Three takeaways from a back-breaking Austin FC loss in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Rotation or no rotation, Austin FC simply can't get this middle match in a three-game week right. This time, Verde went to San Jose with only one change from its weekend XI and got romped 4-0 by the Earthquakes.

Here are three takeaways from the match.

Did Austin quit?

When a team that's been eliminated from playoff contention concedes four goals in the second half and fails to pull one back, the below feels like a reasonable question to ask.

"Josh, I know you guys came into this match mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but when you looked at the effort in the second half, is this a group that's quit on each other and has quit on this season?"

Full credit goes to Eric Goodman from the Austin Chronicle for asking it. Here was the response from Josh Wolff.

"Um (pause) ... Eric, obviously you guys have the freedom to ask any question, but I don't think that's the case," Wolff said. "I mean, realistically, is that what you're seeing? Is that what you're saying? I think there are some frustrated guys, but it's a bullshit question, to be honest. But if that's where you want to go with it bud, go with it. That's your deal. If that's what you see, write it. If that's what you see bud, write it. That's what you see."

We've seen Wolff get defensive, but this was over the top. The question clearly struck a nerve. And it's easy to see why.

However you want to frame it, the fact of the matter is that Austin FC folded in on itself Wednesday night. There was no fight back, and the final goal came off a corner kick in which nobody marked a forward in the box. So no, the question was not bullshit. The answer was.

Here were a couple better answers to similar questions by Wolff's players.

Julio Cascante said, "It's hard when you are losing that way, when you don't have a chance to make the playoffs. Everything just turns different, and of course everyone's attitude is different. It's unfortunate, because everybody should be on the same page to try to keep going and close the season the right way. We definitely need to talk about that, because it can't happen like that. When they scored the first goal, I think we lost the game completely. Those are things that can't happen." 

And Fagúndez, while defiant, was measured in his rebuttal.

"It's a hard one to take," Fagúndez said. "But I don't think anybody gave up, it was just an off day for everybody. It's nothing that we can blame anybody for. I think we just have to look forward and just keep going."

Wanted: Center back

Josh Wolff has said that center back is one of the positions that Austin FC will look to bolster this offseason. For any prospective central defender questioning the available playing time, this match should be Exhibit A.

After reaching halftime at 0-0, the defense capitulated in giving up three goals in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Julio Cascante allowed himself to be beat in a one-on-one duel by San Jose forward Benji Kikanovic, then watched the 21-year-old homegrown carve apart the rest of Austin FC.

Jhohan Romaña sagged too deep to make a difference, and Žan Kolmanič was caught ball watching as Eduardo "La Chofis" Lopez drifted to the far post, where he finished to make the score 1-0. 

After the match, Cascante took responsibility for the mistake that opened the floodgates for San Jose.

"The field was very quick, it was wet, so on that play, the ball just bounced a little bit different," he said. "I just lost it at that moment, and the San Jose forward just grabbed it and went. Unfortunately, they scored the first goal and that's 100% on me. I think that was the key for them to start the disaster, to say it like that."

Center back is usually a difficult job for a positional play team like Austin FC, but it's even harder against a team like San Jose, which is committed to man-marking. At times, Cascante and Romaña were tasked with carrying the ball into the attacking third, because they were the unmarked men in the Earthquakes' system. Romaña threatened to make a play or two, but nothing that amounted to a significant chance.

Playing higher up the pitch also left Austin susceptible, like it was on the second goal which sprung from a counterattack after a Verde corner kick. Sebastián Driussi was left to do the dirty work, and that's not where you want your star playmaker to be. Jeremy Ebobisse easily shrugged off the Argentine, and by the time either center back made it to midfield, it was too late. 

Kikanovic had the finish.

The third and fourth goals were further proof that Austin needs a stalwart defender. Nobody closed down Cristian Espinoza, nor did anybody recognize the leading scorer in MLS history Chris Wondolowski entering the penalty box as Espinoza's cross deflected off Nick Lima straight to Wondo. And on the fourth, 5-foot-9 forward Carlos Fierro was all by himself for a corner kick header.

There's just no excusing the volume of defensive errors in this loss.

Subs gone wrong

We've seen this too many times. Wolff opted for halftime subs, and things quickly derailed.

I plan to ask him whether the moves he made — McKinze Gaines for Moussa Djitté and Rodney Redes for Cecilio Domínguez — were scripted before the match. I have a hunch that they were.

Update: Wolff said that the moves weren't planned, and that Djitté was struggling with an ankle sprain that had him hobbling midway through the first half.

"Moussa has had an ankle sprain for about 10 days," Wolff said. "We got him to a good place for the last game and he was hobbling 25-30 minutes in and we knew he was in a little bit trouble so we were glad he could make it to half. But he wasn't moving that well towards the latter part of that, and he was gesturing that it was certainly bothering him."

On Cecilio, Wolff said that he wasn't pleased with what he saw from the designated player in the opening 45 minutes.

"I just didn't think he had a great performance in the first half," Wolff said. "I didn't think he was defending particularly well, and (he was) losing some balls easily." 

The subs were understandable, considering the Copa Tejas derby against Houston that looms on Sunday. But throwing Gaines and Redes on clearly disrupted the flow, and you could argue there were other players who were struggling worse than Djitté and Domínguez. Djitté was one of the best players on the pitch in the first half despite his ankle injury.

Diego Fagúndez struggled to find his footing, and didn't improve after the break. Austin could have benefitted from some more pace running off of Djitté's back, and instead Verde lost the one reliable safety valve it had to escape San Jose's pressure in the first half. Yet another moment when having another target forward to bring off the bench would have been helpful. 

The changes weren't the reason Austin FC lost. It was second best in the first half, too. But they certainly didn't help.