'We're missing some guys': Assessing the Austin FC roster and the Austin FC II playoff path
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud admitted some players will be unavailable for Saturday's match against San Diego. That now includes one player we didn't know about when we talked Thursday.
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud was blunt about his roster in Thursday's media availability, ahead of hosting San Diego FC on Saturday night in a critical match for determining who might finish in the West's final playoff places.
"We're missing some guys," Arnaud said, before running through the list of players we either knew or surmised would be out due to either international duty, injury, or mild skullduggery:
Myrto Uzuni, out on international duty with Albania;
Joseph Rosales, out on international duty with Honsduras;
Guilherme Biro, serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation (following last Saturday's one-match suspension for a red card, efficiently earned in the same match); and
Przemysław Płacheta, out with what the club is calling a lower body injury, with nothing offered aside from "still won't be available."
The good news is that Ervin Torres, called up to be part of the U.S. Youth National Team's U-20 camp, will be able to play in this match before leaving for Spain, and with MLS taking a proper international break the first weekend in October, won't miss any matches.
The starting lineup on Saturday, given what Arnaud has to work with, might look like this.
But we also learned late Friday that it now might not include goalkeeper Brad Stuver, reportedly questionable with illness, which would necessitate Damian Las' second start of the year. (Las was part of the Rotationpalooza match at Seattle on Aug. 19, notching a 2-1 win.)
As you might expect, Arnaud continues to radiate positivity about his team and its seven-match unbeaten streak.
"We feel good," he said. "We've had a good week of training. It's nice to be back on this rhythm where you're playing Saturday to Saturday and you're not having midweek games," he said. "It gives you time to prepare and obviously have a normal week of training where you can work on things that you need to work on yourselves, based on us and our game model and the way that we want to play, and then also focus on the opponent towards obviously the later half of the week. So, in terms of that, it's been good.
"Obviously, we would love to have everyone here and available, but it's not the case," he added. "So, we keep plugging away and moving forward with the guys that are here and available, and we've utilized some guys from the second team to, from a number standpoint, be part of training. They've done a good job of keeping and maintaining the level, and yeah, it's been a good week of preparation again, getting ready for a game that we know is a big one."
Who to root for
With Seattle beating RSL on Wednesday, Austin's journey into the Top 9 in the West got a little more compromised. Here's what you want, aside from Austin beating San Diego, of course (which brings Austin to 33 points):
Seattle vs. Minnesota: Loons win, bringing both teams to 32 points;
RSL vs. New England: Revs win, keeping RSL at 29 points;
LA Galaxy vs. Colorado: Rapids win, keeping Galaxy at 33 points (and springing the Rapids into the Probably Playoffs Zone); and
San Jose vs. Portland: San Jose win, keeping Portland at 32 points.
Not falling into the Feilhaber Trap
Meanwhile, looking at Austin FC II, head coach Jason Shackell met his test this week for the Pick-Your-Opponent Playoff selection event on Wednesday, getting to pick first by virtue of finishing at the top of MLS Next Pro's West table.
He could have gone the route of former SKC II head coach Benny Feilhaber, who, as the No. 3 team in the West in 2023, picked No. 4 VerDos, with his lead in to making the pick, "Scared money don't make money," remaining arguably the most epic moment of the format.
Would Shackell have fallen to the temptation of the Feilhaberian Sirens (a real thing in Greek mythology, trust me), he might have picked Minnesota United FC 2, the only team to have beaten VerDos twice this season.
Instead, Shackell opted for the winner of the 8/9 play-in match, which will either be San Jose Earthquakes II or Tacoma Defiance, on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Subsequent rounds will be held on subsequent weekends, with Austin FC II hosting as far as they go, including the final on the Nov. 6 weekend — also the same weekend as Decision Day for the first team. It could be a high-stakes weekend all the way around.
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.
Also, we're fully in the 21st century now; join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
In this new feature celebrating the ways in which soccer entertains us, we look at a generational American talent, laud a creative endorsement deal, and talk about the number 114 and make a prediction about that.
In the real world, Austin FC is tantalizingly close to entering the West's playoff places. But on Earth 2, if five matches against contenders didn't include late goals against, the team would be in much better shape.
Austin FC got closer to the top of the hill (to 9th place) with Saturday's draw against FC Dallas. The result extends the unbeaten streak to seven matches ... but will that recent good form result in playoffs?
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud was blunt about his roster in Thursday's media availability, ahead of hosting San Diego FC on Saturday night in a critical match for determining who might finish in the West's final playoff places.
"We're missing some guys," Arnaud said, before running through the list of players we either knew or surmised would be out due to either international duty, injury, or mild skullduggery:
The good news is that Ervin Torres, called up to be part of the U.S. Youth National Team's U-20 camp, will be able to play in this match before leaving for Spain, and with MLS taking a proper international break the first weekend in October, won't miss any matches.
The starting lineup on Saturday, given what Arnaud has to work with, might look like this.
But we also learned late Friday that it now might not include goalkeeper Brad Stuver, reportedly questionable with illness, which would necessitate Damian Las' second start of the year. (Las was part of the Rotationpalooza match at Seattle on Aug. 19, notching a 2-1 win.)
As you might expect, Arnaud continues to radiate positivity about his team and its seven-match unbeaten streak.
"We feel good," he said. "We've had a good week of training. It's nice to be back on this rhythm where you're playing Saturday to Saturday and you're not having midweek games," he said. "It gives you time to prepare and obviously have a normal week of training where you can work on things that you need to work on yourselves, based on us and our game model and the way that we want to play, and then also focus on the opponent towards obviously the later half of the week. So, in terms of that, it's been good.
"Obviously, we would love to have everyone here and available, but it's not the case," he added. "So, we keep plugging away and moving forward with the guys that are here and available, and we've utilized some guys from the second team to, from a number standpoint, be part of training. They've done a good job of keeping and maintaining the level, and yeah, it's been a good week of preparation again, getting ready for a game that we know is a big one."
Who to root for
With Seattle beating RSL on Wednesday, Austin's journey into the Top 9 in the West got a little more compromised. Here's what you want, aside from Austin beating San Diego, of course (which brings Austin to 33 points):
Not falling into the Feilhaber Trap
Meanwhile, looking at Austin FC II, head coach Jason Shackell met his test this week for the Pick-Your-Opponent Playoff selection event on Wednesday, getting to pick first by virtue of finishing at the top of MLS Next Pro's West table.
He could have gone the route of former SKC II head coach Benny Feilhaber, who, as the No. 3 team in the West in 2023, picked No. 4 VerDos, with his lead in to making the pick, "Scared money don't make money," remaining arguably the most epic moment of the format.
Would Shackell have fallen to the temptation of the Feilhaberian Sirens (a real thing in Greek mythology, trust me), he might have picked Minnesota United FC 2, the only team to have beaten VerDos twice this season.
Instead, Shackell opted for the winner of the 8/9 play-in match, which will either be San Jose Earthquakes II or Tacoma Defiance, on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Subsequent rounds will be held on subsequent weekends, with Austin FC II hosting as far as they go, including the final on the Nov. 6 weekend — also the same weekend as Decision Day for the first team. It could be a high-stakes weekend all the way around.
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.
Also, we're fully in the 21st century now; join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
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