Only a few years ago, Minnesota United seemed to be trying to construct an entire starting lineup out of wingers.
Now, suddenly, the team has run out of them.
Franco Fragapane, who arrived from Argentina earlier in the year and slotted in on the left wing, picked up a thigh injury in mid-July and is not close to returning. Robin Lod, who's bounced back and forth between playing as a striker and as an inverted winger on the right side, is unavailable after suffering a calf injury in training late last week.
Niko Hansen, who served as Lod's replacement during the European Championships, also strained his right hamstring last week and is out for several weeks. Neither Lod nor Hansen trained Monday, and a team spokesman said neither are likely to travel for Tuesday's game at San Jose.
With two more games this week, including Saturday at home against Sporting Kansas City, the sudden dearth of attacking players couldn't come at a worse time.
Saturday against Los Angeles, coach Adrian Heath's solution was to play midfielder Hassani Dotson on the left wing. Early in the season, the youngster had deputized there as well, but even Heath acknowledged that he'd rather not be playing Dotson out wide again. "We all know that's not really his best position," he said.
Heath said the club has salary cap space to add a new player, as well as an open international roster spot if that player happens to be an overseas player. However, with the league past the summer transfer window deadline, the team wouldn't be able to bring in a player who's not already playing in North America.
The winger shortage also comes as starting striker Adrien Hunou appears to be at a low in confidence. Hunou had a couple of decent chances from near-post runs against the Galaxy, but both times couldn't manage to get a header on target.
