When Minnesota United took the field for its first public friendly of the preseason against Charleston Battery on Saturday, Tyrone Mears was the only new face in the starting XI.
It was a sight that may have some Loons fans clamoring for more signings. Yet club technical director Manny Lagos continued to preach patience, a virtue that may have to serve those fans even beyond this season.
“We’re growing into the cathedral of soccer of Allianz Field in 2019,” Lagos said, “and that starts with us being competitive on the field this year.
“We have to be in a roster-building mode, not in a position where we need perfection and winning [MLS Cup] right now."
Lagos insists this year's roster is a deeper one than began Minnesota's inaugural MLS campaign, even if their other offseason acquisitions to date include Mears, their SuperDraft picks, two players acquired by trade – Harrison Heath and Matt Lampson – and a pair of relatively unknown Cameroonians, Franz Pangop and Bertrand Owundi Eko’o. He also says a couple of deals to round out the squad are nearing completion.
“We didn’t have depth last year and we need to get better at the bottom of our roster,” Lagos said.
That means looking to develop younger players like Mason Toye, a forward who was the seventh overall selection in this year's draft. With two goal-friendly strikers in Christian Ramirez and Abu Danladi, there is no pressure for Toye to produce right away.
“We wanted a young and upcoming guy who can learn behind [Ramirez] and [Danladi] ," Lagos said. "He’s gonna have time.”
The problem of expansion, as Lagos sees it, is that Minnesota has to catch up to years of acquiring Designated Players, buying them down with allocation money, and adding new DPs. Toronto, Portland, and Orlando all struggled at first, he said, and have taken time to put together dominant squads through this process.
The Loons have made attempts to sign DPs, but have yet to see any of those acquisitions come to fruition.
Lagos declined to comment about the pursuit of Deportivo Cali’s Nicolas Benedetti, but sources inside the club indicated the Loons could come back for the 20 year-old Colombian playmaker when Deportivo Cali’s season ends and the summer transfer window opens.
Speaking more generally, Lagos said: “If you can’t get someone right away, you don’t just change the plan.”
