Minnesota United is better than last year, but the answer to exactly how much better continues to be murky at best.
The waters on this discussion were muddied further Saturday as the Loons struggled mightily against the supposed meager New England Revolution. Allowing an early goal was a familiar site as United found themselves trailing after just 10 minutes.
In their opening fixture this season, Minnesota revisited nightmares of seasons past by allowing an early first goal. After that game, Minnesota United head coach Adrian Heath said: “After the first goal, I know there would have been one or two people back home going, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ But no: it’s not here we go again. This is not the same group as we’ve had before. We’re stronger, mentally and physically.”
In that instance, the gaffer was correct as United stormed back to win 3-2. But based on the 2-1 loss on Saturday afternoon: Oh, here we go again.
The result in and of itself is certainly concerning from a Minnesota perspective. But the way the match unfolded must have given consistent viewers deja vu. United looked tepid in possession, sorely lacking a cutting edge, which was not aided by Darwin Quintero’s performance, who appeared to be taking an unscheduled day off.
“I thought we got quite a lot of ball in their half of the field and normally the little fella conjures something up,” Heath said of his star man. “You know, by his own standards, his nearly balls — that’s what they were, nearly. He normally comes up with something in a game and that really summed up the afternoon in their half of the field.”
The Colombian’s role in this team is unquestioned, but for all his brilliance in a United shirt, one knock you could certainly pin on him is he has a penchant of going conspicuously missing at seemingly random intervals.
This was one of those occasions, though, I would question whether or not Heath’s tactics of utilizing him as a second striker aren’t contributing. For my money, Quintero’s best role is as a No. 10 where he can come deeper at times to receive the ball and the turn himself or play one of the three forward players through.
Worse yet, the midfield and defensive shape were abhorrent from United. The space between Minnesota’s forward line and its defense is cavernous. Throughout much of the match, Ozzie Alonso and Jan Gregus looked completely isolated. Both central midfielders clearly lack elite pace so providing opponents free yardage when going at the duo is a recipe for disaster.
Things looked even worse in transition. United never looked assured when chasing back and a better side would have certainly punished them further.
“The start of the second half is when it kind of started to fall apart,” Ike Opara said. “We came into the half and wanted to make adjustments … and I’m not sure what happened. We defended way too many counters, we lost too many second balls, too many first balls, and you can only defend so many counters before you allow a goal.”
Defensive woes have been a hallmark of this franchise under Heath. It’s times like this where the variables are known — weak opponent, improved roster — but the same old story keeps repeating itself that force you to lack back at the man calling the shots.
“Absolutely disappointing,” Ethan Finlay said. “I would say both losses we felt like, coming in, we had an opportunity to get three points and to get zero out of them is a disappointment. We have high expectations this year and that means going on the road and getting results.”
Coach rating out of 10
2 — This type of result rubs the shine right off the new season as it brought back so many haunting memories from years prior. The team looked lackluster on the road and inept at the back. Heath’s inability to curb these themes must reflect on his leadership.
Select Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best.)
CAM Darwin Quintero, 2 — A weak performance overall, but more pointedly, he just never seemed interested in imposing his will on the game. Tried a few passes here and there, but otherwise couldn’t be bothered to pull the team as he so often does.
CM Jan Gregus, 3 — I’ve been saying it for a few weeks now in this space, but it seems to continue to be true: the Slovakian doesn’t strike me as an impact player. He’s technically sound, but his passing and moving are uninspiring. He creates little in the way of chances for others or himself and his passing is often sideways or backward.
RM Ethan Finlay, 5 — Provided energy and rugged movement up the field whenever possible. He looked hungry while others looked overly stuffed.
GK Vito Mannone, 4 — Though the header from the first goal was incredibly close it nonetheless went directly at him. You’d certainly have expected a keeper of his quality to save it.
