Previewing Houston Dynamo at Austin FC with Verde All Day
(image via Austin FC)
The Houston Dynamo will look to stay hot as they travel west for an in-state showdown. We talked to our friend Phil West from Verde All Day to get some insight on Austin FC ahead of tomorrow’s match.
Bayou City Soccer (BCS): Austin has struggled this season, winning just once in league play and being knocked out of the US Open Cup. What has been the biggest reason for Austin's disappointment so far in 2026?
Verde All Day (VAD): It's all been a disappointment, but right now, I'd have to say crashing out of the Open Cup in Austin's first 90 minutes, for a few different reasons. First, Austin got to the final last year, and got to host it, and returning to the final would have been excellent narrative. Plus, with Nashville out of the picture, Austin's path to winning it looked manageable compared to last year. It was certainly Austin's easiest, best path to a title, but instead, going down 2-0 away in a cup competition to opponents in purple jerseys had serious Violette vibes. All you needed to complete it: A tree at one end of the field, the honky honk band, and Amro Tarek very possibly throwing a match in service to gamblers (at least it looked that way). Louisville actually got a 2-0 lead seven minutes faster than Violette did. (I'm definitely watching Houston-Louisville; I think they're going to be a tough out for y'all.)
As to why it's happening, injuries have a lot to do with it. Going into the season, Facundo Torres replaced Osman Bukari as a designated player, and then Jayden Nelson came over from Vancouver to do Bukari-like things for less money, and Joseph Rosales came over from Minnesota to theoretically shore up the back line (though he's actually been more deployed in midfield, which is going to move us into your next question shortly. A lot of what Austin's offense is predicated on, though, is Owen Wolff being the primary catalyst, and he had to undergo sports hernia surgery at the start of preseason and hasn't been able to play yet. He's getting closer, and might see time on Saturday, but we need to see it actually happen. That injury, and Brandon Vázquez's slow return from an ACL injury suffered in last year's Open Cup run, is keeping Verde from being fully what it can be. But even when everyone's back and fully healthy, I'm concerned they've dug too much of a hole with their 1-4-4 start to make the playoffs.
BCS: How hot is Nico Estevez's seat after this start?
VAD: It's decidedly warm. I don't know if sporting director Rodolfo Borrell would dismiss him before the World Cup, but both Wilfried Nancy and Jim Curtin are available, and though they might not match Borrell's preferred style of play, I think they'd both find better success with these players with their style of play. Deploying Torres as a centrally-focused 10 and Rosales as a right winger strikes me as too-clever moves not allowing those players to flourish where they're best, and though he did improve the defense last year, Verde's been very inconsistent in attack, and there's less definition in overall style then this team had under Josh Wolff. (Yes, a few fans are beginning to pine for the days of Wolff, which speaks a lot to recency bias.
BCS: Austin has conceded 8 goals in their last 2 matches. Brad Stuver seems to be standing on his head to keep it from being worse. What does Austin need to do better defensively in this match?
VAD: Play a full 90! That's another perplexing thing that's happening this season ... they've now let in 10 goals from winning or tying positions at the 68th minute or later, resulting in 13 dropped points (they were actually ahead 1-0 on San Jose before letting in a 68th minute goal to go level and then four goals between the 78th and 89th minute to go down by the eventual 5-1 final scoreline). Stuver said after Wednesday's match, "At the end of the day, to get out of this, we have to have a full 90-minute performance, and right now, we've been putting together 45 minutes. We've been putting together 60 minutes, but we haven't been putting together 90 minutes." He also said they're not even thinking about playoffs right now, and just need to focus on Houston — so look for them to step it up on defense (or play like they have and punt on the season).
BCS: How has the Facundo Torres and Myrto Uzuni partnership done so far and what else do they need to make it the best it can be?
VAD: It's been okay but not great ... Torres has four assists on the season, with three coming on set pieces, but he only has a single goal, and I thought he'd be more productive by now. Uzuni's been playing more of a connector role, and he's looked more lively, but he's only got two goals and two assists on the season so far, and one of those goals was a belly goal from a yard out stepping in front of a Jon Gallagher shot that may or may not have gone in on its own. The real test of the partnership's success will come from Vázquez's entry into the lineup, which will really be a test of whether they have three complementary DPs who can play together cohesively. Uzuni and Vázquez struggled to do that when they shared time on the field last year, even in a 4-4-2 formation designed to get them to work together.
BCS: Does Austin have any injury concerns coming into this match and what do you expect for a starting lineup?
VAD: In addition to what I've mentioned, Dani Pereira came back from a hamstring injury and then went right back out (less than 10 minutes into the match against Louisville) with what Estévez attributed to "scar tissue," Guilherme Biro went out of the San Jose match in the first half, and Uzuni, Nelson, and Robert Taylor were all questionable heading into Wednesday and none of them played. I do expect at least Uzuni and Nelson to be back, and Ilie Sánchez is hopefully recovered from a back issue and possible concussion that kept him out of action Wednesday as well.
It'll probably look like this: Stuver; Desler, Svatok, Hines-Ike, Gallagher; Sánchez, Dubersarsky; Nelson, Torres, Rosales; Uzuni. (Or a 4-4-2 configuration with these players. Probably.)
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We want to thank Phil for his time and wish our friends in Austin the best of luck tomorrow night.
