After Minnesota United season-ticket holders posed questions to front office leaders in an hour-long conference call Thursday, club president Nick Rogers addressed one more topic.

“The first two seasons before we get to our new stadium, we don’t think of as a soft launch in any way, shape or form,” Rogers said. “But the reality is that there is a finite amount of resources that we’ve got to figure out how to allocate.”

The Major League Soccer expansion franchise — which is in last place in the Western Conference with a 5-12-4 record — has paid a $100 million fee to join the league and is investing $200 million to build Allianz Field, a soccer-specific stadium scheduled to open for the 2019 season in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood. Related Articles Loons’ Adrian Heath, Kei Kamara believe they can strike simpatico partnership

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Earlier in the call, United Sporting Director Manny Lagos responded to a query about why the club doesn’t have Designated Players in its first season. Each MLS club can sign up to three “DPs,” players who earn more than $480,000 per year, and are not counted against the $3.8 million salary budget. They’re supposed to be game-changers.

“We do expect to look to have potentially one or two DPs next year — there is no doubt about it,” Lagos said. “But again, we won’t do it if we don’t think it’s the right piece at the right time and the right place and the right fit.”

Rogers touched on DP studies the club has done. “What you see is there is not a lot of correlation to overspending on players and getting results on the field, at least not in MLS,” he said. “So, we are absolutely committed to winning and being competitive and relevant today, next season and throughout our tenure at Allianz Field. We’re excited about that.”

Despite no DPs and only 19 points in 21 games, Lagos looks to this year’s core as building blocks for the future. He mentioned defender Francisco Calvo and striker Christian Ramirez as two possible cornerstones.

Lagos said the “glass half full” approach includes defensive depth. He pointed out the play of versatile fullback Jerome Thiesson and center back Brent Kallman. But Lagos mentioned needs along the wings and at central attacking midfielder.

“We will really be pushing in next year to try and find specific pieces that help this club get better and start pushing to be more competitive within the league,” Lagos said.

One caller asked Lagos about the missteps in the scouting and signing of players from Scandinavia. On Wednesday, United officially declined to pick up the loan option on goalkeeper John Alvbage, sending him back to Goteborg in Sweden. The Loons also are looking at transfer options for Vadim Demidov, a Norwegian defender who is Minnesota’s highest-paid player ($555,000) and has been benched since March.

“We will get them wrong sometimes,” Lagos admitted.

While United has scouted elsewhere, including a recent trip to Africa, Lagos said the club won’t abandon northern Europe.

“We still believe in that market and we think that market lines up really well, not only with MLS, but with Minnesota in particular with our heritage,” Lagos said.

Lagos said United is exploring one or two more player transactions before the summer transfer window closes Aug. 9. “We’ve looked at thousands of players and we have 30 potential depth chart players, two-plus per position, that we are always looking at right now to see if they make a difference in the transfer window,” he said.

OFF THE FIELD

— On United’s price increase of some season tickets for the 2018 season at TCF Bank Stadium, Rogers said, “It’s still less than we are seeing other top-tier professional sports teams offer, and I think close to 70 percent of our ticket pricing is still going to be under 30 dollars a match, which I think provides a lot of accessibility for people.”

On a price forecast for 2019, “We are moving into a brand-new facility and I’m sure there will be some kind of price increase,” Rogers said.

— Rogers said the club will talk to the city of St. Paul about possibly changing the names of roads surrounding Allianz Field. “It’s something that we’ve thought about,” Rogers said.

— New renderings show surface parking lots surrounding the field, but Rogers predicted that in a few years there will be mixed-use development and structured parking in those areas. He also said that tailgating “is a part of our planning.”

— Allianz Field’s stands behind the south goal — which are designated for 2,800 fans in the club’s diehard supporters group — will be the steepest vertical angle in MLS, Rogers said.