$2.5 million well spent. That was perhaps the most sensible takeaway from a preseason match rampant with overreaction Saturday, as Austin FC lost its first-ever livestreamed affair, 3-2, to the Houston Dynamo. $2.5 million was required to get midfielder Tomás Pochettino to Austin from Argentina, and apparently that is the going rate for a right foot that contradicts physics.
Pochettino put Austin FC ahead in the 16th minute with a gorgeous free kick from 28 yards out. The field-level angle shows the ball headed about five yards high and right of goal before curling sharply and gracefully into the top corner. It was a collector’s item of a goal that will forever remain the first goal scored by Austin FC against Major League Soccer competition, and it gave the club and its fans every reason to feel excited about what is to come from Austin FC’s second designated player.
But Houston won the match. It did so, primarily, by taking advantage of Austin’s defensive mistakes. Poor positioning on the first goal, an errant pass on the second and lack of pace on the third rendered Austin’s second goal, a Rodney Redes diving header off a rebounded shot from Alex Ring, insignificant. Each of Austin FC’s top three center backs – Jhohan Romaña, Matt Besler, and Julio Cascante (in that order) – were at fault for a Houston score. It was enough to send some very online ATX fans to the fantasy transfer market shopping for a replacement CB.
While each of the three defenders carries question marks into Austin FC’s debut season – Romaña is 22 and inexperienced, Besler is 34 and probably overexperienced, and Cascante, 27, just has to prove his quality – it is about two months too early to even uncase the panic button.
“There’s a lot that happened in that game that we’ll need to address, and that’s part of preseason,” head coach Josh Wolff said after the game. “We’re making some progress, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and that’s just part of reality for us.” Is that “coach speak”? You bet. Is he wrong? Of course not. Welcome to the struggles of MLS expansion. Since 2016, three expansion teams – Atlanta United, LAFC, and Nashville SC – made the MLS Cup playoffs in their first season. None of them, however, won their first match against MLS competition.
That does not mean, though, that a negative reaction from the Verde faithful – some of whom gathered outside the St. David’s Performance Center grounds to cheer on Austin FC from a social distance – is a bad thing. In fact, it’s a tremendously encouraging sign. Clubs whose players and personnel fall into a “we’re just happy to be here” mindset lose. A lot. And that mindset is directly fed off the fans. While calling for new signings after one close preseason loss is ludicrous, being intolerant of poor performances, especially ones that permeate across multiple games, is vital. The honeymoon phase can’t last forever, and that, fortunately, does not seem to have escaped Austin FC’s loyalists.
The Dean’s List
Austin FC’s first round pick in the MLS SuperDraft, Daniel Pereira, has been a bright spot for the club during the preseason. The 20-year-old midfielder, who otherwise would be trudging through his sophomore year at Virginia Tech, saw his progress in training rewarded with a start against Houston. After the game, Pereira discussed what the decision meant to him. “Coach Josh giving me the starting [role] today, I think it was huge. It means that I’m doing great. I’m doing something.”
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This article appears in April 9 • 2021.
