The San Jose Earthquakes are enjoying the best eight-match start in franchise history and coach Bruce Arena doesn’t want to hear any chatter about a letdown.
The destructive Earthquakes (7-1-0, 21 points) have outscored opponents 17-3 and look to inflict more damage when they host Austin FC on Wednesday night.
Austin FC (1-3-4, 7 points) is winless in their past six MLS matches (0-3-3).
“There are no trap games in this league,” Arena told reporters. “Any team can beat you on a given day in this league. We understand that. It’s going to be a difficult game on Wednesday. We played Austin last year and I think we split with them. … It’s going to be a difficult game.”
The teams split two regular-season matches last season while Austin also won a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal matchup. San Jose is 3-2-6 in 11 all-time MLS matches against Austin.
The Earthquakes are fresh off Sunday’s 4-1 pummeling of host Los Angeles FC. Ousseni Bouda posted a brace and has a team-best four goals.
Bouda is in his fifth season with San Jose. He sees a definitive change in this season’s squad after the Quakes missed the playoffs last season.
“I think it’s the culture we set for ourselves this year,” Bouda said. “I think everybody is all bought in. We’re taking it one game at a time. It’s only about eight games in right now, so there’s a lot of games left and we want to stay consistent and continue to get better throughout the season as well.”
Austin certainly would like to collect a much-needed victory. The club led late on Saturday before host Toronto FC tallied in the 88th minute to gain a 3-3 tie.
Austin coach Nico Estevez said one key is making sure his players aren’t intimidated by San Jose.
“You can’t be afraid,” Estevez said. “You have to go and be aggressive and you have to attack them. You have to find their weaknesses that every team has and minimize their strengths.”
Austin is winless in four road matches (0-2-2) but one of those was a 2-2 tie against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi on April 4.
That showing has Austin players feeling they can give the Earthquakes a battle.
“We’ve had good performances and shown we can play against top teams in the league,” forward CJ Fodrey said. “It’s about being confident throughout 90 (minutes) and turning those good performances into results.”
–Field Level Media
