Foreign Exchange: Three questions with Bayou City Soccer's Dustyn Richardson
We've got three questions answered from an expert on the Dynamo, and we've thrown in a link to the latest Emergency Podcast (which has a one-act play within).
Oh, and it's Verde All Day's birthday today!
It's a momentous day here at Verde All Day; it's the two-year anniversary of my launching this site, it's the debut of my new one-act play GAM Burrito on the latest Emergency Podcast, and it's a Copa Tejas day.
To commemorate the latter, we checked in with Dustyn Richardson at Bayou City Soccer, who was kind enough to do a quick answering of three questions. I returned the favor on that site and expect that to go up a little later today.
To the questions!
How was Leagues Cup? Three matches, three losses, but what do you think Ben Olsen learned about the team from the experience?
Results-wise, it was a disaster. Three losses, all at Shell Energy Stadium, is not how you want to perform in any competition. With that being said, after the loss to Tigres in the first match, [Dynamo head coach Ben] Olsen used the remaining two games to rotate the lineup and get guys minutes who haven't had as many this season.
Olsen has been saying for weeks that he has been trying to find out their best lineup, and importantly, their best attacking options, and by the end of the tournament, he said we were no longer going to have to hear that from him. So, does that mean they worked out the kinks in Leagues Cup and are ready to go for league play? We're about to find out.
How has the integration of new players (especially Jack McGlynn and Ondřej Lingr) been overall? Does it feel like everyone's understanding their roles, or do you think there's still more work to be done here?
McGlynn has certainly come in and figured things out quickly. At the beginning of the season, he was playing deeper in midfield, but was quickly moved into the right wing role that Coco Carrasquilla played and has thrived there. Recently, Jack has drifted a lot more centrally and even deeper some, a move Olsen says is just to get him on the ball more.
The other new pieces, like Lingr and Duane Holmes, still seem, at times, to be a round peg in a square hole. But, with what Olsen said that I referenced in the first answer, perhaps everyone's roles are much clearer now, and they are ready to start playing like it.
Currently, the Dynamo's 11th in the West on 1.13 PPG and a -9 goal differential ... do you see a realistic path for them to get to the playoffs or do you expect them to land in that "just missing the playoffs" zone?
I think there is definitely a path. They should be able to hold off Dallas and Sporting Kansas City below them, and you would like to think they are good enough to overtake San Jose and especially Colorado now.
But that's on paper. The way they've played this season has led to many more questions than answers. Their home form has been dreadful.
The saving grace for them? Their final 10 games feature matches against San Jose, St. Louis, Colorado, and SKC, all teams they will need to, and probably should, beat. At the end of the day, I think they can sneak into 9th place, but after watching this team all season, I wouldn't say there is high confidence in that.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
As the maxim goes, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Here are some of the best milestones along the way en route to Verde's second-ever playoff appearance.
Austin's looking at a playoff picture ranging from 5th through 9th. We did a lot of math to map out the possible pathways for Verde and the 10 teams still in the postseason picture.
It's a momentous day here at Verde All Day; it's the two-year anniversary of my launching this site, it's the debut of my new one-act play GAM Burrito on the latest Emergency Podcast, and it's a Copa Tejas day.
To commemorate the latter, we checked in with Dustyn Richardson at Bayou City Soccer, who was kind enough to do a quick answering of three questions. I returned the favor on that site and expect that to go up a little later today.
To the questions!
How was Leagues Cup? Three matches, three losses, but what do you think Ben Olsen learned about the team from the experience?
Results-wise, it was a disaster. Three losses, all at Shell Energy Stadium, is not how you want to perform in any competition. With that being said, after the loss to Tigres in the first match, [Dynamo head coach Ben] Olsen used the remaining two games to rotate the lineup and get guys minutes who haven't had as many this season.
Olsen has been saying for weeks that he has been trying to find out their best lineup, and importantly, their best attacking options, and by the end of the tournament, he said we were no longer going to have to hear that from him. So, does that mean they worked out the kinks in Leagues Cup and are ready to go for league play? We're about to find out.
How has the integration of new players (especially Jack McGlynn and Ondřej Lingr) been overall? Does it feel like everyone's understanding their roles, or do you think there's still more work to be done here?
McGlynn has certainly come in and figured things out quickly. At the beginning of the season, he was playing deeper in midfield, but was quickly moved into the right wing role that Coco Carrasquilla played and has thrived there. Recently, Jack has drifted a lot more centrally and even deeper some, a move Olsen says is just to get him on the ball more.
The other new pieces, like Lingr and Duane Holmes, still seem, at times, to be a round peg in a square hole. But, with what Olsen said that I referenced in the first answer, perhaps everyone's roles are much clearer now, and they are ready to start playing like it.
Currently, the Dynamo's 11th in the West on 1.13 PPG and a -9 goal differential ... do you see a realistic path for them to get to the playoffs or do you expect them to land in that "just missing the playoffs" zone?
I think there is definitely a path. They should be able to hold off Dallas and Sporting Kansas City below them, and you would like to think they are good enough to overtake San Jose and especially Colorado now.
But that's on paper. The way they've played this season has led to many more questions than answers. Their home form has been dreadful.
The saving grace for them? Their final 10 games feature matches against San Jose, St. Louis, Colorado, and SKC, all teams they will need to, and probably should, beat. At the end of the day, I think they can sneak into 9th place, but after watching this team all season, I wouldn't say there is high confidence in that.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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