'We are all in': Davy Arnaud and a (mostly) healthy Austin FC will push for a playoff place

Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud knows what it's like to be traded.

Specifically, he knows what it's like to be traded from a place he'd become comfortable as a player over multiple years to Montréal.

So, on Monday, in talking about the Dani Pereira trade as part of a press conference looking both backward and forward, Arnaud shared thoughts on a player with whom he's had a years-long relationship.

"Dani obviously means a ton to this club," Arnaud said. "He's been here since day one. He means a lot to the players in here. I know he means a lot to the fans and the community. He certainly means a lot to the staff. And to me personally, Dani means a lot. We've had a good relationship for a long time. What I will say is, it is a part of this business that that has to happen sometimes, right?

"So, from personal experience, I was playing in Kansas City for 10 years. I was drafted there. I was captain in Kansas City, and during the expansion draft, after 10 years, a place that I thought I was going to be my whole career, I was traded to Montréal," he said, recalling the November 2011 trade that led to him becoming the first goalscorer in the then-Impact's MLS history.

"So I was in the same situation as Dani, so I understand the feelings that he was going through, and maybe some of the disappointment that he had to leave," Arnaud continued. "But again, these was things that were talked about in the offseason, even about we need to find ways to generate a little bit of money to help us with the roster, and Dani, being a good player that he is, and the value that he has, we said if the right price comes for Dani, the club's going to have to take it."

Pereira's departure, perhaps the biggest offseason news for the club not involving new head-coach-in-waiting Jim Curtin, takes a major chess piece off Arnaud's board for the remainder of the 2026 season, restarting Wednesday night against Seattle Sounders FC at Q2 Stadium (now moved to 8:30 pm CT, likely for heat concerns as midsummer start times typically are).

Most everyone else is available for selection, though, save for Mikkel Desler, battling an Achilles' tendon issue, and Jon Bell, with an unspecified injury. Desler sat out Saturday's open practice at the stadium, while Bell participated in individual drills.

Brandon Vázquez, who triggered some concerns Saturday with his individual workouts, did so because of a slight ankle issue following the team's mysterious closed-door scrimmage against Charlotte FC last week, but Arnaud declared him available. Similarly, Brendan Hines-Ike, who is recovering from a hamstring injury that left him unavailable during May's nadir.

'We're ready for a real game'

Arnaud's shifted his perspective on having this extended break from his appearance before media after the loss in St. Louis, when he said he was eager to get the team back on the field. He says that over the past five weeks, the team has enjoyed what he characterizes as "a long spell now to really implement the way that we want to play."

"I think I said at the start of the break that I wish our game was next week, and I said that after the game because when you lose, you want to play immediately again," he explained. "But reflecting on that now ... the break came in a really good time for the group to start to work on some different things."

Arnaud said that the scrimmages — also including a 1-0 loss to Liga MX team Querétaro and a 4-0 win over USL Championship side Sporting Jax — allowed him to implement some new elements to the squad's playing approach, which helps contextualize the extreme secrecy the club maintained around the matches.

"We've seen some things that we're really excited about," Arnaud said. "The hardest thing about the break, going five weeks without playing a real game, you get to the point where their guys are ready to start kicking other people and stop kicking each other so much. I'm ready for the same thing. These guys are out here training every day to put it into games and compete in games and the club the same way. And I know the fans are the same way. We're ready for a real game."

Whether it involves Jorge Alastuey remains to be seen. While Arnaud didn't give any indication the club would spend its remaining international roster slot for 2026 on the promising midfielder, he didn't rule it out as a possibility either.

"Jorge, in particular, is one of those guys that has come up and he's done a really good job every time he's been a part of it. When he's played the first-team games, he's been really good. He raises the level of training every week. With that international spot, we're looking at different ways that we can occupy that, and there are some different things that we're looking at. But just as other as international players are open for that, we're also open to second-team players becoming part of the first team, so everything's kind of open at this point."

Arnaud seemed genuinely surprised by a comment Curtin made during his introductory press conference, which we assumed would have gotten back to him by now, that Arnaud doesn't punt on anything — but confirmed that Verde remains committed to angling a playoff place despite its lowly place in the current Western Conference table, and needing to leapfrog five teams to get there.

"I appreciate that from Jim. That's nice. That's a nice comment, and and it's accurate," Arnaud acknowledged. "For me, we're attacking the second part of the season head on. We are all in. We are fully committed to getting ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs. There's no part of myself, the staff, the club, the players that's ready to say that the season is done. It is quite the opposite."

Call him 'Plachy'

Austin media also got to meet Przemysław Płacheta, the team's newest player, who debuted (in a sense) at Saturday's open practice, and could see his first MLS action on Wednesday. While he's still new to life in Austin — and still on the lookout for Polish food — he's getting acclimated to his teammates while learning the new wrinkles along with everyone else.

"I'm here [in my] third week, so I'm still learning," he said. "I'm still learning new things and what was in the games. The only positive it was just to be to be a team in those games to get to know each other, to start to know each other on the pitch, how everyone is behaving, how everyone moves. So we just needed to work on that. Obviously, create chances and be also aggressive after losing balls ... those kind of things are quite important."

He also displayed awareness of the team's current predicament — and a willingness to embrace it.

"You just need sometimes breaks," he said. "Sometimes you just need one training. Sometimes you just need one month to work on some things which are not working. And obviously, this is the past now. Now we concentrate on on the future, what is in front of us, and we will make sure that we stick together as a team, as a whole club, and we're gonna turn things well."

Though "Shemmy" is the default nickname that people have been using, taking Przemysław (pronounced shem-i-suave) to its logical diminutive, he said he actually prefers fans to call him "Plachy," which is what happens when you impose English on Płacheta (actually pronounced pwa-het-uh) and then make that diminutive.

So, if he ambles over to your section of the stadium on Wednesday after the match, and you're trying to get his attention to share some pierogi intel, you now know what to call out.

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.