One week to go: Looking at the state of Austin FC following the last preseason warmup match

Austin FC beat Nashville SC 2-1 at Q2 Stadium on Saturday in its final preseason match of 2025 at Q2

Despite the stadium keeping its doors closed to fans as well as media, I got a brief glimpse at Austin FC through Verde Store windows in the five-minute window I had while near the stadium. Two impressions from those few moments:

• The new Heartbeat Kit looks really good on players in motion in the stadium; and
• They've clearly been working on quick crisp passing and getting the ball expediently upfield (though it looks like the team still does tend to cycle the ball through the back, but this is more a horseshoe of friskiness than a horseshoe of sadness).

In the Friday press conference heading into Saturday's match, Austin FC head coach fielded questions about some of the new players who haven't yet seen time on the field.

Asked about Besard Šabović and Nicolás Dubersarsky, Estévez hinted that they'd get time on Saturday, and sure enough, each of them got a 45-minute runout, with Dubersarsky starting and Šabović subbing on for him at halftime.

"We've mixed a lot of the team," Estévez said of preseason. "I think every player has played with every player. We've mixed partnerships in center back positions, in midfield positions, in forward positions, on the wings, [with] fullbacks ... and I think everyone has [gotten] good game time, even the young players, in case we need them during the season.

"I think everyone has fit really well, and now it's about thinking more what the team is going to look like for the first games in the season," he added, "I'm finishing preparation of the preseason and putting the team what it's going to look for for the season, even though you know that players have arrived late, some of the players are still arriving, and will arrive in the next couple days. But I think everyone had the opportunity to get experience and as we learn a lot about the players, now it's about how we can improve them."

Will Uzuni play soon?

Myrto Uzuni is one of those late-arriving players, and as I learned at Thursday night's kit release party — it's fun to break news! – he was en route from Europe to Austin (sending an Insta pic from a plane) on Saturday as sporting director Rodolfo Borrell promised.

Obviously, with just a week to become immersed into the Verde ways, it's unlikely Uzuni will see any match action in the opener, but Estévez left the door open a crack to limited minutes.

"First he has to go through the physicals and medicals," he said. "This will give us a lot of information. We'll do specific physicals here and see how he does, and then, through the week, we'll see if he is responding well to the load, if he's feeling good, if he doesn't have soreness, and it is not a risk of injury ... everything can be open, but we have to be cautious.

"We don't want him coming and then missing four or five weeks because we didn't take care of him," he added. "Until we see him on the field, it's difficult to predict. I'm pretty sure his mentality, his energy is that he wants to play right away, but we have to evaluate the right things in order to put him in a safe spot, to help the team, and also to not hurt him."

Seeing double

Estévez also gave a Spanish-language answer regarding how Osman Bukari — who scored both Verde goals on Saturday — will be utilized; here's how the machines translated what he said (with human backup):

"When facing a double team, what solutions are we considering for those situations in the actual season, helping us look for ways to break the double coverage?" he began. "We need to create movements that allow us to put players in one-on-one situations. If they are marking two players, it means one of our guys is free, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It gives the marked player the opportunity to pass to the open teammate, potentially leading to goals, as it’s happened before.

"Teams will always try to defend against Bukari with two players, and knowing this, we can exploit this situation," he added, "We need to do two key things: take advantage of the extra man left free and group players together, like he has done many times, not just two but three opponents, which could help us create a goal-scoring chance that another teammate can capitalize on.

"Then we need to create situations where we move the ball to one side to shift the opposing team, prompting them to make an aggressive shift. From there, we can quickly circulate the ball, leaving Bukari in a one-on-one situation, just as we did in the St. Louis game where we executed a great steal, setting up a one-on-one opportunity where he was able to make an impact."

Bukari did come off almost immediately after scoring the second goal in the 69th minute – he also scored in minute 12, assisted by Brandon Vázquez — with what might have been hamstring tightness. (Or, at least, that's what a contingent of fans who got to see most of the second half on a pirate stream reported.)

So, we don't need a 10, right?

Estévez also gave some insights, in both Spanish and English, about how multiple players will step in to do the distribution work that a heliocentric No. 10 shoulders — like Luciano Acosta, who just arrived at FC Dallas to make Copa Tejas more interesting — or a pure pass-first No. 8, like new Dynamo catalyst Jack McGlynn.

"The idea is that this is a league with a lot of transitions," Estévez said. "We prefer our fullbacks to be offensive and have that attacking mindset. However, in quick situations, if they're positioned closer to where the ball is lost, they can react faster, right? So, we need to find the right balance between being aggressive and ensuring that the defense is solid."

As for midfielders? While it's still early to gauge the newer players, Estévez did get to see a lot of Dani Pereira and Owen Wolff over the preseason. Though they both best might be best as central midfielders, Estévez lauded their versatility.

"They're very dynamic," he observed. "They also can play the 6, can play at the 10. This is what we're looking for, a very dynamic type of midfield that is difficult to defend. Also, they are hard workers in defense and help us to win the ball. And you will see we have a lot of options there, and it could be with some of the profile that we have with Pereira, he could defend wide but then attack in central positions.

"The important thing is that we have multiple options," he added, "And then we hope us as a staff can make the right decisions every game and can help the team to win the games."

By the fifth match, the matinee at Q2 against San Diego FC on March 23, I'd expect the full complement of players, including Uzuni, to be able to go a full 90 and for the coaching staff to play chess accordingly.

For now, it's a work in progress ... but fortunately for Austin, every MLS team will be a work in progress. (We'll do season previews over the next few days where you can marvel at each team's roster turnover.)

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