Minnesota United to 'err on the side of caution' with forward Christian Ramirez

Minnesota United forward Christian Ramirez again sat out practice Wednesday at the National Sports Center. The team's leading scorer with 11 goals mainly trained on a stationary bike on the sidelines.

Ramirez left United's 4-0 victory against D.C. United late in the first half Saturday with a hamstring tweak. And while that measure was mostly precautionary, it might extend to this 7 p.m. Saturday matchup with the defending champions Seattle Sounders FC at TCF Bank Stadium.

That would be rough timing for Ramirez, as his whole family is in town for the match. Some even came by to watch practice Wednesday.

"I know what it's like for families to watch their son play, but we have to look at the big picture," United coach Adrian Heath said. "The big picture for us is, if Christian's not ready this week, we have a two-week gap. He will almost certainly be ready for Seattle away. If he was to really pull his hamstring, it could even be the end of his season. So we have to look at and err on the side of caution."

United is off next week after Atlanta United FC rescheduled the Loons' away match from Aug. 12 to Oct. 3 in the club's new stadium.The Loons travel to Seattle Aug. 20.

Ramirez has started all but one of United's matches this season, the first one, and played in all 22 so far to amass 1,844 minutes.

Defender Justin Davis has also missed practice the past two days after rolling his ankle.

And as far as an update on the long-term injured, Heath said he is hoping to have left-back Marc Burch, who had bilateral sports hernia surgery back in late June, integrated with the group in the "next couple weeks." He and defender Thomas de Villardi trained separately Wednesday, as they usually do.

De Villardi ruptured his Achilles and had surgery on it back in March. His recovery time was six to nine months, meaning it's possible he could come back for the last month of this season. And while the player has progressed to actually doing some work with a soccer ball recently, Heath said there is no pressure for the France native to make a comeback before this season ends.

"He's working so hard, showing great attitude, application to get better," Heath said. "But he's one of them that we'll take due care and attention with because it's a really delicate injury that he's got, and we don't want to rush him along if it means that he's ready for the start of next season."

Midfielder Bernardo Anor has also been on the disabled list all season with a nerve issue in his leg. And while Anor hasn't been showing up on the sidelines of practice in recent weeks, Heath said it's just taking Anor a lot of time to recover.

Also, Major League Soccer and Adidas extended their partnership through 2024, so expect to see Adidas uniforms, footwear, training gear, sideline apparel and soccer balls for the forseeable future.