Opposition scouting report: Austin FC

Austin FC is off to a start bad enough that they fired their head coach a game before the the World Cup break. They used that time to hire Jim Curtin to be the next permanent head coach, but he won’t actually take over until net season. That leaves interim Davy Arnaud to lead the way.

We asked Phil West of Verde All Day to give us some insight into the team:

Notable injuries

We learned Monday that Mikkel Desler has an Achilles issue, and from what we first gleaned at Saturday’s open practice, former Sounder Jon Bell also won’t feature. Brandon Vázquez has a slight ankle knock from last week’s closed-door match against Charlotte FC, but declared his knee 100% in a post-practice interview and will likely see minutes today (though starting minutes are probably still on the horizon).

Team form

Verde comes back from the break after a franchise-shaking three-match losing streak. A drubbing at San Diego FC and a home loss to Sporting KC were the last straws for ownership, who jettisoned both head coach Nico Estévez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell, and then on the heels of that, lost 3–0 at St. Louis. Interim head coach Davy Arnaud said after that match that he wanted to keep playing, but everyone clearly needed a break.

Players to watch

Myrto Uzuni has had something of a bounceback year after missing key penalties in the Open Cup final and the playoffs, but hasn’t yet hit the high-end numbers that you want in a Designated Player. Similarly, in his first season back in the league, Facundo Torres has had bright moments and quite a few assists, but just one goal.

One thing opposing fans should know

First-ever SuperDraft pick Dani Pereira — who blossomed into a solid midfielder with occasionally spectacular and more-than-occasional bonehead moves — was moved to CF Montréal during the break for more than $2 million in GAM. While that answers a question that we’ve been wondering about for a while — which of the team's two young moveable assets would be turned into GAM — it does leave a hole in the midfield for the time being. Owen Wolff made a considerable jump last year, but had to undergo sports hernia surgery as preseason camp started and he hasn’t looked himself after a later-than-expected return. Verde does have a 23-year-old La Masia-trained midfielder named Jorge Alastuey who could plausibly fill in, but there’s a catch — he’s on the second team and with his two call-up appearances already expended, the club would need to sign him to a supplemental deal and spend its one remaining international slot on him. You can see where the club would be wary of this (still without a sporting director, and with Jim Curtin committed but waiting in the wings as head coach), but I would love to see them make the cavalier move and see what he can do at the MLS level.