AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Slumping Austin FC fired head coach Nico Estévez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell on Monday as the team sits near the bottom of the Major League Soccer standings just one season after returning to the playoffs.
The move comes after a 2-1 home loss Saturday night to Sporting KC, the last-place team in the 15-team Western Conference. The previous match was a 5-0 loss at San Diego, the worst in club history.
After this week’s matches, the league will take a two-month break for the World Cup. Austin currently sits at No. 13, well out of playoff contention with just three wins in 14 matches.
The club expected to contend for a return to the playoffs after making the postseason in 2025, Estévez’s first season with the club. Austin has made the playoffs just twice since the franchise started in the 2021 season.
“We believe this team can compete for a playoff position, and given our results thus far, a change is necessary to achieve our goals of qualifying for the playoffs this year and becoming a consistent winner in this league,” team founder and majority owner Anthony Precourt said.
Borrell was a top assistant to Pep Guardiola at Premier League powerhouse Manchester City when he was hired by Austin in 2023 and tasked with using his international expertise to oversee player personnel and roster management.
Borrell often noted the struggles of signing players under the salary rules of the U.S. league compared with the big spending of European clubs. Austin’s two-highest players this season are wingers Facundo Torres ($3.4 million guaranteed) and Myrto Uzuni ($1.6 million guaranteed), according to salary figures released by the league’s players association.
Torres has one goal in 14 matches. Uzuni leads the club with five.
“Ultimately, we believe this decision is in the best interest of Austin FC,” Precourt said. “We know that our fans and our community deserve a winner, and our Ownership group will continue to make the necessary decisions in order to deliver consistently strong results across competitions.”
The club said assistant coach Davy Arnaud will be the interim head coach for Saturday’s match at St. Louis. It did not indicate if he will coach the team beyond that.
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