Football Season Guide

A season of several ups and downs saw Minnesota part ways with Adrian Heath, the only manager they’d ever had during their MLS era, as well as star Emanuel Reynoso. In came young coach Eric Ramsay, as well as exciting striker Kelvin Yeboah - the two men who turned their season around. Minnesota finished sixth in the West and eliminated Real Salt Lake in the playoffs, but they were thrashed by LA Galaxy in the second round. Taking into account that Minnesota looked solid in the last stretch of the season and given that no starters departed, the club haven’t had a busy transfer window. A few backup players left and the team was freshened up with the arrivals of young and prodigious players such as Nicolás Romero and Ho-yeon Jung. Ramsay’s tactical twitch of shifting to a back-three and using forward Bongokuhle Hlongwane as right wingback worked wonders for Minnesota. Having kept the team’s spine intact, the 33-year-old coach has had the opportunity to further work with the team during the offseason – this time without the distractions of a congested MLS calendar. All the pieces of the puzzle are there to be put together. In Hlongwane and Joseph Rosales, Minnesota boast two of the finest wingbacks in the MLS. And in Yeboah they have a Golden Boot-caliber No. 9. Along with Robin Lod, who stepped up after Reynoso’s departure, they make the team’s attack their main strength. The 6-2 thrashing at hands of MLS champions LA Galaxy in the playoffs shows that Minnesota’s defence might well be their Achilles heel. It remains to be seen whether Ramsay could manage to improve their backline performance.