At the Whistle: Austin FC 0, NYCFC 2; Preseason means nothing
If you like watching Austin FC take shots and score goals, this was not the game for you. But it's still preseason, and key offensive players are still missing.
On a brisk Sunday afternoon before a fair smattering of season ticket holders, Austin FC continued its preseason journey with a 2-0 loss against an in-flux but nevertheless effective NYCFC.
Verde rolled out with a 3-4-2-1 lineup of:
Brad Stuver; Jon Gallagher, Brandon Hines-Ike, Jon Bell; Jayden Nelson, Nicolás Dubersarsky, Dani Pereira, Joseph Rosales; Jorge Alastuey, Robert Taylor, CJ Fodrey.
It only took CJ Fodrey a minute and two seconds get off the match's first shot, and after some unusual defensive moments involving Pereira and Hines-Ike making an NYCFC attack appear more flattering to Talles Magno than it should have, the game settled into a more sedentary pace.
In the 24th minute, NYCFC nearly engineered a goal when Talles Magno bested Bell on a one-on-one matchup, forcing Stuver into a kick save.
In the 31st minute, Verde's defense got overwhelmed, and Nicolás Fernández Mercau was able to punch through for the first goal allowed by an Austin 'keeper this preseason. Hines-Ike got a foot on the shot as it was going in, but wasn't able to redirect it.
Then, in the 45th minute, NYCFC got a second goal when the ball got shuttled to an unmarked Agustín Ojeda cheating up the left flank, who slotted his shot past Stuver.
Coming out of the locker room, head coach Nico Estévez made the following changes:
Taylor, Bell, Pereira, and Dubersarsky exited;
Žan Kolmanič, Guilherme Biro, Ilie Sánchez, and Besard Šabović came in.
At the hour mark, Estévez made other changes:
Stuver, Alastuey, and Gallgher came out;
Damian Las, Ervin Torres, and Riley Thomas entered.
Then, Šabović went down in the 62nd minute, and was eventually able to leave the field under his own power.
The Verde offense picked up a little bit of traction after that, engineering some chances and even a couple of shot attempts.
As you might have surmised, none of those changes sparked the offense significantly (though Badiwiya did manage a shot on target), and Facundo Torres or Myrto Uzuni did not materialize as late-match substitute surprises, leaving us with the scoreline we had at halftime.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Šabović had a header several minutes after his return from injury that was off target but about as threatening as we saw Verde look in his game.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Maybe it was early-match jitters, but the Hines-Ike would-be clearance that went directly to an NYCFC attacker was not so reassuring. (And perhaps an omen of what was to come.)
One thing you might have missed
Alastuey had possession in the 20th minute, trying to step away from a Pigeons defender, and then ran into a double team ... with the referee functioning as that other defender.
One nerdy tidbit
Preseason is a statistical desert, but here's how Nicolás Fernández Mercau compared to Owen Wolff last year. (Owen's in green.)
Oh, also, Verde only managed two shots in the first hour.
Where this fits into the preseason's narrative
After a scoreless draw and a 1-0 win against USL Championship competition, Verde remained in a fairly low gear with key attackers out, while at times looking defensively suspect.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Even with key attackers out, I'm wondering what this game did to inform (or not inform) the evolution of the offense.
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.
Is Jorge Alastuey first-team material? Is Joseph Rosales a winger? Is Facundo Torres a 10? These are three questions that Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez seeks to answer in the next 20 days.
Facundo Torres says he's joined a good team he wants to make better and will play whenever his coach tells him to. Yes, that ticks a lot of Boy Scout boxes.
2024's co-leader in goals had a much less productive 2025. But rather than move him to a new team, Austin FC had to use a roster mechanism allowing the club to release him.
On a brisk Sunday afternoon before a fair smattering of season ticket holders, Austin FC continued its preseason journey with a 2-0 loss against an in-flux but nevertheless effective NYCFC.
Verde rolled out with a 3-4-2-1 lineup of:
Brad Stuver; Jon Gallagher, Brandon Hines-Ike, Jon Bell; Jayden Nelson, Nicolás Dubersarsky, Dani Pereira, Joseph Rosales; Jorge Alastuey, Robert Taylor, CJ Fodrey.
It only took CJ Fodrey a minute and two seconds get off the match's first shot, and after some unusual defensive moments involving Pereira and Hines-Ike making an NYCFC attack appear more flattering to Talles Magno than it should have, the game settled into a more sedentary pace.
In the 24th minute, NYCFC nearly engineered a goal when Talles Magno bested Bell on a one-on-one matchup, forcing Stuver into a kick save.
In the 31st minute, Verde's defense got overwhelmed, and Nicolás Fernández Mercau was able to punch through for the first goal allowed by an Austin 'keeper this preseason. Hines-Ike got a foot on the shot as it was going in, but wasn't able to redirect it.
Then, in the 45th minute, NYCFC got a second goal when the ball got shuttled to an unmarked Agustín Ojeda cheating up the left flank, who slotted his shot past Stuver.
Coming out of the locker room, head coach Nico Estévez made the following changes:
At the hour mark, Estévez made other changes:
Then, Šabović went down in the 62nd minute, and was eventually able to leave the field under his own power.
The Verde offense picked up a little bit of traction after that, engineering some chances and even a couple of shot attempts.
Then, in the 75th minute, more changes:
As you might have surmised, none of those changes sparked the offense significantly (though Badiwiya did manage a shot on target), and Facundo Torres or Myrto Uzuni did not materialize as late-match substitute surprises, leaving us with the scoreline we had at halftime.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Šabović had a header several minutes after his return from injury that was off target but about as threatening as we saw Verde look in his game.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Maybe it was early-match jitters, but the Hines-Ike would-be clearance that went directly to an NYCFC attacker was not so reassuring. (And perhaps an omen of what was to come.)
One thing you might have missed
Alastuey had possession in the 20th minute, trying to step away from a Pigeons defender, and then ran into a double team ... with the referee functioning as that other defender.
One nerdy tidbit
Preseason is a statistical desert, but here's how Nicolás Fernández Mercau compared to Owen Wolff last year. (Owen's in green.)
Oh, also, Verde only managed two shots in the first hour.
Where this fits into the preseason's narrative
After a scoreless draw and a 1-0 win against USL Championship competition, Verde remained in a fairly low gear with key attackers out, while at times looking defensively suspect.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Even with key attackers out, I'm wondering what this game did to inform (or not inform) the evolution of the offense.
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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