It was supposed to be the final move to lift Minnesota United from playoff contender to championship contender.
When the Loons signed Emanuel “Bebelo” Reynoso, he was their missing No. 10 – the final-third conductor who would take a defensively solid team in 2019 and make them just as powerful an attacking force.
But it’s hard to expect that “final piece” narrative to play out when the other pieces are not around anymore.
The missing pieces
Much was made of the big step the Loons took in 2019, going from 10th place in the West and no playoffs in 2018 to 4th place and hosting a playoff game in 2019. Pivotal to that turnaround were the acquisitions of veterans Ike Opara (30 matches in 2019) and Ozzie Alonso (27 matches in 2019).
But this year reigning Defender of the Year Opara has two games to his name and hasn’t played since March 7 as he rehabilitates a preexisting condition. Midfield lynchpin Alonso, at age 34, has played in six games and sat out the last one as MNUFC manage his minutes in the midst of a condensed schedule.
Minnesota also needed to replace 2019 Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year Vito Mannone and the player they brought in for him, Tyler Miller (6th place in the GK of the Year vote), is out for 2020 after hip surgery.
Which is all to say that when it comes to this Minnesota squad, judgement will have to be reserved for the next time the band is back together.
Heath said on Friday he’s hopeful to get Opara back at some point this season although “at the moment he’s got no immediate thought to play in the next couple of weeks.” As for Alonso – “arguably the best No. 6 in the league for 10 years,” according to Heath – he’ll be back for Sunday’s game against Real Salt Lake (8 pm ET on ESPN+ and MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada), but as Heath put it: “He isn’t getting any younger. Six games in 24 days is going to be tough for anybody … down the road he’s going to be a big, big void to fill.”
Backup Greg Ranjitsingh has taken over as goalkeeper for now and Heath made it clear that he’s not putting the eight goals conceded and three straight losses on the new starting goalkeeper when they haven’t defended well in front of him. But he did make it clear that “obviously, results and performances dictate what you do in terms of the lineup.”
Given their current situation, Minnesota are a team to watch and see whether they wait things out or they force the issue on the transfer market to give them the best shot at a deep playoff run in a chaotic 2020. One available name is Mannone, who’s a free agent after spending a half-season in Denmark.
“There are two months left [in the transfer window] and we will assess it daily and weekly,” Heath said. “At this moment in time, the Ike situation has been an issue for us. Any team in this league would miss having him available. So we are assessing it. And with the goalkeepers, we’ll see where we go. Trust me, you’re not the first person who’s mentioned Vito’s name as you can imagine. It’s something we are assessing and we’ll decide down the road what we’re going to do about this. I wouldn’t rule anything out, but at this moment in time we haven’t decided to go down that road.”
What lies ahead
After making his MLS debut against the Dynamo, Emanuel Reynoso could be in line for extended minutes against Real Salt Lake Sunday. | USA Today Sports Images
Heath admitted that their semifinal run at the MLS is Back Tournament “feels a million miles away,” but he and the club are pushing through in the face of a current three-game losing streak. He wants his Loons to stay confident with two big home matches coming up (Minnesota have only played one home game all year) and the chance to move into third place in the West with a win over a resolute Real Salt Lake team in Week 10.
Despite some adversity of their own with ownership and executive changes at the helm of the club, RSL are playing some of their best soccer of the year and Heath acknowledges “they’ve got a good thing going.”
But don’t count out the 2020 Loons just yet. As they showed at Disney, when they come together and play as a unit, they’re capable of beating any team on any given day. To do that, however, Heath needs the “3-4 players who are not playing as well as they can” to turn it around. Heath needs the forwards to keep making those runs in the box even though the last goal by a forward came a month ago. Heath needs Reynoso to give them a morale boost and show he’s the difference maker that warranted a contract of four-plus years. That he can be a final piece, when all the other pieces are eventually in place.
“We have to be mindful he didn’t play since last March. That’s a long time,” Heath said of Reynoso. “We don’t want to rush him. But we are aware that we need that quality in the team. It’ll be a case of deciding on the day whether we start him or we bring him on again and give him more minutes.
“Ideally, we want to get him when everybody is fit and healthy playing as the No. 10 in and around the penalty area, using that final ball which we know he’s got. And getting him close to goal because he’s a good finisher.”
