6 questions surrounding Austin FC as it starts the second half of MLS play

Austin FC is in a state of flux. 

As the second half of the MLS season starts, the club doesn't have a sporting director, has a coaching staff that doesn't know where it will be in six months since newly-hired coach Jim Curtin isn't taking over until the offseason, and enters Wednesday's contest against Seattle still dealing with injuries despite not having played a match in two months. 

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AUSTIN FC VS. SEATTLE SOUNDERS

When/where: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Q2 Stadium.

TV/radio: Apple TV; 97.5 FM, 104.3 FM (Spanish).

(Defenders Mikkel Desler and Jon Bell have minor injuries and defender Brendan Hines-Ike is working into match condition after suffering a hamstring injury in mid-May.)

Interim coach Davy Arnaud said all the right things Monday in his press conference, noting the players are "bought in," that the goal is still to make the postseason and that he's committed to the club and hopes to still be a part of Curtin's staff. But with Austin FC (3-7-5, 14 points) in 14th place in the Western Conference standings, having the third-worst goal differential in MLS and there being few certainties with the club on a seemingly week-to-week basis, the next three months offer a variety of intriguing scenarios, including spiraling into a disaster or rebounding to a top-six finish in the West. 

Here are six questions surrounding the club as it exits the World Cup break and returns to action: 

Why is Austin FC still not healthy?

No club in MLS needed a long layoff more than Austin FC after a disastrous first half and the firing of coach Nico Estévez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell. But the assumption that it would be fully healthy for the first time in 2026 after two months off turned out to be inaccurate. While Hines-Ike is available to play against the Sounders, he's likely available as a second-half sub at best. And Arnaud indicated that Desler, who seems to be perpetually injured, and Bell won't be out long, but it seems unlikely they'll be available Saturday at Houston. 

This leaves Austin FC's backline, especially at center back, extremely thin. And it brings up the question as to why the club always seems to have health issues. 

Is it bad luck? Do the fields at the training facility offer extra wear and tear on the players? Does the athletic training staff make questionable decisions? Or is it just the nature of professional soccer?

Whatever the case, injuries, combined with poor personnel decisions, have left Austin FC with a constant lack of depth somewhere on the field for long stretches most of the last four seasons. 

The good news on the injury front is that forward Brandon Vazquez and midfielder Owen Wolff should be 100% from both a health and skill standpoint for the first time in 2026. Vazquez hasn't played more than 30 minutes since tearing his ACL a year ago, and it was clear Wolff was still finding his touch in the last couple of matches before the break after returning from offseason sports hernia surgery. 

(By the way, Estévez should be furious with whoever delayed Wolff's surgery until January, as having a healthy and effective Wolff for a few more matches in April and May arguably could have saved Estévez's job.)

Is the club done making roster moves? 

No. 

There's still roughly 40 days left in the summer transfer window, and after Austin FC fleeced Montreal in the Dani Pereira trade, it presumably has enough salary cap room to make a significant addition to fill its remaining international roster spot. (Pereira is a good player, but why Montreal would trade more than $2 million in salary cap room for him is bewildering.) 

Austin FC cut little-used winger Robert Taylor and brought in winger Przemysław Płacheta - from English Championship side Oxford United in a deal that was made in March - in its other moves. And owner Anthony Precourt has always spent money, even if it hasn't always been spent wisely, and presumably will give Arnaud as many options as possible. 

What's the mood of the players? 

Who knows?

Płacheta was offered up to the media Monday and said the environment is a positive one. But he's been in the country roughly three weeks and is still settling in. He's not a great barometer of a locker room of players that will soon be dealing with a coach and sporting director that didn't bring any of them in. 

The performances Wednesday and Saturday will be telling, even with the issues on the backline. 

The good news for Austin FC is ...? 

This is a collection of talent that should - if it doesn't have multiple injuries, which seems to be a big "if" - at least make the play-in game of the postseason between the teams that finish eighth and ninth.

An attack featuring Vazquez, Wolff, Facundo Torres, Myrto Uzuni, Joseph Rosales, Płacheta - who spent the last five seasons in a better league than MLS - and presumably a future addition is respectable at the worst and very dangerous if it clicks. Combined with a backline of Guilherme Biro, Oleksandr Svatok, Hines-Ike and Desler - or Jon Gallagher - and goalie Brad Stuver, that's a lineup that could charge up the standings. 

With 60% of the league making the postseason, the MLS is also a league that forgives long stretches of poor play. And with 19 matches left, Austin FC has plenty of chances to overcome its first half. 

Where does this team finish in the West? 

Eighth. 

Arnaud knows what he's doing, and this roster has too much talent - at least in its starting lineup - to not at least leapfrog five teams and make up six points in the standings to reach the play-in game.

Thirteen of Austin FC's remaining matches are manageable - any points taken off Nashville, San Jose, Vancouver and LAFC can be considered gravy - so look for Austin FC to be hosting the play-in game Nov. 18. 

Is Davy Arnaud with this club in January? 

Maybe. 

Curtin hinted in his lone press conference that he'd like to retain him. But Arnaud is already well-respected across the league, and if he gets Austin FC into the playoffs, he's probably going to have several head coaching job offers in the offseason. 

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