When you've got a Wednesday night match that starts at 8 pm and has a delightful Unified game after the press conference concludes — also ending in a 1-1 draw between the Austin and Atlanta teams, though with a lot more joy involved — you still have to get kids out the door to school on Thursday morning at the regular time.
Hence, I'm doing something a little streamlined for this one — three quotes giving a sense of how head coach Nico Estévez, and in this case, fullback Jon Gallagher, are assessing what turned out to be a disappointing draw, given that Jamal Thiaré scored a stoppage-time equalizer thwarting what looked like it would be a return to gutsy, defense-dependent 1-0 wins. Despite Verde keeping Atlanta from getting off a shot for a 47-minute span of the match, they also only scored one set piece goal and couldn't secure the insurance goal that would have made Thiaré's goal moot.
On the decision not to make subs until nearly 80 minutes in the match
"I think we built that momentum after the first goal that it was very difficult for me to change anything because we were very close to scoring a second goal," Estévez said. "I didn't want to touch anything, because we were all over them. I mean, it was unbelievable. And then we just have to learn that we have to score goals when we build momentum and this is the takeaway today. What I told the players, there is a moment that we have to knock out the opponent. And we have to have the killer mentality to do it."
Then, after an allusion to Thiaré's goal not being called offside[[1]] being akin to "the lottery," on a play where he felt the scorer was "ahead of the ball all the time and the entire play," he had general platitudes for his team.
"But other than that, I'm very proud of the effort of the players. It was a very difficult game, with the heat after playing and coming from Cincinnati, against a really good team with really good players, even though they [aren't having] a good moment. And I think if we check our last two performances, comparing [the losses to] Minnesota and Houston, we are [taking] steps forward to become the team that we want to be."
On playing Bukari on the left and Uzuni on the right
If Estévez really is invested in playing his "ideal 11" as much as possible in May — and it appears his players were exhausted by the heat toward the end (more on that in a bit) — theoretically it should involve Osman Bukari at right wing (where ocular evidence tells us he's best) and then Myrto Uzuni at left wing (and that's debatable, but clearly Brandon Vázquez is the first-choice center forward, so if you have to play Uzuni on the front line and 4-3-3 is the best formation, that's where he goes).
But Bukari started at left wing with Uzuni on the right, and though having them swap throughout the match would be a tactical option, that didn't really happen save for one corner kick. Estévez had an explanation.
"We wanted to create an overload on the right side and have someone that stretched the line, like Myrto. You could see in the second half a couple of times, he did a really good job on that. And we had Bukari more isolated for one-on-one situation, for crosses ... at the beginning of the game, it took us a while to find Buka and to try to connect with him, but throughout the game, as the game went on, we were able to have more opportunities to find him."
On letting in the goal
A spent and gracious Jon Gallagher answered a lot of media questions post-match, with many of his teammates getting to the sideline as soon as possible to take in the Unified match.
"We look back at those last two minutes, especially the goal, and there's a recognition that we have the win in our hands, and we just need to be a little bit more cohesive," Gallagher assessed. "Maybe the guys from the back have got to tell the guys in front to get more compact and deny space in between the lines, which we didn't do. I think the ball gets played into them centrally from a long ball, and they pick it up and go behind us with some nice play, but ultimately, it could have been stopped."
Answering my question about whether anything's changed between the first seven league matches (three goals allowed) and the most recent six (13 goals allowed), he said, "The system is still the same and the defensive principle is still the same. Maybe we've just been a bit lackluster in certain moments, which obviously happens in Cincy with a quality player in Evander and some quality play on us tonight, too."
But he also pointed out, "Honestly, I'm a little dizzy right now, just because I'm so dehydrated and put in a big shift Saturday, a big shift last Wednesday, and a big shift on the Saturday before then. So I'm feeling it, but that's my game and I try to do it for 90 minutes, go home, and get some sleep."
Where are things now?
At this point in May, I figured Verde would be 1-1-1 en route to a 2-3-2 month in league play; instead, they're 0-2-1 with arguably their two toughest league matches of the month on the horizon. Vancouver, coming to Austin on Saturday, and Minnesota, where Austin travels next Sunday with a Round of 16 Open Cup match hosting Houston in between those two weekend tilts, have a combined 14-4-7 record, and though they'll then return to face an RSL team currently 11th in the conference, they close out May traveling to 2nd-place San Diego.
In their past seven matches, they've beaten a Galaxy team that has failed to win in 13 tries this season, drew a pair of home matches, and lost four. That's a concerning stretch after starting with four wins in their first six matches, and though they still sit 8th in the conference, they could conceivably be below the playoff line by the time they return from Minnesota.
While the schedule gets a little more sane and manageable in summer, and summer is likely to bring new players to round out the roster, it's important to bank points at this stage of the season as well as in the early stages of the season. Clearly, that's not happening at present, if five points out of the last 21 is any indication.
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.
[[1]] We attempted to ask PRO about the offside call, but there was a systemic issue I'm still trying to sort behind the scenes, and the referee ended up not fielding the question, leaving me (and you) in the dark.
When you've got a Wednesday night match that starts at 8 pm and has a delightful Unified game after the press conference concludes — also ending in a 1-1 draw between the Austin and Atlanta teams, though with a lot more joy involved — you still have to get kids out the door to school on Thursday morning at the regular time.
