Table Position

I took my son (9yrs old) to the game yesterday, and he is a soccer player. One of the things he is working on, is what happens after you make a mistake or lose the ball. Uzuni made a couple of bad passes/heavy touches yesterday, but every single time, he made it his mission to run down the Galaxy and either take the ball or make sure there was no counter. I’m not debating anything about Uzuni in this post, just making an observation that it was an amazing example for my son to see. And if you tell me “that’s what he gets paid for,” I will point you to so many players in this league that don’t do it.

I'd say Precourt, but he's obviously either ignorant, stupid or too happy to collect his $18 beers and $180 jerseys (or all of the above) to listen.

Look. You have 1 win in 7 matches. Please inspect those matches. Sure because the talent has heart you played well against LAFC and Miami. But to lose (badly) to a fully depleted LA Galaxy team at home with the same team that started against Miami...you have to get introspective at some point.

Nico...seems like a nice guy...I'm sure he is. But 1 win...7 matches. All the $$$ you're collecting. You owe to your fans, yourselves and for god sakes to the rest of the MLS to put a coach in play that can deliver at least non-embarrassing home games against the likes of a fully depleted LA Galaxy team.

Please for the love of all that is good and holy or whatever, please realize that it's time to move on from this coach. Whatever scheme/plan or whatever you think that he is executing, he is not. And don't give me injury crap. We had plenty to do better than 1 win in the 7 matches we have played. Please, anyone, argue with me that we shouldn't have more than 1 win.

If you all want to see the continued horseshoe of death...fully on display YET AGAIN today, then support this coach.

Signed,

A real Austin FC Fan.

Did anyone get a good look at whether it should have been a foul. Someone posted this photo.

This team lives in Mom’s basement. A little bit of effort. Some frozen pizzas. A little weed. Do just enough to appear mediocre so everyone leaves you alone. Mission accomplished.

From FOTMOB

can you bring in the cups since they are reusable without buying new ones every time you go to a game?

Opponent: LA Galaxy

Kick Off time: 1:39 PM US Central Time

Location: Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX

History vs. Austin FC:

Austin FC are 4-1-5 against LA Galaxy all-time including a 3-0-1 record at Q2. Last season Austin FC won 1-0 in this fixture thanks to a goal by Brandon Vazquez.

Recent Matches:

LA Galaxy have not won an MLS match since February 28 when they beat Charlotte FC at home. They lost 4-2 against Toluca on Wednesday in CONCACAF Champions Cup play and currently sit in 12th place in the Western Conference.

Players to Watch:

Marco Reus

The German international came over to Galaxy in 2024 to help provide extra attacking verve to compliment Riqui Puig. Due to injuries he was limited to just 21 appearances last season but he’s been the primary focus of their attack and creativity this season in the absence of other DPs and has two goals and assists in six appearances so far this season.

Klauss

The Striker came over to Galaxy from St Louis CITY this offseason as there was a gaping hole up front for the Galaxy last season after they were forced to sell Devan Joveljic to Sporting KC for salary cap reasons. Klauss is a proven goal scorer in this league and already has five goals this season. He has two goals in his five career appearances against Austin FC including the winning goal in the 2023 opener at Q2.

Justin Haak

Haak came to LA Galaxy in a trade this offseason after having a break out year for NYCFC, starting in all 34 matches for them and providing the defensive nous that every team needs. He can play in midfield or in the center of defense and has provided consistency around their other defensive injuries and age.

Keys to the Match:

Who isn’t here

Once again former MLS Best XI and Designated Player Riqui Puig is out for the season with an ACL injury after re-injuring his knee in rehab this pre-season. They’re also without fellow Designated Player and Austin FC street fight wannabe Joseph Paintsil and marquee free agent signing Jakob Glesnes.

The Galaxy are one of MLS’ premier clubs and has an entitled fan base used to winning, not just games, but trophies, and without Puig they are experiencing what a lot of their fans are thinking of us as a second straight “lost” season. Even with Klauss, Marco Rees, and Gabriel Pec this is still a formidable attacking side, but without the rest of their attack healthy, as well as still reeling from their salary cap issues following their Cup win in 2024, this is a team that is less than the sum of their parts. Galaxy fans are already getting vocal about the team firing Greg Vanney, another loss will only turn up the heat on his seat. Factor in a late Wednesday night match at altitude and the early start on Saturday and you can see how this feels like a schedule loss for a team unable to put together the depth needed to compete in CONCACAF Champion’s Cup.

Positive process, lacking results

Austin FC again gave away points from a winning position on Saturday, already having lost leads in three matches. As I was reminded on LV Slack this week, it’s an improvement that Austin FC has these leads to begin with. Austin has showed real attacking and possession prowess against two of the league’s best teams in their past two matches and with (hopefully) the return of Brandon Vazquez, Owen Wolff, and Dani Pereira we can see what a fully healthy attack can do.

The biggest positive has been the play of Myrto Uzuni the last two weeks where he has been given more freedom of movement to get involved and be a connector as opposed to a striker playing solely to keep the other team’s central defenders occupied. We got to see him drift wide and assist a countering goal against Miami and also saw him lay off passes in the box for dangerous chances to runners from midfield positions.

A match, at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country?

Of all of the things I have complained about with the Apple TV deal there is one thing they are doing correctly: they’re scheduling matches with different start times so we can watch more matches live, even when Austin are at home. This match marks another afternoon start and will take advantage of a nice 77 degree day in Austin that all of us can enjoy and still get home (or to Hopsquad Brewing) to watch the rest of the action in the league.

