WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: SAN JOSE QUAKES
Welcome back to What You Need To Know, a preview for Austin FC fans to check in on their next opponent:
VICTORY!
Austin FC finally got their first win of the season last Saturday, defeating FC Dallas 2-1 thanks to goals from Julio Cascante and Diego Rubio. This rockets them all the way up to 11th in the standings and to first in their quest for a third straight Copa Tejas win.
It was also a move back to what we’ve seen before (and what last week I pointed out was missing, thanks for reading Coach). Dani Perreira, Alex Ring, and Sebastian Driussi comprised the midfield while Austin held possession and controlled the pace of the game through it. Austin completed more passes than Dallas attempted, outshot them, and earned more corners. If anything, the scoreline flattered the undermanned Dallas side. Besides one defensive lapse, Austin kept Dallas pinned in their own half and thanks to strong games from Hector Jimenez, Jader Obrien, and Owen Wolff Austin showed enough incisiveness to limit our exposure to the horseshoe of sadness.
History vs. Austin FC:
Austin FC has never beaten San Jose, 0-5-2 (W-T-L) overall, including draws in their past four matches.
San Jose is responsible for the greatest shithousing moment in the history of Q2 in what was also the craziest match played at Q2 so far. San Jose is considered the quintessential “MLS After Dark” side.
Recent Matches:
San Jose lost 2-1 at the Houston Dynamo after scoring in the first minute, giving up goals in the 81 and 84’ and had two players sent off (Preston Judd and Jackson Yuiell, who will both be out tonight). Their only win so far this season is against an underwhelming Seattle side that is still winless in 2024.
Injury Report:
San Jose comes to Austin undermanned (as so many MLS teams are) their current injury report:
Players to Watch:
Cristian Espinosa
The Argentinian winger is the key to San Jose’s attack. He is typically deployed on the right wing and likes to move inside to link up with whoever is playing striker (most likely Jeremy Ebobisse tonight). Limiting Espinosa won’t just be the work of whoever is playing LB, he’s active when San Jose presses up, as evidenced by his opener against Austin last season where he took a misplayed ball by Johan Valencia and put it into the back of the net.
William Yarbrough
He is starting for San Jose due to an injury to Daniel. The doppelganger of older Draco Malfoy is an experienced keeper, and Austin FC fans should remember him as the keeper for the Colorado Rapids when Austin won their first match 3-1 in Denver. Due to his performance last week, he was named to the MLS Team of the Match Day.
Niko Tsakiris
The Homegrown central midfielder has featured in their past two matches and should start Saturday. He plays an advanced role with freedom to get forward and is responsible for getting the ball progressed to the attackers. Without Jackson Yuiell more responsibility will fall to him not just in possession doing the defensive work. We didn’t get to see it against Houston due to game state but in their win against Seattle
Keys to the Match:
Going Streaking?
Austin has the chance to win two games in a row for the first time since June 21 and 24 (beating FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo). For a team off to a slow start mostly due to giving up leads late, it’s important to bank points during the early home games before the schedule takes them on the road where they’ve historically struggled (3-6-10 since the start of 2023).
A second-half side
So far in 2024 Austin FC has scored only one goal in the first half, combined with San Jose having scored first in 4 of their six matches, it’s key for Austin to try and not fall behind early to chase the game. It’s surprising to see the stats indicate Austin FC as a strong second-half team when they’ve already dropped 4 points at home this season due to other teams scoring equalizers late.
Run it back!
Josh Wolff has not had the luxury of being able to use the same lineup this season either out of health or effectiveness. With the team looking strong last weekend and no additional injuries we could see Austin run back the winning formula from last week. Whether or not Hector Jimenez starts at LB again (and against the aforementioned Christian Espinosa) instead of Guilherme Biro or Jon Gallagher is likely to be the biggest decision for Wolff on Saturday.
See you at Q2!
WRITTEN BY SCOTT SPECHT
