The Opposition Report: AV Alta FC
AV Alta keeps winning. Does that end this week?
The Opposition Report — MD10 vs AV Alta FC
Fort Wayne Football Club hosts an AV Alta side that has won three straight in USL League One, including a first road victory and a 4-0 result over the New York Cosmos.
Saturday, May 30 | 7:30 PM ET | Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, Fort Wayne, IN | ESPN+
The Profile
Brian Kleiban, AV Alta’s head coach, is a Bielsa student. Marcelo Bielsa has been one of the most influential figures in modern soccer for more than three decades, and this summer he’ll lead Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup. His philosophy: take the ball, press the opponent, attack vertically. Pep Guardiola has called him the best coach in the world. Kleiban studied Bielsa’s Argentina up close at the 2004 Copa America, then interned under Guardiola at FC Barcelona and Luis Enrique at Barcelona B between 2008 and 2013. He runs a possession-heavy 4-2-3-1 built from that lineage. Three straight wins in May, including last Saturday’s 4-0 result over New York Cosmos at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, have AV Alta playing its best soccer of the season.
Jerry Desdunes (No. 7), a Haitian international who has worked through the American lower leagues since 2021, is the league’s most dangerous attacker right now. He plays on the left. Adam Aoumaich (No. 18) is the team’s leading scorer; he plays on the right and scored a brace against the Cosmos last weekend. Godwin Antwi has scored in two of the last three matches, including a strike from outside the area against Forward Madison FC. Cesar Bahena Jr. (No. 99) leads the team in assists from a winger position and was deployed as the lone forward in the 4-2-3-1 against the Cosmos.
It was a slow start to the season for AV Alta, who had not won a road match until reaching Sarasota Paradise two weeks ago. Saturday will be the third match in eight days for a California team racking up air miles: from Lancaster, CA to El Paso, TX on Wednesday for a USL Cup match, then on to Fort Wayne. Travel legs and bench depth will be tested. Their Wednesday night Cup match will give us insight into how they might line up against Fort Wayne.
The Matchup
AV Alta wants to play quickly, and they have the attacking pieces to do it. Desdunes and Aoumaich are both in mid-season form on the wings. The danger reminds me of our match against Portland Hearts of Pine, with Ollie Wright on the left and JayTee Kamara on the right running similar lines. These wingers want to isolate our defenders into 1-on-1 defending as their first point of attack. JP Jordan and Michael Rempel will need to win those battles, and with support from our midfielders, our center backs stay in more comfortable positions. Our defensive shape will matter in this match.
When we win the ball back, AV Alta’s press leaves space in the wide channels behind it. Javier Armas is the central midfielder who can find that space, and if our wingers are brave going forward, there will be space to attack and their back line will get stretched. That stretch is what gives Lilian Ricol and Taig Healy room to operate on top of the box. I’m also looking for Emerson Nieto or Jeremy Garay to jumpstart this type of attack once they receive the ball. Part of their development is receiving the ball with their back to goal and having the spatial awareness for the half-turn that can open an attack down one of our wide channels. Play the pass back when you feel pressure, but read the game quickly enough, and chance creation starts with you.
With AV Alta playing a USL Cup match on Wednesday in El Paso, Fort Wayne will get one more look at how they operate in real time. Kleiban might choose to rotate players, but USL League One rosters are not deep. There’s a high likelihood those midweek match legs turn into travel legs, and AV Alta walks into The Ru a half step slower than ideal. I’m looking for a heavy dose of pressure from Fort Wayne in the early going, which AV Alta will need to absorb. From our match at Athletic Club Boise last Saturday, if Fort Wayne can earn an early goal, we become difficult to break down defensively. Where I’ve seen us break down is on the counter, when we’re pulled out of position chasing the ball back toward our own goal. That’s what we want to avoid with AV Alta all game long. Methodically break down a team like AV Alta with possession, maintain our defensive shape, and be ready to defend 1-on-1 if we play an errant pass. The team that turns the ball over less on Saturday probably wins this one. And I wouldn’t be shocked if this match looks like the 2-2 firework show we saw at our first home match this season. Both sides can punish you for mistakes. Mistake-free football is the name of the game Saturday. Do that, and one of us will keep our unbeaten streak alive.
Always FWD