With 17 games behind them and 17 to go, Austin FC is in the middle of the MLS season.
The Verde & Black (6-6-5, 23 points) sit in sixth place in the Western Conference heading into Saturday’s slate of games, the club’s bye week.
Here are our players’ grades and others for the first half:
Note: A player’s salary affects his grade, so Sebastián Driussi ($6 million) is not on the same rating scale as Hector Jiménez ($89,700).
The players
Goalie Brad Stuver: A-
Stuver has done everything Austin FC could ask for. He leads MLS with 72 saves, has played every minute of the season, is second in the league in save percentage and has made several key stops that have kept the Verde & Black in games. Austin FC is taking over blew out Real Salt Lake 5-1 on Saturday may hinder his all-star chances, but he certainly deserves to be in the game.
Defenseman Brendan Hines-Ike: A-
Hines-Ike could be the steal of the MLS offseason. Signed 12 days before the start of the season on a free contract, he quickly moved into the starting line-up and has been a rock in the center of the defence. At the team’s deepest position, he’s clearly the best option, and he’s drastically underpaid at $200,000.
Midfielder Jadér Obrian: A-
He has played in every game, started 16 games, is second on the team with four goals and has been excellent playing both right and left wing. Providing a speed threat that the club lacked a year ago, Obrian was a critical addition to Austin FC’s attack.
Midfielder Dani Pereira: B+
He has started 14 times and has generally been excellent in passing, taking on defenders and blocking opponents. Pereira appears to be more comfortable further up the pitch as an attacking midfielder rather than a defensive midfielder, which should be where he will be able to play once the club’s summer signings can hit the ground running on July 20 . And still being on a rookie contract, Pereira is a bargain with a salary of only $140,000.
Forward Diego Rubio: B+
He may not be lighting up the stat sheet with just three goals, but Rubio is a constant threat up front and his work rate in attack has provided something that Austin FC sorely lacked there a year ago. With a salary of less than $400,000, he is a tremendous value.
Defender Jon Gallagher: B
At one point, Gallagher was the team’s iron man, playing every minute but one in 13 straight games. An injury caused him to miss the last two games, with his absence conspicuous. Gallagher is clearly the best option on the right-back, and if his current injury causes him to miss more games, that’s bad news for the club.
Defender Julio Cascante: B
He joined Hines-Ike to give Verde & Black one of the league’s premier quarterback pairings for much of the first half of the season. Leo Väisänen has taken some of his playing time of late, but this is clearly Cascante’s best year as a professional.
Defender Hector Jiménez: B-
At 35 and on the second cheapest salary in the squad, Jiménez has more than lived up to his contract with eight appearances, four starts and one assist. From a purely optical standpoint, the club should bump his contract up to $100,000. He has been in the league since 2011, is a good presence in the locker room and still provides value on the field. The least ownership could do was throw him another $10,300 to put him into six figures.
Midfielder-Defender Owen Wolff: B-
Another player still on his rookie contract – his salary is less than $125,000 – Wolff is the most versatile player on the team having played on the wing, full back, defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder. Still 19 and able to go by the moniker ‘Teen Wolff’, his flexibility has saved the club in many games with its extremely short roster.
Defender Guilherme Biro: B-
Like Hines-Ike, Biro has been a steal becoming a consistent starter in left field with a salary of just $200,000. He scored twice and did a good job on the left side of defence.
Defenseman Matt Hedges: B-
He started the first five games, then with Hines-Ike out, struggled to get back on the field. Played the entire game against Houston on April 20 when Cascante had to miss the race due to a yellow car pile-up, but other than that has made just two appearances totaling 10 minutes since March 23. Still holds a hefty salary north of $550,000.
Midfielder Sebastián Driussi: C+
The club’s best player, Driussi leaves an obvious hole when he is not on the pitch. Unfortunately, that was four times in the first half, with Austin FC going 0-2-2 in those games. He leads the team with five goals, including game-winners against San Jose and Houston. But with a $6 million salary, he needs to produce more the rest of the way.
Midfielder Jhojan Valencia: C+
A true defensive midfielder, Valencia has been adequate when he has been on the pitch this season with some indications that he is part of the team’s best formation.
Midfielder Alex Ring: C
Ring gets maligned here for his mammoth $1.6 million salary and the fact that he missed a step, but he deserves credit for playing the most minutes of any player on the court and his leadership on the court. At 33, this is probably his last year with the club unless he wants to take a drastic pay cut.
Forward Gyasi Zardes: D+
That’s mostly — although not scoring any goals also plays a big factor — to do with the fact that Zardes is making $1 million. And this is not his fault. If a club is going to put a three-year contract in front of you for around $3 million, when you’re a 31-year-old forward on the downside of your career like Austin FC did with Zardes before the 2023 season, you sign ASAP be possible. However, his production has been almost non-existent and he has taken a step back from two years ago when he scored 10 goals for Columbus and Colorado. With the departure of Emiliano Rigoni, this is now Austin FC’s anchor contract.
Defender Zan Kolmanic: Incomplete
Hampered by injury, he made six starts during the first half and played a memorable 500 minutes.
Defender Leo Väisänen: Incomplete
He appears to have recovered from a season-opening foot injury that caused him to miss 12 games. He has started two of the last three games and has done well and appears to be in a battle with Cascante for the second starting quarterback spot along with Hines-Ike.
Midfielder Ethan Finlay: Incomplete
Another player whose season has been derailed by injuries, he has made just four starts, played barely more than 400 minutes and has become an afterthought. However, the club will be much better off fit and healthy as they will need him until new signing Osman Bukari can play on July 20. From a media standpoint, he’s one of the best interviews on the team.
Goalie Stefan Cleveland: Incomplete
He’s the equivalent of the backup quarterback in football who never plays and collects a nice paycheck. Earning more than $220,000, he hasn’t played a single minute all season. He’s done a good job of not getting in the way of the media in the locker room after games while we’re trying to talk to Stuver.
Midfielder CJ Fodrey: Incomplete
With just five appearances and 114 minutes played, it’s not clear what Fodrey can do at this level. Still only 20 years old, the club surely feel he needs to develop more with most of his time spent playing for Austin FC II.
drill
Head Coach Josh Wolff: B
He has coped very well with a restricted list and has positioned the club to compete for a play-off spot if he can make it to July 20 – when Bukari, right-back Mikkel Desler and any other new signings could play – without being completely destroyed. A national MLS media poll placed the Verde & Black last in the West in February, and most Austin FC fans would have registered anxiously to be sixth or seventh in the conference halfway through the season.
Front office
Sports director Rodolfo Borrell: A
Borrell nailed the offseason.
With limited space under the salary cap, he brought in Obrian, Rubio, Biro, Hines-Ike and Cleveland. That’s four starters and what many consider a goalie who could start about a third of the league. He also convinced Bukari and Desler to leave Europe and come to MLS. It’s still early, but Borrell looks like a home hire.
property
Anthony Precourt and ownership group: A-
Precourt and his ownership group will pay Rigon about $1 million through the end of the year to be out of the club. While it may have seemed like an obvious move with his mediocre form, it is an important step by the club to admit that signing him in July 2022 was a huge mistake and not throw good money after bad by kept it around another year. Bukari and Desler wouldn’t have been cheap either, and when you look at what’s going on at several other MLS clubs — San Jose, Chicago and Colorado — this is an ownership that’s clearly trying to win.
Q2 stadium press box feed: A+
It’s hard to imagine another MLS club having better food than what has been served to the media in the press box at Q2 Stadium this season. The quality is restaurant worthy, has been nothing short of phenomenal and is a giant leap over the sandwiches and fries of yesteryear.
