
Minnesota United lost 2-0 at FC Dallas this past weekend while missing three key players, and that problem hasn't quite gone away.
While the Loons will have center back Francisco Calvo and midfielder Collen Warner back in the lineup Saturday at Sporting Kansas City after serving suspensions, playmaker Darwin Quintero will still be out with a calf strain. And joining him is outside back Tyrone Mears, who is out with an undisclosed injury.
Against Dallas, coach Adrian Heath implemented a 4-3-3 system, which featured Mears and Eric Miller as outside backs and also started winger Frantz Pangop. Heath said he didn't feel like new winger Romario Ibarra or striker Abu Danladi, who has missed a lot of time with injuries this year, were fit enough to play 90 minutes, which is why he chose Pangop for his first start.
But the offense couldn't quite start anything and the defense wasn't quite as solid as it had been while the Loons played the 3-5-2. So Heath is contemplating going back to that or sticking with the 4-3-3.
Quintero's loss is big in either formation. Heath said he's hopeful that after the 7:30 p.m. game Saturday, Quintero will be fit to play for the next game on Sept. 12 at D.C. United.
"There's no point in pushing somebody," Heath said of letting Quintero use the upcoming two-week break to regain full health. "We get into that stage, we know we're running out of games, but I think we have a better chance if he's fit for most of them."
Mears has been in and out of the lineup this season, but the team might particularly miss him for this game. He scored the only goal, a screaming distance strike, in United's 4-1 loss on June 3 at Kansas City. That's the only goal the Loons have scored in Children's Mercy Park in three meetings since 2017. Meanwhile, Kansas City has scored 11.
"To use a boxing analogy, I don't think we've ever laid a glove on them while we're away," Heath said. Last year's 3-0 league loss at Kansas City was the most disappointed he's been as United's coach,he said, calling the performance "embarrassingly bad."