By the time former Minnesota United defender Zarek Valentin retired at the end of 2024, he’d already begun the transition into his post-playing life. Injuries and age limited him all season; he played just five times for the first team and four for the second team, and not at all after August.

Which is not to say that he faded away — indeed, he was seemingly ever-present: doing color on the team’s radio broadcasts, exhorting teammates from the sidelines. Every day at training, limping around and trying to help in whatever way he could.

Read more: Minnesota United keeps Zarek Valentin in multi-faceted role

Game Story

Minnesota tied for the best road record in the Western Conference in 2024, with eight victories in 17 games — but in Los Angeles, they lost three times in three trips.

Saturday they started the 2025 season the way they finished the 2024 season: with a loss in Los Angeles.

Read more: Minnesota United opens with a familiar result: a loss in Los Angeles

Analysis

Minnesota United manager Eric Ramsay has spoken about how his team needs to evolve to be a bit less defensive and a bit more successful in trying to control the ball.

A season-opening game at LAFC, though, isn’t really the time to try to make that change.

Read more: Minnesota United exits satisfied with strategy against LAFC

Who is the face of Minnesota United’s franchise? The coach? The best player? An executive, even?

There’s no one consistent answer, as with most other Minnesota teams. Cheryl Reeve is the coach, president of basketball operations and all-around icon for the Lynx. The daily nature of baseball, and Rocco Baldelli’s daily availability, make the manager the most prominent person with the Twins.

Minnesota United coach Eric Ramsay ready for second MLS season

With Minnesota United set to open a new season Saturday at LAFC — followed by the March 1 home opener at Allianz Field vs. Montreal — here are five questions worth tracking this year:

Can Minnesota United take the next step, entering a new MLS season?

On Wednesday, British oddsmakers caused a bit of a panic among Minnesota United fans. Sky Bet UK installed Loons coach Eric Ramsay as a 2-1 favorite to be the next manager of second-division side Swansea City, touching off speculation — and worry — that the Welshman was headed home.

Rest easy, Loons fans.

Minnesota United coach Eric Ramsay denies he’s headed to Swansea City

As Minnesota United opens its season Saturday, there are still some questions to be answered.

For one: what are we going to call Bongokuhle Hlongwane’s position?

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

There is barely one week left until the opening of the 2025 MLS season, but it’s no secret that North American soccer already has 2026 on its mind.

The USA, Mexico and Canada are hosting next summer’s World Cup, and all of MLS is looking at the tournament as an opportunity — just like USA ‘94, when record attendances and FIFA pressure helped birth the league itself, albeit not until 1996.

And if you think it’s not already on the minds of the Loons’ international stars, Tani Oluwaseyi put that to rest. The striker, who signed a contract extension in the offseason, had Team Canada chief in his mind when putting pen to paper. “I think just looking at my future and where I want to be, especially in terms of thinking about the 2026 World Cup, I felt like this is the best place for me,” he said.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

Minnesota United’s youth movement continued on Tuesday with the signing of 21-year-old central midfielder Owen Gene, from Amiens SC in the French second division.

Gene is a tall, rangy defensive midfielder, and will occupy a U22 Initiative and international spot on the Loons roster. Despite his youth, he’s already played more than 100 games for the Amiens first team.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

As preseason experiments go, it’s hard to beat Minnesota United’s attempt at playing with two strikers.

On Sunday in their first of three exhibition games at the Coachella Valley Invitational in California, the Loons played with Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi up front against a less-than-full-strength team from Sporting Kansas City.

By halftime, it was 5-0 Minnesota; at the end, it was 6-0, and both Oluwaseyi and Yeboah had scored twice.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

Even after just a few days, it’s tempting to think of Minnesota United’s Korean duo as some kind of unit.

After all, Sang Bin Jeong and Hoyeon Jung are not only just the sixth and seventh South Koreans to play in Major League Soccer, but they are also the first two to play on the same team at the same time. They even have the same surname, though they spell it differently in English.

The similarities might end there.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

Hassani Dotson asked to be traded, but according to Loons chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be in Minnesota.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s Hassani who says he doesn’t want to be there,” El-Ahmad said on Tuesday, his first media availability following the publicized trade request from Dotson’s camp.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…

Minnesota United was already short of players in its central midfield, and now the Loons must handle the potential loss of another.

The club picked up a contract option for Hassani Dotson at the beginning of the offseason, meaning the 27-year-old midfielder is entering the final season of his deal — a situation that Dotson is clearly unhappy with.

Read the rest at StarTribune.com…