For Austin FC, getting back to the postseason starts with roster shift, sticking with the plan

It was a teardown of sorts for sporting director Rodolfo Borrell in his first offseason with the club. He gutted and replaced the club's scouting and player personnel department and declined nine players' contract options, and as the 2024 season is about to begin, he's in the midst of a multi-phase plan to get Austin back to the playoffs.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The redemption tour starts Saturday night for Austin FC, and the first test they have to pass in 2024 is Minnesota United.

It was a teardown of sorts for sporting director Rodolfo Borrell in his first offseason with the club. He gutted and replaced the club's scouting and player personnel department and declined nine players' contract options, and as the 2024 season is about to begin, he's in the midst of a multi-phase plan to get Austin back to the playoffs.

So far, he said, it has been a bit tricky. He pointed at Major League Soccer's salary cap structure and that European teams are in the middle of their season as challenges to "find the right players for the right amount of money."

"It's not that ownership doesn't want to spend, that's not the situation," he said. "We're trying to bring in pieces that fit the squad."

After declining the contract options, five from the senior roster and four from the supplemental, Borrell said he's added five players back to the team to help provide depth at certain positions and to get the most bang for their buck.

"We needed numbers to balance positions, and we're trying to get as young as possible for as little money as possible," he said.

Following Claudio Reyna's resignation as sporting director, Austin FC had to build and maintain the roster by splitting up duties between interim sporting director Sean Rubio and head coach Josh Wolff. While they did what they could, Borrell said the team's salary cap situation wasn't ideal when he took over. Part of solving that problem was to decline so many contract options, which created more flexibility for him to work with MLS' cap restrictions. That made the roster thin for the preseason, but Borrell said there will be more moves during the transfer windows when more players are available.

"It's not an excuse, it's just a reality," Borrell said about the salary restrictions. "We needed to assess the situation and have a plan. At the end of the day, we knew this transfer market was going to be challenging because of the lack of flexibility with the salary cap. We could decline all those options and bring in two players. We needed numbers."

Austin FC has to improve defensively to return to the playoffs

Wolff had to manage the thin first roster throughout the preseason, adding at least half a dozen second-team players to the squad with trips to Florida and California for training camp. He said the main goals were to build endurance and get the players meaningful minutes in as many situations as possible while maintaining a healthy squad.

He thought the organization was able to do that.

"The best part of preseason is that we faced opponents that played differently and had different build-up structures," Wolff said. "That has been hugely beneficial. We're able to identify what's happening and be stable in our mid and low blocks and nullifying a lot of chances."

Committing to improvement on defense after last season should pump the Verde supporters up. Austin allowed the third-most goals in the Western Conference with 55, so clearly that number has to change. Debuting the season with a stout performance defensively would be a good start against Minnesota, which was 11th in the conference last season in scoring with 46 goals.

"The games become real and points are on the table, and we know how important a good start is," Wolff said. "There's a big premium on the ability to execute, and we look forward to the challenge of Minnesota and getting back in front of our fans."

Austin FC's veteran goalkeeper got bigger in the offseason

The last line of defense for Austin FC, the only guy who gets to use his hands, is goalkeeper Brad Stuver. He's been with the club since the beginning and with all of his involvement in the community, he's essentially the face of the franchise. He said the club has had three years to set their identity and style of play, and now they're "fine-tuning" everything.

For Stuver specifically this season, he wanted to bulk up. He put on 10-12 pounds by "eating anything and everything." His favorite food to help build his frame? Hummus and pita bread.

"I wanted a little edge there," he said. "It's been good to see that progress and I'm proud of the high-performance guys that put me through that."

Stuver said the team's transition defense was a big focus, especially since they want to have a ball-oriented attack. Stuver said sometimes that doesn't put players in the most ideal positions to defend, so working to regain organization when an opponent breaks or counters is critical to the team's overall success.

"We need to get to our defensive structure right away if we turn the ball over," he said. "I think it has gone extremely well in the preseason, and we know that if you give up less goals, you have a better chance to win games."

After central defender Julio Cascante went down with a groin injury less than 10 minutes into last season, the injury avalanche kept piling on the club. They went through eight center backs in 2023 and could never create continuity at the vital position.

Stuver said he hopes those struggles can make this year's team better.

"We've been through a crap-ton of adversity," he said. "We're prepared to see anything that comes our way. The guys are resilient and ready for anything the season throws at them. We won't be rattled when something goes awry."

The season opener is scheduled to kick at 7:30 p.m. from Q2 Stadium and will be available via live stream through AppleTV's MLS Season Pass.