AUSTIN — I wasn’t 100% sure I believed Alex Ring on Thursday when he said he didn’t watch the MLS All-Star Game. I do now.
In fact, I’m pretty certain that nobody on Austin FC watched the league’s showcase event. Because if they had, they would have paid more respect to FC Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi.
The 18-year-old spent all week in Los Angeles, where he was the center of attention for multiple reasons. First, he scored the winning penalty kick to beat the Liga MX All-Stars, and then he officially announced that he had chosen to represent the United States in World Cup qualifying beginning next week.
And yet, Verde paid little attention to him as he dealt a major blow to Austin’s playoff hopes in a 5-3 loss.
What Pepi did
I realize I already said this, but it bears repeating. Pepi was in Los Angeles until at least Thursday. I had a similar schedule, except I could barely feel my legs as I walked the dog on Friday morning. (Granted, I did take Spirit Airlines, which I doubt Pepi did. Take that!)
And yet, Pepi was the most active player on the pitch Sunday night.
To put it mildly, he was an absolute pest. The likes of which Austin hasn’t seen all season. And it was extremely effective.
Pepi’s hustle led to the opening goal when he pressured Julio Cascante on a goal kick then chased down Brad Stuver on the ensuing pass, knocking the ball into the path of teammate Jesús Ferreira for an easy tap-in.
On the second goal, Austin left the 6-foot-1 El Pasoan wide open near the penalty spot and left back Žan Kolmanič failed to close down Hungarian winger Szabolcs Schön. The result was an easy pass for Pepi to smack into the net for a 2-1 lead.
After that, the floodgates were open. After Ferreira made it 3-1 in the 38th minute, Pepi scored the fourth — and third in four minutes — on a counterattack.
They may have been cursing him on Sunday, but Austin FC fans who follow the U.S. men’s national team will love Pepi come Thursday when qualifying begins in El Salvador.
What ATX didn't
This is about to be a back-handed compliment. Ready? Tonight was the first time I think I can say that the Austin FC defense was truly shocking.
All five FCD goals came off of errors. They weren't all unforced (as I wrote above, Pepi earned his praise) but they didn't need to happen. In particular, Cascante had a shocker. Which is shocking in and of itself, because he's been mostly good all season other than a few moments.
And he scored the lone first-half goal for Austin, heading in a beautifully delivered cross by Žan Kolmanič. Both Cascante and Kolmanič were subbed off at halftime, presumably for their defensive errors.
The second goal was particularly egregious. Kolmanič sagged off of Schön, and Cascante failed to recognize that he should have picked up Pepi near the top of the box. The Costa Rican center back also had the lazy back pass that resulted in the first goal, and was caught ball watching on Ferreira's second.
Dani Pereira also didn't cover himself in glory as the holding midfielder, which leads us to ...
The Ring experiment
There have been a lot of times this season when Alex Ring papered over defensive cracks for Austin. He wasn't in his usual spot on Sunday.
The reason? Ring was pushed forward to help in the attack, like he did last week when he helped spark a 3-1 breakout victory over the Portland Timbers.
And trust me, I understand the knee-jerk reaction to blame Josh Wolff's shortsightedness for tonight's defending. There was always going to be another side to pulling Ring farther upfield.
But you also have to put things in context. Austin has struggled all season to score, and Ring played a gigantic role in breaking a long drought. If Wolff moved him back to the six and Verde drew 0-0 or got shut out tonight, what would the reaction have been? He needed to give this XI another shot.
Now, he's got to do some soul searching. There's only one Alex Ring, and he might be the best this team has as three different positions — holding midfield, box-to-box and (this is debatable) center back. Somebody has to fill those other two.
Did you notice who started both of the last two matches on the bench? Tomás Pochettino. The position Ring played last week and tonight is the one that the Argentine was supposed to fill next to Sebastián Driussi. I'd expect him to be back in the lineup in Vancouver.