Carl Carpenter (@C_Carpenter14)

Making the step up from the NASL into Major League Soccer can be extremely difficult (commiserations Cincinnati fans), and Minnesota’s first two seasons in MLS are an excellent example of this. Defensively, the Loons struggled to keep the ball out of the net consistently (statistically they have the worst defense in the league in 2017, and tied for third worst in 2018). Initially, Adrian Heath’s insistence on playing a high-risk and high-reward brand of soccer was seen as extremely foolhardy considering the construction of his roster, and his history of “brand over results” which ultimately cost him his job at Orlando City.

Heading into the 2019 season, few would have disagreed that this was a make-or-break year for Heath and Minnesota United. However, the club have exceeded these expectations thus far. They currently find themselves in fourth place in the stacked Western Conference, blending together the attacking style (third highest scorers in the league) with an increased steel at the back. Adrian Heath’s philosophy on how to play the game is finally paying off thanks to smart business in the transfer market, and their ability to fit into a system.

Setting The Scene

Looking at the stylistic preferences of Adrian Heath, ASA writer Kevin Minkus highlighted the defensive issues that his Orlando City team had in this article and compared them with the problems Minnesota had in 2017. Kevin’s piece details how poor Heath’s teams have been in regards to getting pressure on the ball in their own final third. At the time of the article getting published, a horrible 30% of opponent’s passes were completed within 10 yards of their own goal. By the end of the inaugural 2017 campaign, their xGD sat at -26.4. The only reason they outperformed (if you can call if that) these numbers is largely thanks to Christian Ramirez and a decent attacking output compared to their fellow cellar dwellers in the table. To further display how poor they were in stopping goals going in, they ranked the worst in the Western Conference, both home and away, in xGA (28 and 35.2 respectably) in 2017 and 2018. To put it simply: Minnesota United were on pace at one stage to be the worst team in league history, all thanks to their leaky defense. Fortunately for Heath, his former team Orlando City spared them this inauspicious record conceding a stunning 74 goals in 2018.