A Big Question: Will Angelo Rodriguez be worth it?

I'll admit to a healthy dose of skepticism about the DP striker, who arrived in late July and was something south of so-so for the Loons. His numbers weren't terrible – he put up 4g/1a in 870 minutes, which is about 12g/3a if you pro-rate it to a full season. And his commitment can't be questioned. Dude's a scrapper.

But the eye test was rough on the journeyman Colombian, who's played for 10 teams in the past 10 years. It's hard to unsee moments like this:

Those are the moments that DP strikers are supposed to turn into chances at the very least (and the very best DP strikers turn those into goals). Yes, it was a nice recovery by the Union defender, but the combination of a heavy touch + hesitation opened the door for that kind of emergency defense in the first place.

Minnesota's braintrust have talked about the reasons they went out and got Angelo, and they all revolve around his ability to help link play. Fair enough.

But linking play through midfield only matters so much if your striker takes goals off the board with his activity in the final third. Angelo needs to deliver, or MNUFC will be in trouble.