"Everyone wants to win," Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez said after his team's 2-1 loss Saturday afternoon to the LA Galaxy — despite wins being hard to come by for his team in the 2026 campaign.
"Everyone wants to perform at the best level, but sometimes the opponent doesn't allow you," he added. "The tempo, the heat, the speed of the ball, circulation was very slow," noting that these factors all combined to allow the Galaxy to execute their game plan in getting an elusive road win, before pointing out that when Verde plays an early match, the grass is dry and doesn't allow the ball to move at the speed they want it to, even though some balls seemed to move just fine off the hosts' feet either overshooting runners or straight to Galaxy players.
"I think we deserved at least to tie this game," he assessed, even though the team's play wasn't quite what it was in the previous two outings — feel-good draws against two of the league's best teams, but draws all the same.
After dropping its first home match of the year, Verde is in a bad way now more than 20% through the season. Consider:
