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Cutline Josh Wolff has led Austin FC to a 7-6-8 record so far in 2024. (courtesy of Austin FC)
Josh Wolff must feel like he’s trapped in an Agatha Christie novel.
Austin FC’s head coach, in his fourth season with the club, lives to coach another week despite a disappointing weekend loss in which the Green and Black recorded just two shot attempts and zero shots on goal in a 2-0 loss. at Sporting Kansas City. It was the fourth L for El Tree in the last six games.
Meanwhile, during the same time period, four of Wolff’s other MLS coaches were relieved of their duties in Atlanta, Dallas, San Jose and, most recently, St. Louis. after impressively leading the 2023 expansion side to the best regular season record in the Western Conference last year (not unlike how ATXFC exceeded expectations in 2022).
Wolff’s mentor Gregg Berhalter also looks set to lose his post as coach of the US men’s national team after failing to guide the Copa América hosts out of the group stage.
And then there was Wolff.
In assessing the damage of the Kansas City loss, the ATX boss inadvertently exposed one of the biggest flaws in his coaching ethic.
“It was a team (Sporting KC) that had to win. And there’s another team that looked like it would be good if we won,” Wolff said.
It’s almost as if Austin FC’s players have spent the last four seasons listening to their coach steadfastly claim that the basic goal when playing on the road is to get a draw, something Wolff has repeatedly argued whenever asked.
Now, as the Verde Report has said whenever the topic of Wolff’s future comes up, context matters. The club is in a state of rebuilding with sporting director Rodolfo Borrell leading a complete overhaul of the roster. Despite this, Austin FC sits just one point out of a playoff spot with just over a third of the season remaining. Results-wise, things aren’t terrible yet.
The biggest problems lie when looking at the level of performance that Austin FC has displayed for most of the season. ATX averages 8.2 shot attempts and 2.4 shots on goal per game. Both figures are the lowest among MLS clubs. If expected goals are your thing, ATX is dead last in that department as well (excluding penalty kicks).
For a coach whose entire system is built around creating scoring chances, those numbers are damaging regardless of the state of the roster. Not only is it a bad formula for scoring points over the course of a season, but it’s an absolutely brutal watch for any loyal Verde fan.
List help is coming. Borrell has already secured three big signings for the club (winger Osman Bukari and defenders Mikkel Desler and Oleksandr Svatok) who will join the club later this month. ATXFC this week also mutually agreed to part ways with on-loan striker Moussa Djitté, freeing up an Under-22 Initiative spot that Borrell could also look to fill this summer.
The biggest question for Austin FC is whether Wolff is the man to lead the revamped roster. Since Borrell’s first day in Austin, he has supported the coach, even claiming Wolff’s presence was one of the biggest reasons he took the ATXFC job last year.
But with more experienced and successful coaches hitting unemployment across the American soccer landscape, it remains to be seen how long Wolff can continue to avoid the axe.
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