MNUFC Mailbag: Loons-Crew, transfer rumors, the academy’s future and more

Minnesota United
By Jeff Rueter
Jul 24, 2020

Minnesota United cleared their first hurdle in the MLS is Back tournament, advancing out of Group D. It wasn’t always pretty, but the team has remained unbeaten through five games, dating back to the season’s first start in March. The group stage format certainly wasn’t normal, just like most things in life aren’t quite recognizable in 2020. If only there were some bit of familiarity as we enter the knockout rounds, with the Loons set to play the Columbus Crew on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central.

That’s right — MLS is well and truly back, and Adrian Heath is playing the hits.

Let’s dive in.

What’s the latest on potential transfer news? The TV broadcast mentioned we are close to signing a French defender and (Bebelo) Reynoso. Is this accurate?

— Greg S.

Might as well knock this one out right away, as it’s something I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple of weeks. When The Athletic started covering MLS in 2018, we made a decision across the board to avoid rumor-based pieces and only report on player movement as we can confirm it will, in fact, happen. I’ve been a fan of the game all of my life — I get as sucked into a transfer saga and the whisper mill as much as anybody when it comes to AFC Bournemouth. For our site, though, we’ll hold off on joining that song-and-dance.

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Which is to say: nothing is finalized yet. While the Reynoso talks are still ongoing (never stopped, honestly), there has not been a finalized deal as of Thursday afternoon, per sources. As for Bakaye Dibassy (the aforementioned French defender): also not done. I can help add some color in how the club became interested in the Mali international, though. Dibassy joined then-Ligue 1 side Amiens in 2016, a year before Minnesota joined MLS. Once it became clear that running a team without a defensive midfielder was ill-advised, the Loons began scouting for international No. 6s. Chief on their list in the 2017-18 offseason was Amiens captain Thomas Monconduit, who sources indicate was discussing financial terms with Minnesota before ultimately renewing his deal with the French side. Amiens was relegated in 2019-20, which could open the door for their players to leave at lower rates as many European clubs have relegation release clauses in player deals.

And if so, when can they join the team?

— Patrick M.

As for when they could join Minnesota, the Loons passed on bringing in players (non-DP, non-TAM) during the pre-tournament two-day extravaganza on July 6 and 7. The secondary (“summer”) transfer window runs from Aug. 12 to Oct. 29, and the team couldn’t register a new player before that opening day. Conveniently, the MLS is Back tournament final is on Aug. 11, meaning any new signings could be registered to take the field for their new teams if MLS is able to resume play in its own markets.

We good? Back to the lads currently on the roster.

What is going on on defense with the Loons? Aside from Ike (Opara)’s absence obviously. What can we expect of this defense against a Crew team that scored 7 goals in three games?

— Gabriel L.

I don’t think there needs to be a much larger explanation than Opara’s absence. Any team is going to see its level dip without the reigning MLS Defender of the Year. While José Aja has played capably in his place, particularly in the box, there are massive differences in his game compared to Opara’s that change how the entire team plays.

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Aja is the definition of a stay-at-home defender. He isn’t going to emulate Francisco Calvo, dribbling like a human joystick into the attacking third regardless of defensive responsibilities. He’ll keep his station in the defensive third, push into the central third as needed when the team has a higher line of engagement, and only factor into the attack on set pieces. He isn’t a major downgrade from Opara in terms of distribution, either, averaging four accurate long balls per 90 and a 90 percent accuracy on his short passing.

Where the Uruguayan doesn’t hold a candle to Opara, however, is playing in transition. Last season, Minnesota had a breakthrough when Opara and Michael Boxall were able to alternate runs into the midfield to throw an opponent’s shape off, with Boxall capitalizing (albeit with a hilarious deflection from Judson) against San Jose last season. That run doesn’t happen to such effect if you don’t have an equally athletic center back partner who could cover ground in the event of a turnover — which is a lesson Boxall and Minnesota learned the hard way in the group opener against Sporting Kansas City.

Boxall tries a similar run into the attacking half to keep the ball in circulation, and is ultimately beat to it by Alan Pulido. The Mexican striker puts a world-class touch past the Kiwi, and it’s off to the races. Chase Gasper tries to drift central to occupy Boxall’s space, not realizing the center back is already a step behind him. With so much space on the Loons’ left, Khiry Shelton has almost too much time to set up a shot. Luckily for him, Tyler Miller jukes in anticipation of a cross, and Shelton has the entire near post wide open to him — unmarked by the left back, uncovered by the goalkeeper. Boxall hasn’t tried a similar run in the ensuing 226 minutes, though Gasper gave a similarly generous patch of real estate to Kei Kamara for Colorado’s opener on Wednesday.

To sum it up: the Minnesota defense hasn’t been bad when it’s set up. Jonathan Lewis’ leveler on Wednesday was the only goal they conceded when set up, and even that was on a recirculated second chance where Miller was screened. Where they’re struggling is in those moments of a match where Opara has made his name as MLS’s best transitional center back since he joined SKC. Getting Brent Kallman will give another option, but he’s closer to Aja than Opara in terms of playing style and hasn’t played a competitive match in nearly 11 months. Whoever starts alongside Boxall, I would imagine the six days between Wednesday’s draw and the first knockout match against Columbus will be used to lock down that transitional tactic.

