5/16 PRACTICE NOTES: Heath Bullish About United, Gives Ibson High Praise

Minnesota United returned to the National Sports Center in Blaine Tuesday off the back an extremely impressive result, albeit a loss to Major League Soccer’s table toppers Toronto FC.

Loon’s head coach Adrian Heath wasn’t shy in his acknowledgment of his team’s highly-praised performance. When asked what stood out when he rewatched the game film, Heath said matter-of-factly: “Yeah, we were good.”

“During large periods of the game, I was really pleased with some of the stuff we did,” he added. “The way we set the team up, I thought worked really, really well.”

Heath was also quick to reject any claims that the fact Minnesota conceded three hinted the club’s defensive woes had returned.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Heath said.

Analyzing the goals one by one, Heath said the first was an individual mistake as it was a poor decision by rookie Abu Danladi. The second, he said, was a foul on Christian Ramirez and so the goal shouldn’t have stood. The last goal he attributed to pure luck as Jozy Altidore came into possession only after one United defender had struck it off the other, placing the ball right into the American striker’s path.

“In general, I was really pleased by the performance,” Heath said.

Heath continued to heap praise on Ibson, saying he’s arguably the best footballer he’s ever worked with.

“I’ve worked with some good players and I’ve played with some good players, but I think for natural talent and ability there’s certainly not many better than him,” Heath said.

They try to keep Ibson in a structured role, Heath said, but added that his free-flowing, Brazilian background makes that a bit difficult for him. Heath said he’s been surprisingly impressed by Ibson’s positional understanding of the holding midfield role and he’s ability to provide defense when needed.

“He’s been a real pleasure and a joy to work with,” Heath said.

Abu Danladi was carrying a slight shoulder injury at practice but Heath made light of it and seemed optimistic that the UCLA product will be available come the weekend match versus the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Bernardo Anor, who is been out almost the entire season with injury, is getting closer to working with the team, Heath said.

Against Toronto, for the first time (or at least the longest stretch thus far this season) United played with Kevin Molino in the No. 10 role underneath Ramirez. In the previous game against Sporting KC, Danladi played there, but against TFC he took up the right wing position, which had previously been held by Molino. The two attackers essentially switched positions, something Heath said they thought worked well in the match and a tactic they may use going forward, but overall is a concept very much in flux.

 

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