Austin FC showed no mercy to a struggling Whitecaps side on Saturday night.
Maxi Urruti scored a first-half brace and Sebastián Driussi added a league-leading sixth goal of the season as the club cruised to a 3-0 victory over Vancouver.
Following the Verde and Black’s eighth game of the season, Josh Wolff opined on the night’s performance, Maxi Urruti’s play, Moussa Djitte’s absence, and his music preference, among other things.
Here are some highlights of what Austin FC head coach Wolff said in the press conference after the dominating win over Vancouver.
Opening Statement
“Tonight was awesome. The guys came back to Q2 and I told them a little beforehand — a cup of Q2 and you guys will be just fine. They came out and performed. The energy is right. The fans are awesome. It gave us such a big lift. The performance was reflective of that.”
Thoughts on forward Maxi Urruti
“Maxi’s efforts tonight were off the charts. Absolutely off the charts.” Coach Wolff added, “I first saw Maxi when I went to Argentina when I was with DC [United]. I’ve known him and seen him for a number of years. His work rate has always been off the charts. His back-pressing is something we always talked about, so when there was an opportunity to get him we immediately had conversations with players and directly with him.”
On Urruti’s ceiling with Austin FC
“He’s got to keep pushing his performances. There’s a higher level for him. I don’t know what his highest goal total was for a year, but we want to challenge that. We want to push that.”
Update on Moussa Djitte’s absence
“He is in Ramadan. He is dealing with that, but it’s about performances. That’s what it comes down to. I won’t pull away from that. You earn minutes by the way you train and the way that you play. Then you got to show up on game days and perform as well. Moussa’s doing fine. Obviously, we’ve got to be mindful of his situation. Our high-performance department is constantly looking out for him from a physical standpoint for sure. You got to perform to play; that’s how I look at it.”
How do you keep the momentum against Houston
“You prepare. Preparation is what puts players in a really good place. There’s our process of reviewing. How we want to train. What are the details we want to go into next week. We’ll dive into that in the next couple days. They’re a good team. It’s a derby. They’re well-coached…Paulo has done a great job. We’ll have our hands full going on the road. “
On a lighter note, Wolff’s favorite Bon Jovi song
Josh Wolff was asked by media what his favorite Bon Jovi song is since the musician is in Austin performing tonight. “I don’t know, man Wanted Dead or Alive. There are many Bon Jovi [songs]. My band is U2. So if U2 happens to come to town, or Bono comes to town, please let me know. That’s my crush. U2 is it for me. But, Bon Jovi is great.”
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