Do you have any updates on the future of the academy, a USL side or a NWSL team?

— Andrew B.

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In order: not encouraging, no and no.

I actually did a double-take when I realized it’s only been less than a month since Paul Tenorio and I reported that the club had cut or furloughed its remaining academy staff. Like most days in 2020, it feels like it happened ages ago. Over the past four weeks, the messaging from the club has been scarce both publicly and directly to players’ families. On July 14, chief soccer officer Manny Lagos sent an email to parents (obtained and first reported by E Pluribus Loonum) saying an “exciting announcement” was anticipated within 10-14 days of sending. Friday marks 10 days, and there has been no indication that the media should expect details on the future of the Loons academy. Sources indicate that, as of Thursday, players’ families have not been told when they can expect an update, and staff members who used to work for the club’s academy have not been looped into the conversation.

Back in 2018, it sounded as if a USL affiliate would be a higher priority than an NWSL sibling. To date, neither have panned out. As the entire sports world is re-situating in the wake of the first wave of COVID-19 and braces for a likely second wave, further investments into new leagues is likely to be delayed — and not just for Minnesota.

(Robin) Lod played like an inverted winger, right? On the left. But he’s almost exclusively left-footed, which limited passing angles frequently. Yet Gasper isn’t as capable going forward as (Romain) Métanire, which left Chase isolated and not dangerous way too often. … People blame Lod a lot, but Chase was really bad this game. Is he the problem on the left, and not Lod?

— Shane I.

I trimmed Shane’s question in half, but he was clearly sorting through a lot. Truth be told, the left side of Minnesota United’s team has always been a question, dating back to the NASL era and the rotating cast of wingers ahead of Justin Davis. For whatever reason, the Loons haven’t been able to find The Guy to make the left wing position their own.

First, the bad. Despite some preseason discussion that he’d be better served playing central, Lod has started all three games in the group stage and played 248 out of 270 possible minutes. He’s had as many yellow cards as shots on target (two apiece) across those three games. He sent in just one key pass (a pass which led to a scoring chance) over 248 minutes. According to American Soccer Analysis, Lod averaged 0.34 xG+xA/96 minutes across those three games, meaning he’d be expected to score or tally an assist once every three games — not a great rate for a starting attacker on a team with legitimate title aspirations. Statistics site WhoScored cobbles together 200 different metrics to give players a shorthand 1-10 rating in real-time; Lod had the lowest rating (6.57) among Loons who started all three games and the second-lowest (ahead of Hassani Dotson) among Loons with at least 100 minutes played.

Despite the Loons attack having run through the right ever since acquiring Métanire ahead of the 2017 season, Lod actually found the ball more than the team’s other two attackers. He accounted for 3.6 percent of the game’s possession, while Luis Amarilla and Ethan Finlay each had 2.4 percent of the ball. Only Ozzie Alonso had a higher pass completion rate (93 percent, 28/30) on Wednesday, with both of his incompletions being forward balls and his incompletion in the defensive half being more of a clearance which went out for a Rapids throw.

When he turned the ball over with his distribution, it was harmless. That’s a good trait for a player. What’s troubling there is that only two of his 28 completions put the ball closer to the Colorado box than where he collected it. To put that another way, 26 of his completions either circulated the ball or reset the Loons’ attacking plan.

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If you’re going to oversimplify what a good attacker does, you need to either be a threat to score or do the work that makes your teammates’ scoring chances increase. That might be the biggest frustration with watching Lod. On the ball, he’s capable. He doesn’t look uncomfortable shuttling up the left flank or getting past a defender or two. It isn’t that he’s errant and unbridled like Alexi Gómez, a clear step behind like Bashkim Kadrii or playing on the wrong side like Miguel Ibarra. It’s just that the work he’s doing isn’t helping increase the likelihood of the team scoring.

As for Gasper — I wouldn’t sell my stock in him yet. Considering Lod’s relative lack of pace, he’s been doing extra work to cover the left side of the pitch and has done some very good defending (save for those two goals I highlighted in this piece and Tuesday’s, where he was caught out after trying to do too much). There are comfortably over a dozen left backs playing in the MLS is Back tournament who are shakier than Gasper.

What is missing from Thomás Chacón’s game that prevents him from getting playing time, Especially as a 60th minute sub that brings energy and creativity?

— Davis B.

Confidence.

Going into the tournament, the general assumption was that teams would need to rotate to keep players fresh between the frequency of matches and the long layoff leading up to the group stage. It seemed that squad guys like Raheem Edwards, Marlon Hairston, Chacón and Mason Toye could work into more prominent roles than they had in the season’s first two games back in March. That hasn’t proven to be the case for Minnesota. Within Group D, 16 players have played all 270 minutes through three games; six of them are Loons. Another three have eclipsed 200 minutes thus far.