Hence, I'm doing something a little streamlined for this one — three quotes giving a sense of how head coach Nico Estévez, and in this case, fullback Jon Gallagher, are assessing what turned out to be a disappointing draw, given that Jamal Thiaré scored a stoppage-time equalizer thwarting what looked like it would be a return to gutsy, defense-dependent 1-0 wins. Despite Verde keeping Atlanta from getting off a shot for a 47-minute span of the match, they also only scored one set piece goal and couldn't secure the insurance goal that would have made Thiaré's goal moot.
On the decision not to make subs until nearly 80 minutes in the match
"I think we built that momentum after the first goal that it was very difficult for me to change anything because we were very close to scoring a second goal," Estévez said. "I didn't want to touch anything, because we were all over them. I mean, it was unbelievable. And then we just have to learn that we have to score goals when we build momentum and this is the takeaway today. What I told the players, there is a moment that we have to knock out the opponent. And we have to have the killer mentality to do it."
Then, after an allusion to Thiaré's goal not being called offside[[1]] being akin to "the lottery," on a play where he felt the scorer was "ahead of the ball all the time and the entire play," he had general platitudes for his team.
"But other than that, I'm very proud of the effort of the players. It was a very difficult game, with the heat after playing and coming from Cincinnati, against a really good team with really good players, even though they [aren't having] a good moment. And I think if we check our last two performances, comparing [the losses to] Minnesota and Houston, we are [taking] steps forward to become the team that we want to be."
On playing Bukari on the left and Uzuni on the right
If Estévez really is invested in playing his "ideal 11" as much as possible in May — and it appears his players were exhausted by the heat toward the end (more on that in a bit) — theoretically it should involve Osman Bukari at right wing (where ocular evidence tells us he's best) and then Myrto Uzuni at left wing (and that's debatable, but clearly Brandon Vázquez is the first-choice center forward, so if you have to play Uzuni on the front line and 4-3-3 is the best formation, that's where he goes).
But Bukari started at left wing with Uzuni on the right, and though having them swap throughout the match would be a tactical option, that didn't really happen save for one corner kick. Estévez had an explanation.
"We wanted to create an overload on the right side and have someone that stretched the line, like Myrto. You could see in the second half a couple of times, he did a really good job on that. And we had Bukari more isolated for one-on-one situation, for crosses ... at the beginning of the game, it took us a while to find Buka and to try to connect with him, but throughout the game, as the game went on, we were able to have more opportunities to find him."
On letting in the goal
A spent and gracious Jon Gallagher answered a lot of media questions post-match, with many of his teammates getting to the sideline as soon as possible to take in the Unified match.
"We look back at those last two minutes, especially the goal, and there's a recognition that we have the win in our hands, and we just need to be a little bit more cohesive," Gallagher assessed. "Maybe the guys from the back have got to tell the guys in front to get more compact and deny space in between the lines, which we didn't do. I think the ball gets played into them centrally from a long ball, and they pick it up and go behind us with some nice play, but ultimately, it could have been stopped."
Answering my question about whether anything's changed between the first seven league matches (three goals allowed) and the most recent six (13 goals allowed), he said, "The system is still the same and the defensive principle is still the same. Maybe we've just been a bit lackluster in certain moments, which obviously happens in Cincy with a quality player in Evander and some quality play on us tonight, too."
But he also pointed out, "Honestly, I'm a little dizzy right now, just because I'm so dehydrated and put in a big shift Saturday, a big shift last Wednesday, and a big shift on the Saturday before then. So I'm feeling it, but that's my game and I try to do it for 90 minutes, go home, and get some sleep."
Where are things now?
At this point in May, I figured Verde would be 1-1-1 en route to a 2-3-2 month in league play; instead, they're 0-2-1 with arguably their two toughest league matches of the month on the horizon. Vancouver, coming to Austin on Saturday, and Minnesota, where Austin travels next Sunday with a Round of 16 Open Cup match hosting Houston in between those two weekend tilts, have a combined 14-4-7 record, and though they'll then return to face an RSL team currently 11th in the conference, they close out May traveling to 2nd-place San Diego.
In their past seven matches, they've beaten a Galaxy team that has failed to win in 13 tries this season, drew a pair of home matches, and lost four. That's a concerning stretch after starting with four wins in their first six matches, and though they still sit 8th in the conference, they could conceivably be below the playoff line by the time they return from Minnesota.
While the schedule gets a little more sane and manageable in summer, and summer is likely to bring new players to round out the roster, it's important to bank points at this stage of the season as well as in the early stages of the season. Clearly, that's not happening at present, if five points out of the last 21 is any indication.
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.
[[1]] We attempted to ask PRO about the offside call, but there was a systemic issue I'm still trying to sort behind the scenes, and the referee ended up not fielding the question, leaving me (and you) in the dark.
Read Next
At the Whistle: Austin FC 1, Atlanta United 1
It's now four goals in three matches for Austin's most prolific striker, but this was a match in which the hosts needed more than one goal.
Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the inestimable J. Sam Jones from Five Stripe Final
Atlanta United and Austin FC have quite a bit in common this season, and that's distressing. We lend an ear to J. Sam Jones, who shares some intel on the team coming to Q2 Wednesday night.
Four losses, 12 goals: We analyze film on each one, as we've done before, painfully, to figure out the whys and hows
Verde's opponents have scored 12 matches in their last four league losses. We revisited all those goals in an effort to learn more about why they happened.
Marked is in the eye of the beholder: Assessing a baffling assessment about the latest defeat
What does a literary device used by Edgar Allan Poe have to do with Saturday night's match? We go nerdy so as not to go scorched earth.