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When Austin FC named former Manchester City assistant Rodolfo Borrell as their new sporting director this summer, he was furious with manager Josh Wolff. He said he wouldn’t have taken the job if he didn’t like Wolff and felt it matched his style of play.
Then Austin hit a wall down the stretch and it sank their season.
However, Borrell offered his stamp of approval for Wolff at a press conference on Tuesday: “As you know, I come from some of the best clubs in the world, so I know what I’m talking about when I refer to coaches. And I think we have a very good coach.”
The short version: Wolff will remain, but there will be many changes to come.
State of the list
The head coach: Josh Wolff (since 2021)
Head of Football: Rodolfo Borrell (since 2023)
The good one
Sebastian Driussi is a culminating talisman in MLS. When Austin finished second in the West and advanced to the Western Conference finals last year, everything was built around the Argentine star. He is now under contract until 2025 with an option for 2026. Goalkeeper Brad Stover is an anchor in defence, a big reason why the club exceeded their expected targets in 2022.
Dani Pereira, former choice no. 1 overall in the SuperDraft, took a big step last year and remains a solid defensive midfielder. Alex Ring has been successful and productive throughout his MLS career. Jon Gallagher had a win in 2023 in left field, earning an All-Star nod, and Nick Lima is a stable right back.
Austin has one of the league’s most talented young players in the midfield Owen Wolff. The 18-year-old earned starting minutes this year through his play, not because he’s the coach’s son. He will either be a valuable piece in 2024 or be traded overseas in a lucrative deal that would give Austin money to continue improving the roster.
Bad
Outside of Driussi, the offense has a ton of questions.
DP winger Emiljano Rigoni has not been a differentiator in attack. There were some excesses between him and Diego Fagundez on the other hand, which is part of why the latter was traded to her LA Galaxy at the end of the summer transfer window. Both players like to cut and receive the ball on the feet, which means that both defenders have to overlap. This left Austin even more vulnerable in defensive transition.
center forward Probably Zardes, Will Bruin and Maxi Urruti together for 10 goals in 2760 minutes. That’s not a huge return.
The most pressing issue is the third in defense. Austin has conceded 54 goals this year, fourth worst in MLS; they need a big boost in central defence. Buying in the middle of the season Matt Hedges was limited to just three starts for the club so far and is starting to show his age (33). His contract isn’t cheap, with a guaranteed price of just over $900,000, according to the MLSPA.
What can change
A lot. In fact, it has already started this season with the trade of fan favorite Fagundez.
Austin has a ton of flexibility, with contract options for top hitters like Ring and Urruti, as well as Bruin veterans, Hector Jimenez AND Memo Rodriguez.
Club Olimpia have an option to buy on the loan of Austin defender Jhojan Romana, who will be deployed this winter. AC Ajaccio have a purchase option as part of the Austin forward’s loan Moussa Djittewhich will be decided next summer.
Austin’s third PD is currently the Ring. Even if it comes back, they can still add a new DP to this group.
inFRAStRuctuRe
Q2 Stadium offers one of the best home-court advantages in MLS and Austin has not been afraid to spend money on the first team, as evidenced by a lucrative and long-term contract extension for Driuss after the 2022 season.
Borrell has already revamped the club’s scouting department, which could pay dividends this winter.
Off-season priorities
Improve protection
Austin has struggled defensively since their inaugural season. When goals have been scored, they have been much closer to the bottom of the league (2021, 2023) than the top (2022), with similar underlying numbers. Austin’s back line was led by the quarterback Ruben Gabrielsen in 2022. He was sold to Lillestrom during the off-season and has not been properly replaced.
They could try again this winter, adding to a quarterback group that includes Hedges, Julio Cascante AND Leo Väisänen. Adding another option in defensive midfield behind Pereira if Jojan Valencia forward movements can also be helpful.
Find the main offensive creator
For a team that is committed to playing free-flowing attacking football, Austin currently does not have a single chance creator in the team.
Rigoni leads Austin in expected assists with 4.82 at the time of writing, good for 33rd in MLS. He is the only Austin FC player in the top 75. The Argentine has been a disappointing signing with just nine goal contributions (5g/4a) in 2,400 minutes over a season and a half in Texas. Driussi is at his best when playing more as a second striker than a number 10.
Even if the club is confident Rigoni can step it up next season, they still need an attacking addition to match him and Driuss. It just depends if the priority is creative (as I would argue) or a more dynamic winger to put pressure on defenses and provide more space in midfield.
Add pace and dynamism to the attack
Austin’s collection of offensive talent is strong in theory, but it didn’t quite take off in 2023 because there were too many overlapping skills. Driussi and Zardes like to occupy similar spaces in the box. Rigoni and Fagundez both liked the ball on their feet and played upside down.
One style of play they lacked was a direct and dynamic winger to make the back lines drop and open up more space down low for the other forwards. Ethan Finlay was the closest and gave the 33-year-old more minutes than expected in 2023.
These players should not always cost a DP slot. Ivan Angulo has been very useful for Orlando City, Xande Silva ABOUT Atlanta United, Bongokuhle Hlongwane ABOUT Minnesota United AND Jared Stroud ABOUT Saint Louis (who spent the previous two years with Austin).
(Photos: Getty Images)
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