WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: FC DALLAS
Welcome back to What You Need To Know, a preview for Austin FC fans to check in on their next match.
After another lifeless showing on Saturday Austin FC is winless in their first five matches on the season and only have one win in their last 16 MLS matches dating back to 2023.
It’s a familiar story, Austin either can’t maintain possession or when they do there’s no purpose or penetration to it. It’s a team going nowhere that is currently last in MLS in:
Shots
Shots on target
xG
Shots on target against
xG against
Austin is also currently last in the MLS Power Rankings and pundits are calling us the most likely wooden spoon winner.
Even back in 2021, we saw a team with a clear system and strategy on the pitch, they would play possession-based football and play through the back. It didn’t always work, but it at least looked like the team was building something. There’s nothing this team can hang their hat on, they aren’t good enough defensively to be a defensive team and they aren’t good enough in the attacking third to be an offensive team. This team is rudderless and in need of a new voice and new ideas on the field and the way to do that is by replacing Josh Wolff as manager.
Before the “but the roster is bad” or the “players aren’t playing hard” arguments start:
Wolff was Sporting Director early last season and hired before Reyna, he’s had input on all the signings made
The most important part of a coach’s job is man management. It’s their job to make sure the team is working together and working hard. We’ve all been in work situations where the manager is incompetent and work suffers around it
If the goal is to improve the roster over the next few windows, what evidence is there that players want to come here and play for Wolff?
If “goals change games” shouldn’t “results change employment?”
History vs. Austin FC:
Austin FC is 1-2-5 all time against FC Dallas, the lone regular season win being at home last season.
Recent Matches:
FC Dallas lost 3-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps in their last match with all goals scored in the first half. They are currently 1-0-3 on the season.
Players to Watch:
Jesus Ferriera
The Team USA forward is nicknamed “The Pirate of the Caribbean” due to his penchant for scoring against the minnows of CONCACAF, including four goals against Grenada at Q2 back in May of 2023. He has the most goals scored in Q2 of any non-Austin FC player but has changed his role this season to help accommodate newly signed designated player Petar Musa. Ferreira has dropped deeper into a support striker role which still puts him in position to attack, but is no longer leading the forward line. In theory, this change would give him more space to maneuver and be more of a playmaker, but thus far he and Musa haven’t been able to find enough chemistry for that partnership to bear fruit.
Sebastian Llegett
Mostly known for being Becky G’s ex and being the ire of USMNT fans, Lletgett has been a consistent performer for MLS teams for his career. With Paxton Pomykal out for the season following surgery, more responsibility has been put onto him to link the midfield and the attack as the rest of Dallas’ strike force is mostly concerned with their own shots and stats rather than helping others.
Keys to the Match:
Copa Tejas up for grabs
As is tradition, the rules for Copa Tejas changed again this season. Unfortunately, MLS’s unbalanced schedule complicates what should be a very basic cup competition. This season all matches between Texas’ three MLS clubs count and the team with the most PPG at the end will win the Cup. This puts FC Dallas at an advantage as they will have more home matches than Austin FC or the Houston Dynamo. Until the schedule makers at the MLS front offices get back to everyone in the conference playing once home and away (as God intended) this trophy will never really be “fair.”
Press
We will most likely see FC Dallas apply pressure high up the pitch against Austin (stop if you’ve heard this before). Their pressure is different now with Petar Musa up top and Jesus Fereira playing deeper. Musa’s lack of pace forces their pressure to trigger differently, attacking the fullbacks and midfielders more than the CBs as they’ve done in the past.
When the ball stops
Austin FC has shown promise when they can get the ball into the attacking third on set pieces and long throw-ins. FC Dallas struggled in these situations in Vancouver, along with general difficulty defending crosses into the box, Austin can take advantage of these situations.
The problem Austin has had is not doing enough on the margins to create them. Josh Wolff said in his press conference how thin the margins of winning and losing are, and trying to gain more set-piece opportunities would be a great way of changing those margins in Austin’s favor.
See you at Q2!
WRITTEN BY SCOTT SPECHT
