It’s taken some real effort to remain an ardent and engaged Austin FC follower in the year 2025. Not because the club has been bad, necessarily – ATX remains in the MLS Cup Playoff discussion and has a date with Minnesota United next month in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup – but because there just hasn’t been much to get excited about.
The Verde and Black don’t score a ton of goals. They also don’t concede many. They draw about as often as they win, and win about as often as they lose. The roster, which is managed by a coach, Nico Estévez, who isn’t exactly a captivating presence, skews older. And what youth it does have rarely – if ever – sees the field.
With one notable exception, that is. Twenty-year-old Owen Wolff continues to impress as an everyday player for Austin FC, becoming arguably the club’s most featured offensive force. Wolff scored the club’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas over the weekend, bringing his total goal contributions on the season to double digits (3 goals, 7 assists) for the first time in his career. He earned MLS Team of the Matchday honors for the second time this season as he continues to author the kind of campaign that could accelerate a future move to Europe, if that’s the path he chooses for his career.
Apart from Wolff, though, Austin FC has criminally underutilized its young players.
Nico Dubersarsky, the 20-year-old Argentine midfielder to whom the club gave a five-year guaranteed contract in January as a U-22 Initiative player, has logged just 244 minutes on the pitch this season, mostly in late-game defensive relief.
Meanwhile, talented U.S. Youth International Micah Burton, 19, graduated from the club’s academy over a year and a half ago and is still waiting to debut with the senior team. Instead, Burton, along with fellow Austin FC senior players Riley Thomas and Jimmy Farkarlun, have spent the majority of the season playing for Austin FC II in the MLS Next Pro league – a league that sporting director Rodolfo Borrell has publicly criticized for its level of play.
So why is it that the club has been so reluctant to give first team opportunities to its young prospects?
For starters, the club has had decent injury luck this season (with the obvious exception of losing striker Brandon Vazquez to season-ending knee surgery) and hasn’t often had to call on reserves to fill vacant spots.
Apart from that, though, it reflects a conservative approach from a conservative head coach, who prefers to keep his most trusted veterans together on the pitch.
“Sometimes we forget that we are new staff, new players. We need to put everyone together [in] as much games they can play together,” Estévez said. “It is more better [for] relationships, better [for] understanding, and sometimes, when you change a lot, it takes more time to get there.”
With the club’s margin for making or missing the playoffs so thin – and Estévez no doubt perfectly aware what missing the playoffs meant for the job status of his predecessor, Josh Wolff – Estévez is highly unlikely to risk disrupting the status quo by experimenting with unproven players.
It’s understandable, but it’s also a shame. Not only would those young players benefit from the opportunities, but fans would enjoy the chance to cheer on some exciting new faces that could represent the future of the club. Because right now, things are beginning to feel a bit stale on the team sheet.
This article appears in August 22 • 2025.
