Football Season Guide

Missed out on the playoffs for the first time in five seasons after finishing 11th in the Western Conference. In October, Minnesota dismissed Adrian Heath, their only coach since starting Major League Soccer play in 2017 in their last-ditch bid to sneak into the playoff picture under interim coach Sean McAuley. Yet, in January Minnesota announced that Cameron Knowles has replaced McAuley as interim head coach. This period of uncertainty is now at an end with their second interim coach of 2024 to be replaced by Eric Ramsay. The Manchester United assistant coach is set to take charge in due course with the finishing touches being put to his paperwork. This means that Knowles will be in the hot seat for the season opener against Austin FC. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the men they offloaded were backup players. They brought in a few players to beef up their squad, but, understandably, no major additions have been made as they wait for a permanent coach to arrive. It can be said that their main strength is their attack, where Emanuel Reynoso, Teemu Pukki and Bongokuhle Hlongwane form one of the finest attacking tridents in the MLS. As for weaknesses, for the time being its their depth. Their core has been built around the three aforementioned forwards, Robin Lod, Michael Boxall and Dayne St. Clair, but they also need to bring in solid players who can help off the bench and become game-changers when needed.