When Minnesota United came out for the second half in last Saturday’s game against Colorado, the Loons did so in a formation that — after the past two years under Eric Ramsay — seemed almost shocking.
Four defenders, instead of five? What kind of daring, devil-may-care setup is this?
“It seemed monumental because we’ve been so [consistent on playing a] five-back, with three or two in the middle,” midfielder Wil Trapp said.
Even though Minnesota has just two games left in its regular season, starting Saturday against Sporting Kansas City, an unexpected formation shift represents the reality of the Loons’ current situation. Minnesota is searching for a way to make things work, with the healthy players available.
When striker Kelvin Yeboah went down because of a hamstring injury, it represented the culmination of the worst-case scenario for the Loons, in terms of how they’ve grown used to playing. With Yeboah hurt, and Tani Oluwaseyi granted the chance to pursue his European dreams with Villareal, Minnesota went from having two tall, fast, experienced center-forwards to having none.
Until now, the Loons haven’t felt the need to make wholesale changes to their setup.
“We haven’t lost back-to-back league games over the course of the year, so we’ve never been in a position where we felt like there’s any need to panic in any way,” Ramsay said.
The Loons had grown used to having the option of letting goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, or one of the team’s center backs, boot a long ball down the field for Yeboah or Oluwaseyi to win. Without that same aerial presence, the Loons had to change their style. And so there was a new version of the Loons on the field on Saturday: a squad that was consistently attempting to string together passes in their own half of the field to defeat the Colorado press.
