Phil West

@philwest.bsky.social

Soccer writer covering Austin FC at Verde All Day (verdeallday.com), wrote for The Striker and MLS, bylines in many places. Husky, Longhorn, Roadrunner affiliated. Suffers with Arsenal & Atleti. (Not the Sunderland or the motorcycle Phil West.) 🇨🇦

Austin FC's 5-2-3 with inverted wingbacks appears here to stay (for the rest of 2026) ... but is this on Davy Arnaud? Or does this have Jim Curtin's blessing? And did last night give other teams a blueprint on how to attack Verde's defense? Lots to parse: verdeallday.com/morning-afte...

'Tonight was not progress for us': Assessing an almost-draw in almost-Denver

Austin FC was less than four minutes away from escaping Colorado with a scoreless draw. Yet interim head coach Davy Arnaud compared this unfavorably to a 3-0 loss the week before.

verdeallday.com

Inverted wingbacks have been deployed by Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud over the last two matches. Is that an ill-fated temporary experiment ... or is it here to stay the rest of 2026. We go all in on the concept and how it's borne out so far:

Has Austin FC converted to inverted? How using inverted wingbacks can help (and hurt) an MLS team in limbo

In Austin FC's most recent two matches, interim head coach Davy Arnaud has deployed inverted wingbacks. Is this a good idea? We undergo a lengthy exploration of the matter.

verdeallday.com

Saturday's 3-0 loss to Houston means that Austin FC remains the only team in MLS without an away win in 2026. The season's now officially halfway over, and interim head coach Davy Arnaud faces a match next week against a team just one rung above his. Quotes and stats galore:

'It doesn't change how we're going to approach next week': Processing an away loss to Houston (and Austin FC's concerning lack of away wins)

Both Davy Arnaud and Ilie Sánchez had thoughts about what went wrong in Saturday's 3-0 loss in Houston. Verde remains the only team in MLS without a road win in 2026.

verdeallday.com

Austin FC lineup is out: Plachy starts! Owen starts! Same front three! No J-Ro, but Ilie starts again. (Rotation, sort of, though DA made it sound like we were going to get a little more following Wednesday's bake)

Austin FC starting lineup for July 25, 2026, against Houston

Brandon Vázquez starts! But so does Besard Šabović. Owen Wolff and Jayden Nelson are on the bench. Jorge Alastuey not on the first-team or second-team roster ...

Austin FC starting lineup and subs against Seattle with fisheye lens photo of Brandon Vazquez

Just a golden generation team in its host country losing a Round of 16 match to a team wearing Magritte-inspired robin's egg blue and pink jerseys that say "this is not a jersey" as a nod to the "this is not a pipe" painting

Amended: I DESPISE this Paraguay team and the ref that let them get away with so much chicanery. Rooting for all other CONMEBOL teams to not let Paraguay sniff a World Cup for another 40 years.