Foreign Exchange: Three questions with Bayou City Soccer's Dustyn Richardson
In April, Verde beat Houston in Q2 Stadium for one of its best wins of the season so far. On Saturday, they'll aim to do it again in H-Town; we turned to Bayou City Soccer for a preview.
The return of the MLS season brings the return of Copa Tejas with it.
On Saturday night, Austin FC travels to Houston to face Houston Dynamo FC (on something called H-Town Night, where "fans can look forward to an exclusive Trae the Truth collaboration shirt in the Team Store and delicious Houston cuisine offerings") for its second Copa Tejas match of the year.
Back in April, Verde beat Houston 2-0 in Austin with goals from Jayden Nelson and Myrto Uzuni to bring their all-time record against the Dynamo to 9W 5L 1D.
To help prep you, we checked in with Dustyn Richardson over at Bayou City Soccer, who answered questions for us. We returned the favor; that's up now if you're interested in the intel we're providing our rivals. Sadly, this is the last match the Dynamo will play before their new back-of-the-jersey sponsors become the talk of the league. The resulting mirth for Verde fans will thus be deferred to next year, though we got in our guffaws on Tuesday.
To the questions!
What is the general mood around the Dynamo this season? From the outside, it seems like it's a team that's likely going to make the playoffs but isn't quite yet built to get into the conference final let alone win an MLS Cup. How does that lineup with how fans regard them?
I think there is a lot of hesitation around the fan base for what you mentioned. They're a pretty good team, but are they good enough to win trophies? The answer to that, at least right now, seems to be no. A lot of fans would love to see the club move Ezequiel Ponce, if possible, and free up a designated player spot, but we'll see if that happens. For now, I think the overarching mood around the team is cautiously optimistic with a little bit of hesitation.
The front office recently added Duncan McGuire — what will that do to change the team (and does this mean Ezequiel Ponce is on his way out)?
If there is a way to move Ponce, I think they will do everything to get that done. He has no league goals this season and on a DP salary, it will be tough to find a suitor to take him. It's a bit like the Sebastian Ferreira situation all over again.
McGuire is a similar profile to Ponce in that he's a physical striker but Ben Olsen and the coaching staff really like his ability to run in behind defenses and stretch the lines. If he's able to do that and regain the scoring acumen he had early on in Orlando he should open things up for Guilherme and Jack McGlynn and make the Houston offense much more dynamic.
The Dynamo started its 2026 Copa Tejas campaign with two losses ... is Copa Tejas even a focus for the team this year given that slow start, or is there belief they can get a win on Saturday to get back into the race? (They'd need to win Saturday, and hope Dallas and Austin take points from each other, even if that's just drawing once, to set up an Oct. 17 match hosting FCD to decide it.)
I think publicly they would say it's something they want to win, but deep down they probably know that ship has sailed, and honestly, they have bigger fish to fry. Beating Austin is something they will want to do for the rivalry and for the fans , but they desperately need a win after the midweek draw against D.C.
Olsen and the front office has talked about being a top four team in the West this season and they need to win games like this, derby or not, if they still want to accomplish that goal.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Austin FC is now 1-6-1 in its last eight matches, despite encouraging performances in Leagues Cup matches. Is Davy Arnaud relying too much on certain players ... and not enough on Jayden Nelson?
Austin FC emerged from Leagues Cup play facing its FC Dallas rivals, and got a magical moment from Ervin Torres. But it wasn't enough to stave off another loss, adding to an onoging bad stretch of league play.
With Austin FC's Leagues Cup journey on pause, we look at the next four regular-season matches, starting tonight with a Copa Tejas match Verde hosts against FC Dallas.
Austin FC gets back into league play on Sunday night hosting FC Dallas at home. That gives us an excuse to check in with one of our favorites, Big D Soccer's Drew Epperley.
The return of the MLS season brings the return of Copa Tejas with it.
On Saturday night, Austin FC travels to Houston to face Houston Dynamo FC (on something called H-Town Night, where "fans can look forward to an exclusive Trae the Truth collaboration shirt in the Team Store and delicious Houston cuisine offerings") for its second Copa Tejas match of the year.
Back in April, Verde beat Houston 2-0 in Austin with goals from Jayden Nelson and Myrto Uzuni to bring their all-time record against the Dynamo to 9W 5L 1D.
To help prep you, we checked in with Dustyn Richardson over at Bayou City Soccer, who answered questions for us. We returned the favor; that's up now if you're interested in the intel we're providing our rivals. Sadly, this is the last match the Dynamo will play before their new back-of-the-jersey sponsors become the talk of the league. The resulting mirth for Verde fans will thus be deferred to next year, though we got in our guffaws on Tuesday.
To the questions!
What is the general mood around the Dynamo this season? From the outside, it seems like it's a team that's likely going to make the playoffs but isn't quite yet built to get into the conference final let alone win an MLS Cup. How does that lineup with how fans regard them?
I think there is a lot of hesitation around the fan base for what you mentioned. They're a pretty good team, but are they good enough to win trophies? The answer to that, at least right now, seems to be no. A lot of fans would love to see the club move Ezequiel Ponce, if possible, and free up a designated player spot, but we'll see if that happens. For now, I think the overarching mood around the team is cautiously optimistic with a little bit of hesitation.
The front office recently added Duncan McGuire — what will that do to change the team (and does this mean Ezequiel Ponce is on his way out)?
If there is a way to move Ponce, I think they will do everything to get that done. He has no league goals this season and on a DP salary, it will be tough to find a suitor to take him. It's a bit like the Sebastian Ferreira situation all over again.
McGuire is a similar profile to Ponce in that he's a physical striker but Ben Olsen and the coaching staff really like his ability to run in behind defenses and stretch the lines. If he's able to do that and regain the scoring acumen he had early on in Orlando he should open things up for Guilherme and Jack McGlynn and make the Houston offense much more dynamic.
The Dynamo started its 2026 Copa Tejas campaign with two losses ... is Copa Tejas even a focus for the team this year given that slow start, or is there belief they can get a win on Saturday to get back into the race? (They'd need to win Saturday, and hope Dallas and Austin take points from each other, even if that's just drawing once, to set up an Oct. 17 match hosting FCD to decide it.)
I think publicly they would say it's something they want to win, but deep down they probably know that ship has sailed, and honestly, they have bigger fish to fry. Beating Austin is something they will want to do for the rivalry and for the fans , but they desperately need a win after the midweek draw against D.C.
Olsen and the front office has talked about being a top four team in the West this season and they need to win games like this, derby or not, if they still want to accomplish that goal.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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