Offseason Guides: Chicago look set for a leap while Austin's success leads to questions

I was worried I was going to blow this off because of the holiday, and because I’d already written two newsletters this week. But not me, baby! I’ve got the MLS sickness 24/7/365!

Here are the post-mortems for MLSsoccer:

• Western Conference dregs
• Eastern Conference dregs
• Wild Card losers
• Round 1 Sweeps
• Round 1 three-gamers
• Cincy & Philly crash out

Two more coming on Monday. My prediction is that it’ll be San Diego and NYCFC who I’m next writing about, but we’ll see.

Ok, in we go:

Austin FC

2025 finish: 6th in the West on 47 points, along with a trip to the US Open Cup final. Unquestionably a successful year.

Biggest question: Do they have the cap/budget room to get a true chance creator into that midfield?

The answer to that question is “yes,” if the answer to another question – “will they part ways with one of their mostly disappointing DPs?”1 – is also yes. But to do that they’d probably have to eat a loss, either in the form of a buyout or a cut-rate sale, and we simply don’t know if that’s how they’re going to operate.

Barring a sale or buyout of one of the DPs, then, there’s just not enough flexibility to get the kind of playmaker this team probably needs to take the next step. And that next step needs to happen: they were 21st in the league in expected assists as per Opta, and 16th of the 18 teams that made it to the postseason. That’s real “oh, there’s definitely a ceiling on what this team can achieve” kind of stuff.

So basically, long as that’s where those numbers stay, the 2025 version of la Verde is about the best outcome you could reasonably hope for: competitive, and occasionally devastating on the counter. But not a real threat in the biggest moments against the top teams.

Top winter priority: Guess I kind of answered that already, didn’t I?

The vast majority of the roster’s coming back, so there’s just not that many ways to go. CSO Rodo Borrell has bet big on the three DPs, but also on the two U-22s while spending all his GAM elsewhere – they had less than $50,0000, total, left in the coffers heading into the offseason. Even after declining Julio Cascante’s option they’re not going to be flush, which means there’s only so much they can address.

What needs to happen, for them, is some thoughtfulness in how they address it. Borrell went kind of scattergun last year, bringing in Vazquez and Uzuni without really seeming to consider how they’d fit with or amplify each2 other, or Bukari. The silver lining turned out to be the play of Owen Wolff, whose ascendance spared some blushes. But even he, great as he was in 2025, does not profile as a chance creation engine.

That leaves an open U-22 slot as the only real headline-grabbing way they could conceivably add a No. 10, and… I mean, I guess it could happen. But HERE’s the leaguewide list of U-22s. Not a lot of primary chance creators there.

Three that jump out: Diego Luna, Brian Gutierrez and Jack McGlynn, all guys with USYNT pedigrees.

This is a chance for me to mention San Jose’s Niko Tsakiris again. He’s a McGlynn-level talent with an elite USYNT pedigree, and I’m guessing – no inside info here, just a guess – he’s not going to be the primary chance creator under Bruce Arena. But man, he’d make a whole hell of a lot of sense in green.

And, well, one of those guys in that initial list of three might be get-able, too.

State of the roster: Like I said, they’ve brought back almost everyone, have three DPs and two U-22s, and very little GAM. It’s packed full.

I will also point out that Wolff would certainly be within his rights to try to get a U-22 deal of his own (he could 3x his current salary, but would keep the current cap hit), which would just further complicate things.

Interestingly enough, though, the way Borrell uses GAM is different than most other CSOs: basically all of it goes to paying down the cap hits of guys in the $300-$650k salary range, rather than using it on guys over the max cap number. Which means they have more of the first type of player than anyone else in the league, and literally none of the second now that they’ve declined Cascante’s deal.

• 2026 TAM players: n/a
• 2026 U-22 players: Djordjevic, Dubersarsky
• 2026 DPs: Bukari, Uzuni, Vazquez

Where the XI stands now: Given all that, it better be close to full, right?

I’m going to list them in a 4-3-3 since I think that’s what head coach Nico Estévez would default to in a perfect world, but they actually played much more 4-4-2 and 3-4-2-1 in 2025.

So take this with a grain of salt.