Despite Kevin Molino picking up a hamstring injury halfway through the second match, Chacón has managed just 45 minutes in Orlando as he replaced the Trinbagonian at halftime. In a stalemate of a match operating with the pace of a Snorlax, the Loons’ young designated player managed just 19 touches, seven of which came in the defensive half. To his credit, another seven came within 10 yards of the RSL box, showing that he could get into dangerous spaces. Whether it was due to the relatively pessimistic nature of the match, working the rust off, or a lack of mojo, it didn’t go much further than that. He sent one shot in on-target, and that’s about all.

If Chacón is going to progress as a player and make good on the Loons’ seven-figure investment in his future, he needs to be playing more. Without a USL affiliate or a loan away, that means coming off the bench with increased frequency. He’s played just three times since joining the Loons last August: 24 minutes on Aug. 22, 61 minutes on Sept. 11 and 45 minutes on July 17. Even factoring for seven-to-eight combined months off between the offseason and the pandemic, that’s a horrid rate of playing time for a player who was billed as “one for the future we’ll develop into being a top No. 10.”

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If there’s a plan for that development process, it has yet to be seen.

I’ve noticed that we have been having (Fred) Emmings on the bench. Is Emmings going to be up as the regular backup over Dayne St. Clair?

— Noah J.

Emmings is firmly entrenched as the team’s fourth goalkeeper, behind (in order) Miller, Greg Ranjitsingh and St. Clair, whom the Loons have a recall option on as part of their loan agreement. The team’s top pick in the 2019 SuperDraft remained with USL Championship side San Antonio FC during the tournament, starting their season re-opener and backstopping the team to a 1-1 draw on the road. Given the increased substitute options (it’s still a maximum of five, no matter how many Heath or Peter Vermes choose to use), teams’ benches for matches have bloated to a maximum of 12 players. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on St. Clair this season, and Emmings is further away from contending for MLS minutes than the Canadian.

With Columbus yet to concede a goal in the tournament, what does MNUFC need to do to get on the scoreboard? Also, is there extra time in the knockout stages or does it go straight to penalties after 90 min?

— Nick G.

To the latter question: knockout round matches that finish tied at the end of regulation will proceed directly to a penalty kick shootout, per the league.

To the former: Minnesota needs to continue to rediscover their attacking cohesion, hope Amarilla looks closer to his usual self after a six-day layoff between games and once again embrace the counter. This is the same roster that dominated the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes away from Allianz Field in March — a pair of teams which have been very formidable in Orlando, as well.

As for the Crew’s defense — are we sure they’ve played a good attack? They opened against FC Cincinnati in their first match under a(nother) new manager, faced an Atlanta United side during their absolute worst form in their short but impressive history and closed against a New York Red Bulls team which also looks like a shell of its former self. For my money, none of those three teams on current form come close to how Minnesota has looked for extended periods of time in 2020.

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Full disclosure, I picked Columbus to win it all on the day MLS drew the tournament’s groups, so I can’t exactly backtrack from what’s looked to be a good choice. However, I don’t think the Crew are exactly world-beaters considering the group they had. Compare it to Group D, where all four teams looked capable of winning at least once, and the disparity is clear. Minnesota beat the Crew 1-0 at Allianz Field last year on an Ethan Finlay show-stopper, and you can expect the team to approach the game with full confidence that they can advance to the next round.

If Heath’s post-game press conference was an indication, the team once again feels like they’re being slept on and that they deserve more respect, just as they said leading up to last year’s postseason. What could possibly go wrong?

Favorite dish you’ve cooked in quarantine, Jeff?

— Jake R.

Hard to pick just one from four-plus months and counting. I have made a couple loaves each of sourdough and banana bread. I’ve nailed the timing on grilled chicken thighs (homemade spicy and sweet marinate) without a thermometer. Last week’s jambalaya was a standout.

I just asked my wife, Kate, what her favorite has been. “Decked-out brunch potatoes.”

When making brunch for two, hash browns can be tricky. Do you pan-fry them at the risk of them cooling off as you make the eggs over-easy? Do you sacrifice some of the necessary crisp by oven-baking them? Sometime in late winter, we hit a breakthrough in our house: forget hash browns, go for baked potatoes.

I bake mine at 425 degrees for 40-50 minutes, rubbing them with a light dose of olive oil, salt and black pepper. That gives you ample time to prep the fixings and nail the timing for every part to be the ideal temperature. Our usual is an egg each over-easy, some shredded cheese, scallions, avocado or mushrooms (if you have them on-hand) and a loving portion of Cry Baby Craig’s hot sauce. You end up with a way more aesthetically pleasing plate and a less greasy dish. Plus, it’s perfect for when you’re watching a morning match: pop them in just around kickoff and they’ll be ready for halftime.

Just be thankful I didn’t do another deep dive on socks this time.

(Photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)

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Jeff Rueter

Jeff Rueter is a staff writer for The Athletic who covers soccer in North America, Europe, and beyond. No matter how often he hears the Number 10 role is "dying," he'll always leave a light on for the next great playmaker. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffrueter