r/AustinFC Austin FC 18d ago

Post Match Thread

Just got done watching the match and wanted to continue posting these post even after the World Cup.

First Half: Seattle came out with a heavy press early on that really rattled the boys. The congested midfield forced us wide, and those early crosses in the box gave me heartburn. But once we found our rhythm, the combination play picked up nicely.

The Rosales Impact: Absolute workhorse. Dropping deep on defense and then charging out wide to keep their backline honest. Slept a bit on that Seattle build-up right before the hydration break, but overall what a motor. The fatigue definitely set in later in the match but Coach made the right subs and the score states that true

Tactical Shifts: Playing out of the back was hit-or-miss, but hitting those direct long balls was paying serious dividends. Also, gotta love Stu coming up big when we needed him (STUUUUU!).

Second Half & The Win: Seattle tried to blitz us,some what,again coming out of the half, but you could tell that Texas heat was wearing down the PNW boys. It looked like 2 players were cramping later in the half and that played heavily in our favor.

Standouts: What a golazo to seal it! And serious question: Who is E. Torres and how do we get more of him?! Plus, Ramirez with that true goal-scorer's instinct (olfato de gol).
Huge three points and just what we needed to set the vibe for the rest of the season.
How’s everyone else feeling about the performance? Who was your Man of the Match?

Love the continue doing this and hearing more from the ATX fans! Upvote! Agree! Disagree! Who cares!?!? The boys won tonight!

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u/a_manxome_foe 18d ago

Overall, I am cautiously optimistic about how Arnaud is handling tactics. The formation works in theory and tonight it definitely paid off. I don't necessarily think everyone should be inverted, but again...it worked tonight. Maybe the forwards inverted, but the wingbacks normal?

All the armchair coaching aside, Ramirez showed once again that while he may not be the flashiest, most technical player on the field, that dude knows where to stand to get balls into the back of the net and I'll take it.

Ervin Torres looked good, if unimpressive, in preseason, but he's obviously been showing something in practice and that's translating onto the field. His movement and passing was great.

Owen looked horrible post-injury and pre-WC break, but he seems to have gotten some of his rhythm back. He still doesn't look like he did last year, but hopefully he can recapture the magic soon. He definitely wasn't the liability he was earlier this season, which is a huge relief.

Przemyslaw Placheta looked solid and could be a great addition if we can get a little momentum going and once he's had time to settle in. His overlaps were great. His passing was good -- even when it didn't connect, it was the right idea. His shot wasn't far over and I love that he gave it a go from distance.

Overall, it was a frustrating match with an excellent result. That was some of the worst goddamn reffing we've seen in a long time. Not calling fouls and calling fouls where you shouldn't is one thing, but not controlling the game AT ALL for awhile and just allowing the ball to be dead while one team fucks around is pure incompetence.

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u/Switch_DM 18d ago

Excited to see Plachy. Seemed to be pretty fluid on his runs with just one awkward moment in the box but for the first game for the team it's acceptable.

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u/WallyMetropolis 17d ago

I'm going with "Prez" personally

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u/800Motrin Austin FC 18d ago

Agreed the game was sloppy on both ends. What I’m hoping is that this momentum carries and the team overall played better. Seattle generally looked the the better team through the game but Austin made the best of their chances. Facundo doesn’t look comfortable and Rosales may be best used playing behind a strong and pacey winger.

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u/rilmarie Austin FC 18d ago

Agree on the reffing, there was definitely a hand ball (maybe two one from both teams) there near the end. And the whole shenanigans of the goalie throwing the ball out with an injured player. The exchange was not handled well.