Last June, Minnesota United’s season began to crater.
The Loons suffered a combination of players away on international duty and a few injuries during a nine-match winless skid from June 8 through July 17.
MNUFC rebounded by the end of July to surge into the MLS Cup Playoffs, but that sour stretch still sticks with Eric Ramsay.
“We were entering the dark days about now last year,” the head coach said a week ago.
United is in a much better position this season. The team is healthier (Hassani Dotson’s season-ending knee injury is the only major absence), fewer players are gone with their respective national teams, and Ramsay believes the overall squad is deeper.
“I think the players and us as a group all will feel that sense of responsibility to make sure that when those guys get back, we are in a good place,” Ramsay said.
Minnesota will have four players gone to play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup: goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and striker Tani Oluwaseyi (Canada); wingback Joseph Rosales (Honduras) and center back/center midfielder Carlos Harvey (Panama). They could miss up to four matches into early July.
Last year’s skid started with 11 players out for the 1-1 home draw against FC Dallas on June 8. This year, the Loons were off when the international window hit the hardest with six absences.
Since then, Loons leaders Michael Boxall (New Zealand) and Robin Lod (Finland) finished their international duties on Tuesday and are expected to return to training in Blaine before Saturday’s home match against San Diego FC.
The biggest absences going forward will be St. Clair — who leads MLS with eight shutouts — and Oluwaseyi, tied for 10th in MLS with eight goals scored.
Goalkeeper
Backups Alec Smir and Wessel Speel, an un-drafted rookie from Duke, both appear in line to to play in MLS this summer. The 6-foot-7 Speel was a surprise selection over Smir in both of the Loons’ U.S. Open Cup wins to reach the quarterfinals.
“We wanted to make sure, first and foremost, that we saw Wessel in a really competitive context,” Ramsay said. “I’ve been really pleasantly surprised with (the 23-year-old Dutchman). I think everyone who is involved in the group has felt a real level of trust that is perhaps not common with someone with that depth of experience.”
Ramsay has raved about Speel’s size and strong leg for distribution on goal kicks covering most of the field. “He has some ingredients that are really hard to come by,” the coach said.
“Alec will be desperately fighting for that spot because he’s done really well for us and he’s a really well-liked guy … a real team player,” Ramsay said. “He does that well and he supports the group.”
Striker
Kelvin Yeboah is the most-obvious choice to step in for Oluwaseyi; the two strikers were playing together at the same time until Ramsay chanced the formation to one striker.
The most-glaring issue with Yeboah is the Italian/Ghanian hasn’t scored an MLS goal since March — albeit he did get on the scoresheet in the Open Cup win over St. Louis on May 21.
Besides Yeboah, Sang Bin Jeong and Bongi Hlongwane could get wishes for more playing in attacking positions. Then there is 17-year-old Darius Randell, who just signed a first-team, homegrown contract.
Ramsay sees the St. Michael, Minn., resident as a forward who can help change the game with his athleticism, pace and dribbling abilities. He scored the winning goal in the Open Cup win over Louisville on May 7.
“It won’t be token-gesture minutes, nor minutes from a perspective of publicity around young players,” Ramsay said. “He can definitely go and make a mark. He’s shown that in the Cup games.”
Wingback
Rosales is not just away with Honduras, he could be on his way out of Minnesota at some point this summer. GiveMeSport reported Wednesday MNUFC is expecting other clubs to bid on Rosales this summer after rejecting an offer from an Italian club in Serie A over the winter.
Anthony Markanich has developed into a capable replacement at left wingback, and with Rosales’ injuries and three-match suspension, the pair have nearly evenly split playing time this season.
Central spots
With the versatile Harvey gone with Panama, the Loons have developed cover with Jefferson Diaz and Morris Duggan at center back and Owen Gene in midfield. Hoyeon Jung, however, remains on the outside looking in at midfield.
Gene earned his first MLS start in the 3-2 win at Seattle on June 1. “I think he did an amazing job for a 21-year-old kid,” midfield partner Wil Trapp said afterward.
Gene didn’t want to join Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup in order to solidify a spot with MNUFC.
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