C J H

MLS After the Optometrist 👀

But, obviously, we won't know if he's the right fit in Austin until we have better data about his xAG per game

Loved to see how active/involved Facu was last night - attempted 49 passes, with 84% completion (on pace w/ '24 stats); Druissi in '24, just 39 passes attempted per 90

He also had the most touches of any #Verde player w/ 74 - in this first game, he looked really comfortable playing in the #10 role

MLS should be doing everything humanly possible to make their fantasy game as accessible and fun as possible and this seems not it.

paywalling basic fantasy league features for a league whose games are already paywalled. bold fan engagement strategy!

For years, improving the #MLSFantasy game was a simple way that MLS could have grown the league... Now they've just given up on it

Love this league, but damn if it isn't hard to be a fan of it sometimes

**The game has a free version

But to have an experience similar to previous seasons of watching your team's points update in real time throughout a matchday, you have to pay

No, gracias

Nico just isn't the guy to get the most out of this roster, but I fear he won't be on the hot seat as long as there are injuries... Curious to see what happens until BV9 returns

2nd half thoughts...

Our only hope is that he hasn't settled in to playing with his new teammates

I know it's preseason, but play has been so slow - needs to speed up

Where's Desler?? Could really use him, and I'm curious how lineup changes with him in it

3/3

Don't love Rosales at right wing, but I liked how he and Gally were comfortable switching to create some options on that side

Defending in a 4-4-2, rather than the 5-2-3 we saw last week - working better except for the goal

ATX pressing higher at times, but got beat in quick transition

2/

1st half #AustinFC thoughts:

Terrible defending by multiple players in lead up to Jovelic goal. Have to do better vs a striker of his caliber

I like Facu's movement between channels, but he did seem most comfortable drifting to right wing

Myrto was non-existent - needs to be more involved

1/

And this was the final matchup when I ran through it... Woof!!

Awesome little app - this was a fun way to rank this year's kits 👇

bzzlghtyr.github.io/full-kit-ran...

Listened to this week's pod, and you guys are nailing his name, btw 👊

Crew neck!! I'm very glad to have been wrong on predicting this detail - and overall, it's a fantastic secondary kit!!

Looking forward to picking up the thin mint top!

The new Kickbase #MLSFantasy game sounds pretty dumb - and the tiered subscription model is just the worst possible way to grow this game

After more than a decade of playing fantasy, I look forward to taking a break from it this year 👋

This is pretty much the SXI that I was thinking about after the StL match - for opening day, probably Ilie in place of Wolff and Gally in place of Desler, depending on health status

And as someone who has been to that stadium several times, I can say that I'm not at all surprised that there were issues

I watched people literally scale the walls of the stadium to get into a match, and also the only stadium where I've had the privilege of inhaling pepper spray

2/2

Sounds like there must have been some issues with the management of the #InterMiami friendly last night in Guayaquil

Hosts Barcelona SC trying to shirk responsibility, saying that event was organized by another entity - they only rented their stadium and agreed to have their team participate

1/

Also b/c Craft is a sleazeball

Who is this fútbol fan rooting for in the hand egg game?? Seahawks, of course, mostly in honor of KEXP

Bluey Bingo GIF ALT: Bluey Bingo GIF

I think a certain Australian cultural phenomenon is influencing how people pronounce his name

Been quite disconnected from #AustinFC this preseason, so getting caught up now that Coachella Invitational has started - my biggest early season question: Will commentators, local media, and the fan community learn that Alastuey is 3 syllables and not 4??

Palace fans are still in their seats at an otherwise empty Amex, asking if you've ever seen Brighton win a cup #CPFC

press that space when CITY played into it

As ATX figures out their starting back line, all of those DEFs need to be on the same page about how they are shifting and when

And as has been the case for basically every verde team, it all has to be a lot faster

2/2

I actually saw Rosales' discomfort (or uncertainty perhaps) when ATX was settling into its defensive shape, forming a 5-2-3

Rosales seemed to be focused on retreating to be even with the back line, and there was often space in front of him, wide of the CMs

He was a bit too slow to step up and

1/

Yesterday it was also really tough to get a sense of intentions in the attack b/c ATX just couldn't maintain possession consistently

Next week vs SKC's incomplete roster, ATX should be able to control the game more, so I'm eager to see their build up and whether they use the same def shape

3/3