- APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEPTIVE: Despite the startling goal differential, Minnesota United’s play in the first two games of the season has not been as hollow as it might appear. The defense has been generally decent and the chances have been created, but a handful of catastrophic mistakes in their own final third and a lack of crisp finishing in the other team’s sunk them against Seattle and Real Salt Lake. According to @GameFlowxPG, the expected goals in the season opener were 2.52 for the Sounders and 1.02 for the Loons, while the home opener had 1.82 expected goals for MNUFC and 1.51 for RSL. There are certainly adjustments to be made — particularly when it comes to the left side of the defense and how dangerous the wingers need to be — but with new signing Adrien Hunou on the way from France and the promise of another signing or two, it’s not (yet) time to panic.
- CLIP THIS RECIPE: The narratives around expansion teams have long fallen into one of two buckets: confident big spenders (Atlanta United, LAFC, Inter Miami) and humble one-piece-at-time-ers (Minnesota United, FC Cincinnati, Nashville SC). Each of those overarching ideas is true to some extent for each of the aforementioned teams, but Austin FC have apparently learned their lessons from both archetypes. They’ve combined international DPs with high upside (Cecilio Dominguez, Tomás Pochettino) with a clutch of MLS vets (Alex Ring, Ben Sweat, Nick Lima, Matt Besler, Danny Hoesen) and sprinkled with some young, raw talent (Daniel Pereira, Zan Kolmanic). No approach is foolproof without the right personnel, as we’ve seen FC Cincinnati struggle for consistency while Nashville SC have rounded into shape quite nicely. But Austin have avoided putting all their eggs into any one basket and it’s an approach that could pay dividends sooner rather than later.
- IS THIS YOUR KING: The Loons’ rough night against Real Salt Lake last time out was ultimately overshadowed by the antics of RSL goalkeeper David Ochoa, who kicked the ball into the Wonderwall after the final whistle. Ochoa earned praise from several pundits for his actions in his second MLS start as they applauded his colorful personality and bemoaned the lack of good villains in MLS. The keeper earned a spot on the bench in the Team of the Week presented by Audi, presumably for his “vibes” because in the actual game he faced two on-target shots and let one in.
- OK LADIES NOW LET’S GET IN FORMATION: Head Coach Adrian Heath has never been one to hit the panic button quickly when it comes to tactics or lineups and has often made a sharp distinction between a bad gameplan and a gameplan not getting executed well. So don’t expect him to go away from the 4-2-3-1 — especially not at home — but keep an eye on the starting XI. Heath has long been a believer in letting the depth push the presumed starters if they’re not holding on to their spots, so don’t be surprised if there are some changes afoot for the start of the game on Saturday night. Bringing Osvaldo Alonso off the bench against RSL instantly gave the team more bite and verve, and in a small sample size of 45 minutes, rookie Justin McMaster has shown promise at a left wing spot that needs help. Putting together a starting XI is often less about putting your best players out there and more about putting the players who are playing best together out there.
