Star Tribune: Minnesota United aims to narrow player development gap
Sep 18, 2024
Minnesota United might have played nearly eight full seasons in MLS, but when it comes to youth development, the Loons are still figuring things out.
Eight years ago, they started their academy with 13- and 14-year-olds, with the idea of having the academy grow along with the team. The pandemic’s onset and other factors caused a rethink, one that eventually resulted in the club shutting down the program entirely before restarting it.
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
Other recent links
Pioneer Press game story: Loons 3, St. Louis City 1
Star Tribune: St. Louis pregame coverage, as MNUFC begins stretch of six games in 22 days
Star Tribune: How will the Loons use new Designated Player Joaquín Pereyra?
Star Tribune: Loons beat San Jose behind Hlongwane, Dotson
Sep 2, 2024
Game Story: Minnesota 2, San Jose 1
Analysis
Minnesota United began the year with one striker, Teemu Pukki, who was one of the team’s high-paid designated players. The Loons have since added another DP forward, Kelvin Yeboah, plus one of Major League Soccer’s breakout young players up front, Tani Oluwaseyi.
Saturday night, the Loons were reminded: When it comes to the options up front, don’t forget about Bongokuhle Hlongwane.
Star Tribune: Two forwards up front mean changes up and down the field for MNUFC
Aug 30, 2024
Striker is soccer’s glamour position. It’s the forwards who score the goals and sell the jerseys, and it takes something pretty special for players at any other position to break through to that level of fan popularity.
Minnesota United played two strikers last week against Seattle, with a three-man midfield behind them. As the Loons travel to San Jose on Saturday to take on the last-place Earthquakes, it’s easy to focus on the glamour up front. It’s just not where the Loons themselves are necessarily focused.
Read the rest at startribune.com…
Other links, all by me, for the Minnesota Star Tribune
For Minnesota United, it’s like a whole new season - that lasts nine games
Six new Loons to know, as Minnesota kicks off their final stretch of the season
Seattle 3, Minnesota 2: Game story
Analysis: Sang Bin Jeong is back at right back, thanks to his versatility
Set pieces still baffle Minnesota United. Here’s what they’re doing to work on them.
Minnesota Aurora launch new community ownership drive, looking for 7,000 new owners
Star Tribune: Transfer window, midseason break, Minnesota Aurora and NWSL, USA men's soccer at the Olympics
Aug 18, 2024
Minnesota United FC has had a bit of a break for the past couple of weeks, so I’ve had a bit of a break as well.
With transfer news, Olympic soccer, and Minnesota Aurora news, though, I have written a few things… so here are those links.
Transfer news
Loons sign Matus Kmet
Caden Clark traded to Montréal
Three players loaned out to make roster space
Summarizing MNUFC’s transfer window
Minnesota United made a big bet in the offseason, hiring Khaled El-Ahmad to be the team’s new chief soccer officer and sporting director — by any measure, a hire from outside the usual MLS pipeline.
After his first summer transfer window in charge, one thing is clear: El-Ahmad is doubling down, and betting big on himself.
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
Minnesota Aurora drops out of running for NWSL franchise
Minnesota Aurora FC has been plenty successful, both on and off the field, in its short history. Unfortunately, when it comes to making a step up from the “pre-professional” USL W League to the NWSL, the country’s top women’s professional league, that success takes a back seat to what really makes the soccer world go round: money.
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
The USA men’s Olympic soccer team lost in the quarterfinals. Does it mean anything?
Given the way that men’s soccer at the Olympics works, it’s pretty easy to make the case that the United States’ exit in the quarterfinals doesn’t mean much. That said, it doesn’t mean nothing, either.
Star Tribune: Minnesota United shuts out Necaxa 1-0 behind record 16 saves from Dayne St. Clair
Jul 31, 2024
Game Story: Minnesota 1, Necaxa 0
Analysis
North American soccer fans have gone a lifetime without seeing a goalkeeping performance like Dayne St. Clair’s. St. Clair set a Minnesota United and Leagues Cup record Tuesday against Necaxa, making 16 saves in a shutout.
Technically, he didn’t tie the MLS record for saves in a game because it wasn’t a league game, but at least he won. Maxime Crepeau set the MLS record in a game his Vancouver Whitecaps lost, not in a clean sheet like St. Clair’s game.
Star Tribune: Loons adding players as they get set for Necaxa
Jul 29, 2024
Tuesday night, Minnesota United plays against Necaxa from Liga MX. It’s a rare chance for the Loons to play against an opponent that fans don’t know much about — and it comes at a time when Minnesota is remaking its squad.
The Loons have now officially made two signings in the summer transfer window. Monday, they added center back Jefferson Diaz after officially signing forward Kelvin Yeboah over the weekend.
They are also close to completing a deal for Slovakian right back Matúš Kmeť, according to a source.
Star Tribune: Loons lose Leagues Cup opener in Seattle
Jul 29, 2024
Game Story: Seattle 2, Minnesota 0
Analysis
Minnesota’s 10th loss in 10 games in Seattle might not have had many silver linings, but at least more help is on the way.
On Saturday, the Loons made their expected signing of forward Kelvin Yeboah official, adding a third designated player to the roster. Yeboah, who was on the books at Genoa in Italy but most recently played for Standard Liège in Belgium, is signed through 2027 with a team option in 2028.
Star Tribune: Leagues Cup vs US Open Cup, and notes
Jul 26, 2024
The tension between the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup
Friday night, Minnesota United kicks off the Leagues Cup by going on the road against the Seattle Sounders. It’s a team the Loons played a month ago, in a city they have already visited this season, in a game that doesn’t count in the MLS standings.
In a related story, when you try to explain the Leagues Cup to an uninitiated fan, one question always seems to follow: Why?
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
MNUFC Notebook
Minnesota United have yet to officially sign any exciting young players in this year’s transfer window — but they have made a move to lock up one they already have.
Star Tribune: MNUFC Notebook
Jul 22, 2024
Game Story: MNUFC 2, San Jose 0
Analysis
Minnesota United is focusing on its first Leagues Cup game in Seattle on Friday night, but Robin Lod has a stop to make on the way — at Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio.
Not that the Finnish midfielder would ever display an excess of enthusiasm about anything, but he did allow he is excited about one thing: being in a team with former Barcelona (and current Inter Miami) stars Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
Transfer News
Minnesota United is closing in on another summer signing. A source confirmed that forward Kelvin Yeboah is expected to arrive in Minnesota this week for medical testing, in what could be one of the final steps toward one of MNUFC’s most consequential acquisitions of the summer.
Star Tribune: Transfer window opens, Loons take on San Jose
Jul 20, 2024
For more than a month, Minnesota United waited to get many of its current players back from international duty. With the opening of the MLS transfer window on Thursday, the team finally can add new players, too — and now with fewer restrictions.
Read the rest at StarTribune.com…
Everyone knows what Minnesota United is capable of on the counterattack. The Loons have three players — Sang Bin Jeong, Joseph Rosales and Tani Oluwaseyi — among the 20 fastest players in the league this season, and so much of Minnesota’s offense is based simply on letting those players kick things into high gear.
San Jose comes to town Saturday, having lost three-quarters of its games this season (4-18-2). Minnesota might display that higher gear again, but the Loons are still struggling to find a lower gear to balance their attack. It’s rare to see them stringing together a bunch of passes to move down the field, slowly building up through possession, keeping the ball moving and making the other team chase.