{"id":33952,"date":"2021-06-05T13:57:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T17:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=33952"},"modified":"2021-06-05T13:57:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T17:57:06","slug":"austin-fc-roster-that-believes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/06\/05\/austin-fc-roster-that-believes\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic or Moneyball: How Austin FC built a roster that believes"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITORIAL<\/strong> – Just seven games into their inaugural season and MLS\u2019s newest club, Austin FC, already has a distinct identity. Head Coach Josh Wolff has clearly set his team up to play in a particular way. The Verde are hard to beat, hustle and press, and do their best to take care of the ball when in possession. That\u2019s an oversimplification of all that the team does, obviously. But these key features are undoubtedly front and center \u2013 and the Austin FC roster and culture have been established very quickly.<\/p>\n

Magic or Moneyball: How Austin FC built a roster that believes<\/h2>\n

Choosing an identity, a way to play, is one thing. Executing on it is something else altogether. So, how has Wolff and his coaching team been able to establish Austin\u2019s way of doing business so rapidly? And how were they able to secure their player’s buy-in from day one?<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s press conference, Wolff talked a little about the thinking behind the team identity and how that informed recruitment. \u201cWe\u2019ve (Wolff and his coaches) been in this league for a long time so domestically have a good idea of the players we wanted to go after. We looked at many different aspects: coachability, what the player’s desires are, what their motivations are, their buy-in to the collective, and their understanding of what we want to be offensively and defensively\u201d.<\/p>\n

As important as the coaching is, the answer might be found in the specific make-up of this roster. Austin FC currently has a 27-player squad, among them a few seasoned MLS veterans. Curiously, though, even the \u2018vets\u2019 with over 100 MLS appearances to their name \u2013 Besler, Ring, Hoesen, Lima, and Fagundez \u2013 racked up their count with just one team<\/em>. The list of centurions registering appearances with multiple MLS clubs? Only Manneh and Jimemez.<\/p>\n

In fact, of the 27 players that Wolff has assembled to date, only six <\/em>have taken to the field for more than one MLS team. Think about that. Only half a dozen players have experienced life outside of one MLS club before their move to Austin. The rest of the squad with MLS experience average 40 appearances, essentially one seasons\u2019 worth. Nine of the squad have no MLS experience whatsoever.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s perhaps noteworthy, too, that a quarter of the Verde roster has represented Columbus Crew, current MLS Cup champions.<\/p>\n

So, what does this all mean? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s controversial to suggest that the following observations have merit\u2026<\/p>\n