In recent weeks, largely in support of the Pro Soccer Referees Association’s current labor dispute, one of the banners in the Q2 Stadium supporters’ section has declared “Austin is a Union Town.”
Rumor has it that banner’s going to be edited slightly tonight, as an actual Union — the Philadelphia soccer team — comes to Central Texas to face Austin FC. (Kickoff’s at 7:40 p.m. though I’m expecting/dreading weather delays. Bring rain gear!)
To help prepare, we reached out to Joe Tansey of Union Soccer Blog to give answers to some of the questions we had during the match. We’ll then follow up behind the paywall with some insights from Josh Wolff, Diego Rubio, and because it’s VerDos Season once again, Austin FC II’s Brett Uttley.
What's the mood around the squad going into this match? From the outside, we know it's a good team, they're perennial contenders who can't quite land a trophy, and a 6-0 loss to Pachuca was a bad way to exit CCC.
The mood in the fan base is pretty sour after the Pachuca loss because it's another loss in a knockout competition. No one will be 100 percent happy until they win something other than the Supporters' Shield. Obviously, they are still a good team, but the expectations are sky-high for the club now that it's almost trophy or bust.
I've seen some criticisms of Daniel Gazdag from a few random fans who think he's dropped off over the last couple of years from MLS elite to something less than that. Where do you see him, and how key is he still to what the Union does?
I think Gazdag's performances need to be better. I don't know if it's just a few bad games or a complete drop-off yet. He connects so well with Julian Carranza and he is asked to do some different things when Carranza's out because of how much of an impact Carranza makes. The criticism is mainly that he must do more in open play because the Union lack some buildup in the middle of the attacking third.
It appeared that Kai Wagner would be off to Europe in the offseason, but that never materialized. Unfortunately, he's also added the racist incident with Bobby Wood to a resume that was formerly primarily one of the best attacking fullbacks in MLS. Are fans happy to have him back, and what should we look for from him on Saturday?
You're not getting anything new from Wagner. He's still one of the best left backs in MLS and will provide a ton of service from the left flank. I think there are parts of the fan base who soured on him because of the incident with Bobby Wood. His return was welcomed back by a good amount of fans too. I will add that although he was expected to go to Europe, I don't believe there was much of a market out there for what he actually wanted. Returning to MLS was always his best option in terms of contending for titles and getting paid like he wanted to.
You can see my answers to Joe’s questions about Austin via this link.
