Foreign Exchange: Three Questions with Phil West of Verde All Day
The LA Galaxy is set to face Austin FC in the Lone Star State for a Western Conference showdown. LA is looking to record its first-ever three-game-winning streak in the Greg Vanney era. This morning/afternoon matchup is the perfect time to showcase what the LA Galaxy is about in front of a national audience for the second matchday in a row.
The Galaxy is coming off a 4-3 win over the San Jose Earthquakes in the 100th edition of the Cali Clasico. The LA Galaxy had all three Designated Players score in a match for the first time since the 2016 MLS season. Austin FC is also coming off a victory over Texas rivals the Houston Dynamo. Emiliano Rigoni scored the game-winning goal for Austin.
To answer my question about Austin FC and what’s going on in that part of Texas, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with my former Striker colleague and current writer of Verde All Day, Phil West. His coverage of Austin FC is top-notch and one of the nation's best soccer writers.
The LA Galaxy really struggle when their opponents play a low or mid block and force them to break them down. Could Austin approach the Galaxy this way or might this be a game where both teams are “trying to play”?
That’s one of the big questions Verde fans are mulling this week, and in a way, we might know more about that choice based on whether Julio Cascante starts. Last week, he was out for yellow card accumulation, and Matt Hedges and Brendan Hines-Ike were dual center back anchors in the 1-0 win over Houston, in which Verde had an uncharacteristically low 35% possession rate, and stymieing the Dynamo’s offense. The hosts had 17 shots; Brad Stuver had six saves and the Verde defense blocked another five.
If they both get the start again, expect Austin to try to defend and spring an occasional counter. Knowing Josh Wolff, though, I’d expect Cascante to start and the team to try to have it both ways. Wolff’s emphasized defense in the offseason, but they still like to have a lot of possession and a lot of passes — which, with the defensive focus, has meant a more punchless offense, but not letting is any many goals as their xGA says they should be letting in.
But then in Thursday’s media availability, Dani Pereira hinted they’ll play like they did in Houston, which means sitting back and absorbing and then trying to counter, which seems like it’s pretty risky given what we’ve seen from this defense so far? (I harken back to the recent game at St. Louis, which Verde lost 1-0 with just that strategy, making a characteristic defensive mistake at the wrong time for the lone goal.)
In short: It’s not awesome over here in 2024.
The Galaxy’s possession numbers pop out this season but the club is at its most dangerous in transition. How often does Austin find itself in transition and how do they defend those moments?
A few weeks ago, Austin was preparing to play San Jose and Wolff actually told the media, “You know, it's critical that we don't turn it into a transition game. We don't have the legs nor the speed to do that.” And this was against the Quakes.
So, in short, Verde would like to be in transition defense as little as possible and it’s not great when it has to play it.
I have a scenario in my head where Verde’s transition defense fails and the match looks like this:
Paintsil 11’
Joveljic 37’
Puig (PK) 53’
Cascante 67’ (off a set piece)
Fagundez 82’
That would, by the way, be maximum pain for Austin fans.
Sebastian Driussi and Emiliano Rigoni are the two attacking players most people would know about, who else on Austin FC should Galaxy fans keep an eye on during the game. Is former G Gyasi Zardes improving in his second season with Verde? How are some of the attacking pickups from the primary transfer window doing so far?
Zardes still has his moments — he sprung Driussi for the game-winner against San Jose with a really smart touch pass — but he aged a few years over the last year and he’s matriculating to the late-game-sub phase of his career. I’ll be shocked if he gets more than two goals this season.
The two big offseason attacking acquisitions, Diego Rubio and Jader Obrian, are nice players that make Verde better than it was in 2023. Rubio can score and combine with Driussi, and he provides a fun level of ‘housery that the team’s missed. Obrian’s the fastest player on the team, and he’s not the best on the ball, but brings some welcome unpredictability to the offense. The team’s still two solid attacking pieces away from being a true contender, but Rubio and Obrian should do enough to keep Verde in the middle tier of West teams for most if not all of the season.
The real issue with the team, however, is Rigoni and (to a lesser degree) Driussi not contributing like designated players should. Rigoni got the game winner against Houston last week, but it was his first goal contribution this season, and it was getting so dire for him that he didn’t even see the field in the two matches preceding last week’s win.
Driussi’s been a little better after a hamstring injury kept him out of the first three matches, but look at his two goals and assist, and that extrapolates out to about 15 goal contributions for a player who was an MVP candidate two seasons ago with about twice that. Rigoni, the second-highest-paid player on the team, is on pace for four goal contributions. That’s not ballin’; that’s Kevin Cabral-in’. (I just high-fived myself.)
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