Minnesota United Signs Winger Sam Nicholson

Minnesota United announced a new roster addition Monday morning in the form of Sam Nicholson from Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership.

The move had been rumored to be coming for weeks in advance so this confirmation from the team merely just sets it in stone. The Loons are currently on a MLS hiatus as the league takes a break for the CONCACAF Gold Cup to play out.

For weeks now, it has become common knowledge that the United is looking to bring in numerous additions during this break period and Nicholson is the first domino to fall.

The team has not done much to dispel rumors either so expect more player announcements in the near future.

Analysis:

As we’ve discussed at length numerous times on the Minnesota Soccer Podcast for ZoneCoverage.com, Minnesota is drastically short on depth and head coach Adrian Heath has even verbalized that he feels short on options. Highlighting this further is the fact that Heath rarely uses his substitutions, which is somewhat unheard of in any top flight football league.

Nicholson, at least on paper, appears to be an ideal addition to the squad. At 22 years old he is a young player with loads of energy, but at the same time he has already played more than 100 times in Scotland’s first division.

“We are really pleased to have added a player with the skillset of Sam [Nicholson],” Heath said. “He’s a player who can cut inside from either side of the pitch. He’s got two really good feet and he’s got some goals in him, he can beat his man. It’s not very often that you get the opportunity to bring in a player from Europe, who looks at MLS as a step up. We are delighted to have him and we think he will be a great addition to our squad.”

There are only a handful of sure-fire starters as it stands right now for Heath. (When I say “sure-fire” I guess I mean to imply these are guys he’s genuinely excited to write on the whiteboard prior to each match. For example, I don’t think Sam Cronin makes Heath’s eyes light up with excitement, but at this point he has no choice but to start the only decent defensive midfielder he has on the roster). The sure-fire guys are Francisco Calvo, Jerome Thiesson, Ibson, Kevin Molino and Christian Ramirez.

That depth chart, or power ranking as it were, of United’s top players is one way to highlight the fact that the Loon’s offensive could use improvement or at least more consistency around Molino and Ramirez. At times this season, Miguel Ibarra has showed he belongs and could be a cog in well-oiled offense, but that still leaves the opposite flank in an uncomfortable position with none of Johan Venegas, Bashkim Kadrii and Ish Jome yet to fully assert themselves into that position.

At best Nicholson could prove to be a “sure-fire” guy for Heath and become a reliable starter and at the worst he provides depth to an otherwise meager roster. Either way, it’s a smart play by United.

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