The Thursday Three: Turning to Ted Lasso in these trying times

Yes, Austin FC did get a goal on Wednesday night. But it took more than 92 minutes to do it, it was just a single goal via a right-place, right-time Diego Rubio, and it resulted in a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake, in what was arguably the most winnable match of the month — extending both a seven-match winless streak and four straight draws in league play.

So, naturally, I started Wednesday night's press conference asking about the continued lack of scoring and possible innovations to jump-start an offense which has only produced more than a single goal in one of 16 league matches so far this season. I didn't expect to be transported by Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez to Season 1, Episode 6 of Ted Lasso, but, sure, let's hear the man out.

Maybe rituals will help

"We had 2.4 expected goals today," said Estévez, drawing from a different model from what we saw that gave his team a scooch more than 2 xG on 12 shots. "I don't know we might have to do ... I don't know if you've watched Ted Lasso [[1]]; we might have to do some kind of thing like that, to take that bad luck that we're having around."

(To refresh you, new arrival Dani Rojas encountered what players believed to be a cursed training room, and to break the curse, Coach Lasso had each player bring an item of great personal significance, which they would then collectively burn in an on-field bonfire to break the curse.)

"But I think when you have 2.4 expected goals, and you have some of the chances just right there, right in the six-yard box, and you don't capitalize ... that's difficult for me," he continued. "We didn't play well for me ... I wasn't happy, because I didn't feel that we had control until the end of the game. We had some control, but not consistently during the game, and we switched some shapes to have the control, and then we got it, and then we lost it, and then we changed things."

He went on to say that thanks to changing some players (with late subs), they "won the game, the battle," perhaps saying that in not losing that match, that was in effect a win. "You could see like the players start feeling the fatigue of the month ... but at least we got a point, and now we have to go to San Diego and try to beat them again."

Here's a look at xG and where the shots came from per MLS Analytics.

Managing Myrto

16 touches, no shots, and despite eight of 11 completed passes, no chances created. For a player who pledged to score goals and break records upon his arrival to Austin, Myrto Uzuni is in the midst of a very concerning first chapter to his MLS story. He's one of seven Verde players with just one goal on the season — fellow designated player Brandon Vázquez, with four league goals to his credit in 2025, is the only player on the team that currently has more than one.

"It was difficult because they had a very tight back line with the midfield line," said Estévez on how RSL made life difficult for Uzuni. "It wasn't too much space. We create a lot from wide areas, more on the right side, with [Osman] Bukari, with Owen [Wolff] and with [Jon] Gallagher, and those crosses couldn't arrive to where he was.

"I think even in the chance that Brandon hit the crossbar, Uzuni was right there, even if Brandon doesn't arrive there, he was there to score the goal," he continued, referring to the 22nd-minute Vázquez header, engineered by Bukari, that was just inches from being a 2025 highlight reel moment.

Here's a look at the passing map. Uzuni is LW, and Bukari (with a much higher average position on the field) is RW. Again, in a match that screamed out for incisive wide play, Uzuni's average position is quite central and quite close to Vázquez.

Estévez went on to ascertain that Uzuni did have some good moments in link-up play, but that again, the RSL defense complicated his night. But good MLS attackers are supposed to be able to break down generally lesser MLS defenders (given how many MLS rosters are built). We saw Bukari do that repeatedly on Wednesday night. Uzuni and Estévez figuring that out could be a key difference maker between playoffs and no playoffs.

'Let us know how we did'

Ilie Sánchez was initially reluctant to talk to media because, in his assessment, he "didn't have a good game" and given that, "it didn't make much sense" to opine about the match.

He did, however, stay with media members long enough to entertain Moisés Chiullán's extrapolation of Estévez thinking about some sort of luck-bringing ritual, wondering how fans could play a part in lifting the invisible force field that seems to be manifesting in front of goal match after match. (He was also the last player before media in the locker room, speaking to his continued awesomeness as a captain and a human being.)

"Please don't take my words literally, but the fans also need to express — and I think they're already doing well — how they feel about the performances, how they feel about us not scoring, how they feel about the good performances we had. So when we feel the difference between when they are happy or when they are not happy .. stick with the team for 90-plus minutes after the game, [then] let us know how we did ... And I'm not saying they have to complain, they have to boo ... they just have to come here and feel that they are part of the result that we are having game after game."

Acknowledging that a big contingent of fans will be making the trip to San Diego this weekend — a match that he and Besard Šabović will miss, getting the magic yellow cards on Wednesday night resulting in the accumulation suspension [[2]] — he said he'd welcome their presence while owning the responsibility the players have to honor that support.

"It also gives us the extra motivation that once we step on the field," he said of the fans making the trip. "We know that we have that support, and we know that people spend their money, their time, their energy, to come support the team, but also to be part of that performance," he said. "Again, that won't help the team more than the training that we have tomorrow, the training that we have on Friday, and how we prepare for that Saturday game."

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[[1]]: Of course I have

[[2]]: Ilie's yellow card led to the free kick upon which RSL scored, and Šabović got with his deep into stoppage time. Not great!