Over the weekend, Austin FC collected a hideous club milestone that it had thus far managed to avoid, even during the worst stretch of its grim first season in 2021: two full calendar months without a single win.
Doesn’t even really matter what the sport is … that sucks. El Tree’s most recent match, extending the aforementioned winless streak into its third month, was as frustrating as any of the six defeats and one draw that came before it. A 2-1 loss at home to the Portland Timbers told a familiar story: an Austin team that does a fair amount of what it’s programmed to do – i.e., dictate possession and create scoring opportunities in front of goal – but simply comes up short in the moments that decide games and award precious points in the standings.
The Verde and Black had Portland on the ropes throughout the opening half-hour, but whether it was a mistimed run drawing a goal-nullifying offside flag, a misplaced pass spoiling an encouraging buildup, or a mishit shot wasting away a big scoring chance, the hosts could not ever take advantage. Then, when the action flipped into Portland’s penalty box, individual mistakes from experienced players – namely Alex Ring and Leo Väisänen – opened the door for the Timbers to get on the board and escape with all three points (despite Sebastián Driussi’s 9th goal of the season in the 75th minute).
“Disappointing,” assessed head coach Josh Wolff, and not for the first time this season. “You expect and want and need to get three points at home, so for us, that’s a big miss. But if we don’t take the opportunities and grab the lead when it’s there like it was tonight, it makes it challenging.”
As anyone who’s followed Austin FC, especially in the toxic sphere of social media, well knows, there’s been a vocal minority of ATX fans calling for Wolff’s head since basically the moment the club first kicked a ball. It’s been mostly ridiculous and unserious … until now. Anytime a club endures a stretch of terrible form as long as Austin has, legitimate questions are going to be asked of the person in the technical area. If Wolff cannot find a way to guide his team into the MLS Cup Playoffs, should he, after three very up-and-down seasons, be shown the door?
Some #WolffOut disciples would ask why you’d even wait that long. In fact, Austin FC All-Star Jon Gallagher inadvertently made the case for this himself a week ago when previewing the Portland match, astutely pointing out that since firing ex-head coach Giovanni Savarese on August 21, the Timbers have experienced the “new manager bounce” frequently seen when a club goes on a hot streak directly following a midseason change in leadership. That bounce has propelled Portland back into the playoff conversation. Could it do the same for Austin?
It’s almost certainly nothing more than a hypothetical. Majority owner and CEO Anthony Precourt is buddy-buddy with Wolff, and new Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell has gone out of his way at every possible turn to throw his full support behind Wolff. In trading away fan favorite Diego Fagundez, Borrell has already shown an ability to be ruthless in his decision making. But it would be a total shock to see him betray his own words and not allow Josh Wolff at least the chance to start the 2024 season with what will presumably be a very different roster, one constructed more to Borrell’s liking.
On the one hand, Wolff’s already proven he can guide a hot team deep into the MLS playoffs. But on the other, he’s shown no ability to troubleshoot his way out of a mind-numbing, two-month-long malaise. There’s simply no defending that.
Austin FC plays New England Revolution Wednesday, Sept. 20, 6:30pm at Red Bull Arena. Find Eric Goodman’s game recap Thursday at austinchronicle.com/austin-fc.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle‘s Austin FC hub. Follow “The Verde Report” columnist Eric Goodman on Twitter: @goodman.
This article appears in September 22 • 2023 and September 15 • 2023.
