San Antonio FC want opponents to keep bad-mouthing them

For the first time in its history, San Antonio FC will finish with the best record in the USL Championship, regardless of how the last two weeks of the regular season go.

Despite that success, not everybody likes the way SAFC has gone about getting its results, particularly its opponents. While SAFC says it likes to focus on itself, it still hears what other teams have to say about it, and it almost welcomes their grumbling.

“I don't know why people keep giving us fuel,” said SAFC goalkeeper Jordan Farr. “By now, people should know that we are motivated by every little thing. We have such a specific style of play and we stick to it, and I don't know why that is looked down upon, but I don't really care too much because we're a really good team right now.” 

SAFC’s style not only uses a high press to win the ball back but then advances it forward as quickly as possible. A whopping 50.6% of SAFC’s passes have been directed forward rather than to either side or backward, with SAFC leading the league by a longshot in that respect as only two other teams even surpass 40%. With that high-risk, high-reward passing, SAFC ranks last in the league with a 66.7% passing accuracy and only 5,961 successful passes, almost 1,500 lower than the next-lowest team.

However, SAFC’s directness gets results as it ranks eighth in the league with 50 goals and fifth with 436 shots, creating and scoring often enough. Then, once SAFC gets those goals, Farr and the defense do well at shutting down opponents, only allowing a league-low 23 goals.

“A lot of people might say that we're not a normal soccer team, but if you're a normal soccer team and you're not in first, it doesn't really mean anything,” said SAFC forward Sam Adeniran. “The most important thing is winning.”

That style is clearly getting results even if it’s not the prettiest, and that continues to frustrate opponents like Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head coach Brendan Burke.

“They’re not a very good soccer team, but they’re extremely efficient,” Burke said in comments before a trip to face SAFC on Sept. 20. “They’re big, they’re physical, they’re fast, and they have a very clearly-defined style of play, and that’s what has put them at the top of the league this year.”

Although it wasn’t the smoothest win for SAFC when it played the Switchbacks, SAFC got the goal it had been pushing for late and won 1-0. Perhaps even better than the onfield victory, SAFC seized the opportunity to poke fun at Burke’s words.

That 1-0 scoreline has been a common one for SAFC lately, winning four of its last five matches by scoring the lone goal. SAFC and its fans would probably like some insurance goals, but it knows how to win, which is especially important with the playoffs on the horizon.

“People will say we play a certain brand of soccer that isn't attractive, but I think 1-0 is plenty attractive,” Farr said.

Unless you just started following SAFC this year, you know Burke isn’t the first coach to criticize SAFC’s style, nor the most notorious. Ahead of a Western Conference quarterfinal match in November 2021, San Diego Loyal SC head coach Landon Donovan talked about SAFC being among the league leaders in fouls and bookings as it wanted to break up play and said the Loyal needed to make sure the referees were watching.

The SAFC community in particular felt like Donovan was basically just saying SAFC was dirty, even if he didn’t explicitly say it. When the teams met in the quarterfinal, though, SAFC did what it does well, scoring two goals in the first 25 minutes and seeing out its lead to advance.

Unlike with the Switchbacks, SAFC never clapped back at Donovan and the Loyal for those remarks, perhaps because they weren’t as blunt. When asked, SAFC reps denied that Donovan’s words were a motivating factor, but a source told The Striker they were shared in the locker room and gave the team extra motivation.

According to Farr, SAFC doesn’t actively seek the sour opinions of its opponents and doesn’t care if teams actually mean the inflammatory things they say or are just stirring the pot.

“It's not hard to see, you just go on Twitter, you follow USL, you follow other teams,” Farr said. “One scroll and you see an article and read it because you care about what you do in life, it’s your career. As an athlete, you're trying to read and gain as much information about other teams that can help you succeed.”

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of wanting to learn more about an opponent and stumbling upon criticism in the process, and somebody will drop that criticism into the team’s group chat. Farr considers the way opponents diss SAFC’s style to be free fuel, which actually makes it easier for SAFC to go out and get results.

“That's what champions do, they use every little thing,” Farr said. “Champions figure out ways to win in every single scenario.”

Talking about the ultimate goal of winning a championship might sound cliché, but that’s less egregious for a team like SAFC that has actually performed well as the playoffs draw close, making SAFC a favorite to win it all. Between its unconventional-yet-effective style, ability to hold leads and having home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, there’s already enough going in SAFC’s favor, so it would behoove opponents not to add even more fuel to the fire.