4-3-3

• GK: Stuver
• LB: Gallagher
• CB: Hines-Ike
• CB: Svatok
• RB: Desler
• DM: Ilie
• CM: Pereira
• CM: U-22 Playmaker???
• LW: Woff
• FW: Uzuni
• RW: Bukari

Things to know:

• Brad Stuver has been one of the best ‘keepers in the league in the 2020s, but really struggled over the final third of the season. It’s most likely noise, but if he’s anything less than excellent in 2026, this team’s in trouble no matter what.
• Neither Nicolás Dubersarsky nor Besard Sabovic, both brought in ahead of last year, managed to win Estévez’s trust. Related: they’re working on bringing back 35-year-old Ilie Sanchez for at least one more year.
• Phil West of the excellent Verde All Day thinks it’s not “particularly likely” the team moves on from Uzuni this window.

Chicago Fire

2025 finish: Playoffs! They made the playoffs! The got into the Wild Card, kicked Orlando’s dicks off and then got their own dicks kicked off by Philly. But still, they made the playoffs! The end is nigh!!!

Biggest question: Can they fix the defense?

If you’d have asked me to predict Gregg Berhalter’s first season in charge, I’d have gotten the outcomes right:

1. Most of the year hovering around the red line.
2. No match for the better teams in the league, but consistent winners against the bottom half of the table.
3. A compelling if ultimately futile US Open Cup run.
4. A spot in the postseason, with one win and then a brutal, “this is a lesson on the level you need to reach” lesson.

What I’d have been wrong about – like, dead wrong; 180 degrees from reality wrong; so wrong I’d have laughed in your dumb face if you’d told me this 12 months ago wrong – was the process. Berhalter, in each prior stop of his coaching career, had focused on and fixed the defensive structure3 first, last and always. Get that right and the rest would come out of that structure (or not, as the case may be). But his teams never got disorganized and hemorrhaged goals.

Complete opposite with this Fire team. They were both structured and free-wheeling in attack whether they played a 3-4-2-1 or, more often, a 4-3-3. It didn’t all work but it mostly all worked.

The defense, on the other hand, was a clock tick from a tire fire at all times. They conceded 60 goals, which was third-worst in the East, and their 54.5 xG allowed was actually 15th in the conference.

I think this is Bizarro Berhalter in charge. Check this man’s office for Peet’s Coffee mugs.

Top winter priority: Get a high-level center back to pair with Jack Elliott.

Elliott is really very good, and they’ve already got him some more help in Serbian U-22 left back Viktor Radojević4 and veteran Swedish d-mid Anton Salétros, who in theory should help with midfield organization (as big a cause of the defensive woes as the backline personnel).

But still, they’ve got to adjust the backline personnel and find Elliott a partner. And it looks like they might already have their guy:

Mbokazi’s got a good pedigree, and great measurables. It should work.

We’ll see.

State of the roster: They’re bringing back basically everyone of consequence, which means they don’t have a ton of needs. And what needs they do have… well, between Salétros, Radojević and Mbokazi they’ve already done the legwork.

Everything about this strikes me as a 53-win team that did an immediate and sober assessment of what they needed to take a step forward, and have wasted no time in pulling it all together.

• 2026 TAM players: Acosta, Elliott, Salétros, Zinckernagel

• 2026 U-22 players: Barrosso, D’Avilla, Gutierrez, Radojević, Mbokazi(???), Koutsias (???)5

• 2026 DPs: Bamba, Cuypers

Where the XI stands now: I think it’s pretty close to packed full – overstuffed, even.

This is where I bring up the constant Gutierrez interest both from within MLS (he was high on Colorado’s list before they spent on Paxten Aaronson, and I mentioned him the Austin blurb for a reason) and without (CF Monterrey are the latest to be linked).

Personally, I’d just start him, and I’m hoping that’s what Berhalter lands on. That would complicate the roster situation above – you can’t carry six U-22s – but he sure looked like a guy who could put up 11g/13a (or something thereabouts) next season.

4-3-3

• GK: Brady
• LB: Gutman
• CB: Elliott
• CB: Mbokazi(???)
• RB: Barrosso
• DM: D’Avilla
• CM: Salétros
• CM: Gutierrez
• LW: Bamba
• FW: Cuypers
• RW: Zinckernagel

Things to know:

• I do have to wonder if there’s a buyout coming for Kellyn Acosta, who’s entering the final year of a guaranteed max TAM deal and seems in line for almost zero playing time in 2026 after a very underwhelming 2025.
• Dje D’Avilla was, in my opinion, very up-and-down. There’s a world where he loses his job to Salétros and Berhalter goes with more attacking options as the Free 8s.
• I have to assume someone eventually says a big enough number to get Chris Brady, but I’ll also assume that moment doesn’t come until after the World Cup (or even more likely, after next season).

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