The Verde Report: In Addition to Opponents, Austin FC Is Battling Bad Injury Luck
After a charmed sophomore season, El Tree has been cursed with one groin injury after another
By Eric Goodman, Fri., June 2, 2023
If 2022 was the Austin FC fiesta that never slowed down, 2023 has been the hangover that just won't go away.
After a pair of consecutive wins against Seattle and Toronto showed signs of a reinvigorated club, the headaches and nausea returned over the Memorial Day weekend as the Verde and Black squandered an early lead to fall 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium.
As much as every season is its own kettle of fish, especially in a league as fluid and fickle as MLS, it's impossible to ignore the stark difference in Austin FC's fortune this year relative to last year's top four campaign. After a season of overachievement, regression to the mean has become the unwelcome – if not entirely unexpected – theme of ATXFC's season so far, and it's plagued them in multiple areas.
The most apparent and most discussed of those areas is goalscoring, and for good reason. A year ago, through 14 MLS matches, Austin FC had scored a total of 28 goals. This season, the club has only managed half that, with zero games scoring three times or more, compared to four such games by the same point last year.
However, regression has also struck Austin FC in a significant way in the injury department, which might just be the most influential difference in the club's year-to-year performance downturn. Last season, as the only club to have 11 players (enough for a full lineup) participate in at least 30 games, Austin FC was arguably the healthiest team in MLS. It is certainly not contending for that title this year.
Injuries have plagued El Tree at a constant and alarming rate from the season's very first day, when dependable center back Julio Cascante suffered a severe adductor (groin) strain. Then it was a torn ACL and season-ending surgery for exciting fullback Zan Kolmanič. Then fan favorite Diego Fagúndez with a groin. Then MVP finalist Sebastián Driussi with a groin.
Things have only gotten worse from the club during a month of May in which games have fallen on every Saturday and Wednesday without respite. Last week in the U.S. Open Cup against Chicago, it was Leo Väisänen's turn as the impressive young defender suffered an LCL tear that will sideline him for at least two months. The following match against Houston, Alex Ring exited with a groin pull of his own. And though Ring appears to have avoided anything major, it's safe to say head coach Josh Wolff has heard enough groin talk for one season.
"I'd certainly say it's odd. Three, four of them in a short span that we've had is enough for me to have questions with the high-performance staff, and obviously we'll keep scouring and looking for ideas and better solutions to limit the risk to the players, but it's frustrating for sure," Wolff said.
Wolff said the injuries in defense specifically could necessitate the return to first team action for a pair of castaway center backs, Kipp Keller and Amro Tarek, neither of whom have been seen since committing costly early-season errors. Newest loan signing Aleksandar Radovanović is also a safe bet to see his role expand in the coming weeks.
The constant shuffle makes building and maintaining momentum that much more challenging for a floundering squad like Austin's.
"The Saturday/Wednesday game [schedule], it takes a toll on a lot of players. It's unfortunate," striker Gyasi Zardes said. "We can't wait to have a fully healthy squad, but until then, if your name is called, you have to try to get the job done."
