Minnesota United Sees Opportunity In International Duty
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minnesota United has to compete without some of its top players – not because of injury, but because of international duty.
Between the Open Cup and league competitions, that's an opportunity for younger players to earn a more prominent role on the team.
"I said all along, I think that this group is capable of making the playoffs, but we are going to need all the players – certainly our more influential players available for most of the season," said Adrian Heath, head coach.
When you have some of the best soccer talent in the world, you lose them to their national teams.
"I am not the only one. There are many players around the world that have the same duties," midfielder Jan Gregus said.
This season, Gregus, Rasmus Schuller, Romain Metanire and Kevin Molino have missed time with the Loons to play with their home countries, but there's no real complaint here.
"I feel blessed. I am glad that I can go and represent my country as well," Gregus said.
"I think it speaks to the quality of players that we have on this team. I think it's the most we've had at one given time, international guys, playing in big tournaments, obviously – Gold Cup and obviously World Cup qualifiers for the guys over in Europe," midfielder Ethan Finlay said.
It does challenge the rest of the squad.
"We're not that strong in depth, and if they would come back injured ... we're still in the process of building the squad to what we want it to be. The younger ones, the last few weeks have done really well for us," Heath said.
"Right now, I'm chasing guys ahead of me and hopefully in the near future, the roles can be reversed and I'm in the team and guys are chasing me," forward Mason Toye said.
The midway point in the season for Minnesota United is a great reminder that these guys really do have to take care of their bodies by staying rested, flexible and healthy.
That goes for veterans and rookies alike.
"You need to take it serious. If you don't take it serious, the football will show it. You can't take shortcuts. You have to take good care of your body as well and that's really important when you want to be on the top level," Gregus said.
On the bright side, if a rookie player does it right while an international player is gone, that's not a bad problem to have.
"Try to take advantage of these opportunities. You'll make Adrian's job a lot harder when those guys come back from their international duty and you've had a guy that's had a really good run of form," Finlay said.