Eleven matches into the 2026 season Minnesota United sit in fifth place in the Western Conference. The Loons have just one loss in their last five league matches and have won the other four. That includes a huge 3-2 comeback win in Columbus last weekend. Now they'll face Austin FC for the second and final time in the MLS regular season. So ahead of Sunday's match we spoke with Phil West from Verde All Day to get a look at Los Verdes.
Ashle Paige: It's been a rough season for Austin FC this year, getting just three wins in 11 matches. Two of those came in the last two matches and the only other came against DC in March. What has happened with Los Verdes this year and how are the supporters taking it?
Phil West: The season began going sideways in the preseason when Owen Wolff's sports hernia needed surgery to repair, after he tried to recover without it — he only saw his first action of the season on Sunday against St. Louis, the same day that Brandon Vázquez returned from last summer's ACL surgery. It hasn't just been injuries that have been plaguing Verde – they've shed a ton of points giving up goals from winning or drawing positions in the last half hour of matches, starting with giving up a 90th-minute equalizer to Kelvin Yeboah to turn an opening day win-in-the-making to a draw. (You might remember that one ...)
Facundo Torres has also been taking a bit of time to acclimate back to MLS, in part because head coach Nico Estévez has insisted on playing him as a 10 rather than a winger, but he is providing assists, largely from set pieces. But like you said, two wins in a row, which has something to do with playing Houston and St. Louis at home — starting what I think is their easiest stretch of the season, save for Sunday's match — but I also think some elements and concepts are beginning to click into place.
AP: Austin FC has not one but two former key players for MNUFC in Christian Ramirez and Joseph Rosales. How have Jo and the man affectionately called "Superman" back in the NASL (and early MLS) days been doing for Austin FC this season?
PW: There's a case to make (and I'm among those to make it) that Rosales has been Austin's best outfield player all season. Estévez has been playing him as a winger and as a deep-lying midfielder rather than as a left back — Estévez went as far as to say in a press conference that Rosales isn't a left back, which I'm sure comes as a surprise to Loons and Honduras fans — but he's flourished wherever he's been deployed. Ramírez was a waiver-wire gift — thank you, Galaxy front office — and he's been awesome so far, getting three goals, providing veteran leadership, and even dying his hair platinum blond to provide some locker-room levity. He's also been a great interview so far — we're enjoying him a lot.
AP: Manager Nico Estévez is in his third season in Austin following a 2 1/2 year stint in Dallas. What is the overall view of his tenure and are there any changes or additions to the club that should be made?
PW: After the 5-1 loss to San Jose a couple of weeks back when Verde gave up 37 shots, Brad Stuver stood on his head to make 11 saves, and they still were routed, the fan mood around Estévez was decidedly sour. It's improving some with the wins, but would, say, Wilfried Nancy be available and willing to coach Austin, I feel like a lot of fans would be on board with that. Estévez is unfailingly nice and thoughtful, plus patient and gracious with media in a way that his predecessor (now Minnesota assistant coach Josh Wolff) wasn't, but I still wonder, with close to a season and a half of evidence, if he can get an MLS team to an elite tier in the way that Jesper Sørensen has with Vancouver or Brian Schmetzer perennially has with Seattle. I'd love for that to be the case. But Verde's not getting there this year, even with what might be their best roster ever.
AP: We ask this for each one of our Opponent Insight pieces, what's your MINvATX prediction?
PW: I feel like one Texas team is getting past a Twin Cities team this weekend, and that's my Spurs who are besting your T-Wolves as I finish writing this and have a pivotal Game 4 on Sunday that overlaps with this one. (Wemby has at least one play a game that makes me laugh out loud; he's just that good.) As for the soccer teams, this feels like a 1-1 draw in the making, and I will call that a victory ... especially if it follows with the three wins (at an imploding San Diego, hosting a moribund SKC, and at a flagging St. Louis) I'm expecting. I'm not so optimistic about Verde that I think they'll beat one of the West's top five teams (per the current table) away, but I trust Stuver and Verde's set piece prowess to bring a result.
