Josh Wolff talks about what went right, what needs to improve after Austin FC opener

It is hard to imagine a better start to a season than the 5-0 beatdown Austin FC handed FC Cincinnati on Saturday. But it wasn't perfect. Soccer games rarely are.

On Wednesday, head coach Josh Wolff broke down some of the areas where his team excelled and the few missteps that will need to improve when Inter Miami CF comes to town on Sunday.

Here are a few highlights from Wolff's midweek press conference.

Set-piece hero

The first two goals of the campaign were a welcome sight, and not only because they both arrived during the opening 14 minutes. Both were the product of set pieces, an area where Austin struggled to generate offense in 2021.

In fact, Verde scored only three times from set plays last season, on a pair of headers by Alex Ring and one by Julio Cascante. Against Cincy, Žan Kolmanič provided the service for Cecilio Domínguez to score the opener, and Ring benefitted from Nick Lima digging out a second ball on a corner kick.

But the man behind the scenes, we learned Wednesday, was goalkeeper coach Preston Burpo. When he's not keeping Brad Stuver sharp, Wolff said that Burpo orchestrates set pieces for Verde on both ends of the pitch.

"We talked about it last year, we were (near the top of the league in earning) corner kicks, and we didn't capitalize enough," Wolff said. "That was a big part of what we talked about in this offseason. ... I think Preston's done a great job creating a real clarity as to what the roles are and what it looks like in the first phase and second phase, and it was nice to get rewarded from it."

Wolff said that Austin FC also scored a set-piece goal on Sunday in a scrimmage where the reserves played Rio Grande Valley FC.

Stretching the diamond

I mentioned in my re-watch column that Austin looked to play long, especially early in the match. I asked Wolff if there was something about Cincinnati that led to that approach, or if we can expect more direct play moving forward. Here was his answer.

"I think that evolved last year as well," Wolff said. "I think you have to be mindful of what the opponent is doing. They were in a very, very organized (midfield) diamond. So for us, a big part of that was to stress and stretch the diamond and have moments where we played vertically, but the real issues that they had with us was when we went side-to-side and when we went fullback to fullback or went 10 to weak side fullback and really started moving them and challenging them."

The diamond that Wolff references here is the way Cincinnati set up its midfield, in a diamond shape with Lucho Acosta up top and Junior Moreno alone behind two central midfielders in Yaya Kubo and Allan Cruz. The purpose of this is to clog the middle, and you can really see what Wolff is talking about in the buildup to the third Austin FC goal.

Kolmanič bypassed the midfield with a long ball, allowing Ring to take the ball off Moreno and set up an overload with Lima, Fagúndez and Driussi on the right side.

That goal, and the fourth that arrived from a long ball played by Dani Pereira, don't happen without a recognition that there's more room further up the pitch.

"We could have done that more often in the second half," Wolff said. "As we brought down another midfielder in the second half, they had very few answers for for our ability to move through the midfield. It's just our guys obviously understanding what's needed in the game. Game management is a lot of what we talked about with our players in the offseason.

"Brad (Stuver) being a big one as far as when we're building up from goalkeeper, what's the moment like? Are we under pressure? Is there stress? Does he need to put his foot on it and just push everybody up the field? Can we play out? So we filter that discussion through the group quite often. I think we have a much more mature group and we obviously want to play (from the back) but we also have to recognize what the opponent's trying to do as well."

Inter Miami will present a different challenge, something I'll write about later in the week. But it was good to see Austin exploit a team in a way we didn't see a lot of in year one.

Kippy mania

There's a new fan favorite at Q2, and his name rhymes with yeller. Rookie center back Kipp Keller got supporters hyped with his physical play in front of the Verde Wall, and I have a feeling you'll see a lot of No. 15 jerseys by season's end.

Wolff cautioned patience when asked about Keller's performance, particularly when it comes to discipline. Keller earned a yellow card in the 33rd minute, and was subbed in favor of Ruben Gabrielsen in the 65th.

"He took a beating going against Brandon Vázquez," Wolff said of Keller. "That was a big boy, and he lost some duels. And then it's also understanding you know, in those moments, you may not be able to move the forward, you may not be able to displace them. ... He mistimed some challenges and took a yellow for it."

But for an MLS debut, Keller made quite the impression.

"His competitiveness and his positivity is always evident," Wolff said. "You love the energy and we love the energy that he brings to the team and to the fans. So we'll continue to encourage that, and along the way, he's got to continue to get better. He's got to get calmer with the ball, slow down his decision-making, be a little bit more secure and patient. I think that those are things where over time he'll come to understand a bit better. But you know, for his first game as a pro, we were proud of him and obviously excited by his potential."