmanič attempt that immediately preceded the flurry from the Quakes, he added, “They were going up, but we got to be mindful, and lo and behold, they would transition and then all of a sudden, you need that control out on the field. You need this. You know they wanted to go for the win, and I do give [the Quakes] a lot of credit for that.
“They saw opportunities, but in doing that, we create … I've mentioned it before, that's not a space that's going to be healthy for us in the long term. We've gotten much better in our attacking transition from mid-blocks, but we don't want to open that game up. San Jose’s a good team. They're much better than where they are in the standings. They're gonna climb the table; I have zero doubt about that.”