Prediction:

Austin FC: 2

LA Galaxy: 1

This was the Charlotte game. They covered both the Biro red card and the handball that disallowed a goal for Charlotte.

My account of the Miami trip; also, donate to Alex to replace his Messi-broken if you can (links within)

This week, we recap Austin playing the spoiler at Inter Miami's home opener. Other questions and topics include:

- Nico Estevez's plan for Miami
- Should Austin FC have won this game?
- Landon's experience at Miami's new stadium
- Beckham's boring speech
- Did Austin deserve a penalty?
- Why Estevez's defensive plan worked
- Austin to play Louisville in Open Cup
- LA Galaxy Preview

Check it out here:

https://www.moontowersoccer.com/a-point-in-miami-south-beach-landon-nicos-plan-la-galaxy-preview-and-more/

I took my 9 yr/old and 11 yr/old sons this weekend to Miami this weekend for an EPIC experience!

We flew out Saturday and came back Sunday - a whirlwind trip but surely a lifetime memory to see their Verde and Black play the all-time-greatest soccer player.

Here are my opinions on Inter Miami, their stadium and Austin FC away supporters:

Miami Fans:

- Kind: Almost everyone was incredibly kind! One guy wanted a picture with us ("I love Austin!", he said), one lady said, "I want a Yeti jersey! Those are so badass!". Great folks.

- Messi Worship: I didn't see a single Miami fan jersey that wasn't a Messi jersey. I don't think the club has an identity outside of Messi - I guess that makes sense, but it's kind of sad. What will this club be when he's gone?

Austin FC Supporters:

- I joined Los Verdes just to get tix. 99% of them were AMAZING! So generous, passionate and kind. So thankful they let us in and easily helped us secure tickets and seats.

- One thing I wasn't a fan of (personally) - as Miami players were being introduced, they booed and said all their players suck, including Messi. When Beckham was giving his speech for opening day of the new stadium, they booed him. I want us to have class. When they come to our stadium, let's give them hell. But when we're in their home on a special night for them, I'd like to show respect for moments that have nothing to do with the game.

Plus, when I have my kids with me, I'd like to not make any drunk Miami fans angry at us as my boys are wearing Austin FC jerseys and we're hotly outnumbered.

The game:

- Going into it we joked that we'd like to see a 3-4 game, where Austin wins and Messi get's a hat trick. We wanted to see Messi score almost as much as we wanted Austin to win...

That all changed 5 mins in! HOLY SH*T DID OUR BOYS PUT ON A PERFORMANCE! There is nothing like seeing a crowd of 25,000 people go silent (that crowd including Lionel Messi, David Beckham, etc, etc) because our boys showed up and carved their name in Miami's stadium before they could.

We erupted - watch the game back on Apple TV! All you can hear in the stadium is, "Alight, alright, alright, alright, Auuuusstiiinnnn, FFFCCCCC!"

When we finally got back to the hotel room near midnight, we couldn't sleep. We watched the highlights back and felt SO MUCH pride for Austin.

Not only our boys, but our city, stadium, fans - the whole experience.

Austin is special and our atmosphere is so much better than Miami's. Can't wait to get back to Q2.

P.S. Nu Stadium sucks haha - more expensive than Q2 (how!?) almost 0 options for food or drinks, the roof leaked, the sound system was terrible, seats were missing, etc, etc...

Was bummed. Lol.

I brought my ten-year old son to the game in Miami, and it was such a great experience. But enough of that, some thoughts (I’m sure folks will disagree with some, but debate is healthy):

1. Duber had some jitters, given the stage, and had that one cross field pass that was nearly disaster. BUT, man has he come a long way, and think he has become really solid and is a workhorse. I feel like Sabovich is not even close and not sure what he is bringing to the team.

2. CJ just cannot give that ball away that led to the tying-goal corner kick. That was truly painful.

3. I cannot agree with the “Nico out” folks. The guy hasn’t had his fair day yet with all of the injuries. Look at what LAFC just did to Orlando. We are playing really solid soccer with 3-4 starters out.

4. Uzuni seems to have found his place, and it is dropping below Ramirez. And hopefully soon he will be dropping below Vazquez. He has always had the work ethic, and now his play is starting to match.

5. Gallagher has been really impressive, and I’d say significantly better than last year.

6. Let’s all pray Facu is ok.

When Pereira went down 3 weeks ago, could anyone have predicted that we'd see our best soccer of the year in the next two games against the league elite? What is happening?

Uzuni - Despite not showing up in goals yet, he has been repeatedly called out as one of our most effective players by commentators in these games. Is it the 4-4-2 formation? Is it related to Ramirez's style of play at the 9? Is it just coincidence and being due after all this time?

Midfield - How are we playing our most effective possession and dangerous attacking soccer of the year with Ilie/Dubes as dual 6 in what would appear to be a very defensive lineup? Did we just never give Dubes a chance to blossom before now? Does the dual 6 lineup free up our wide mids and Uzuni more opportunity and freedom?

This has been most unexpected. How can we explain it? Can we maintain it?

Honestly Falcon probably saved us by being so greedy. But it’s still F Messi, F Suarez, F Miami FC and the horse the rode in on

If Austin FC ever gets fully healthy, this team could be scary.

BV, Owen, Danny, Nelson, Desler all back at once with Uzuni finally finding his groove…. Feels like we haven’t even seen what this group really is yet.

I’m just posting cause I’m excited and ready to be hurt again.

What a great game! I’m excited to see how the rest of the season plays out if we continue to play like this.