Minnesota United 2018 Season Thread

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Gopherguy0723 said:
It should be closer to 25,000. Isn't it supposed to be 19,000? If so, that would be too small.
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It’s designed to be expandable up to around 25,000 if needed. I imagine if the season ticket wait list gets long enough they will consider expansion.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
It’s designed to be expandable up to around 25,000 if needed. I imagine if the season ticket wait list gets long enough they will consider expansion.
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Smart. It isn't unreasonable to think that the demand would grow to 25,000.

Do you guys think MLS keeps expanding in order to keep collecting franchise fees to keep the league going? I am a little worried they are using that money to stay afloat with a watered down product until the next tv contracts are negotiated, which they hope will increase by 400 or 500 percent. I hope they haven't started a soccer Ponzi scheme.
 

I don't think so gopherguy. They seem to be selective in who they allow to get expansion teams and have a stated goal and plan. If they were just trying to collect the fees they wouldn't turn cities and buyers down.
 

Just loving the loons have a winning record for the first time and are sitting at 2nd in the west currently.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Smart. It isn't unreasonable to think that the demand would grow to 25,000.

Do you guys think MLS keeps expanding in order to keep collecting franchise fees to keep the league going? I am a little worried they are using that money to stay afloat with a watered down product until the next tv contracts are negotiated, which they hope will increase by 400 or 500 percent. I hope they haven't started a soccer Ponzi scheme.
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There are concerns about how MLS conducts a lot of its business behind a closed door. There isn't a lot of transparency there. But ultimately I don't think most people are worried that MLS is just collecting these expansion fees and laughing their way to the bank. MLS is in an unprecedented time of infrastructure development. Most teams are building or trying to build new soccer specific stadiums in prime locations. A lot of teams are building new facilities and youth academies. So its not surprising that owners are losing money with this kind of spending on infrastructure. It's encouraging that so many owners are willing to put that kind of money into their teams above and beyond the expansion fee. Owners are lining up to try and get the last 3 spots in MLS (for now). At the end of the day though, the owners are betting that their investments now are going to pay off with profits down the road so we'll have to see if teams start turning in green numbers after we're done with all this infrastructure development.

2022 is the big year for MLS. Whether or not the sports TV contract bubble is real or not, it needs to at least double or triple it's $75 million dollar TV deal. If they do get more money then they can start spending more money on better players and coaches and try to overtake the Mexican league or at least get on par with it. Another good source of income can be if these academies that everyone is building start producing talent that can be sold on to European leagues on a regular basis. Selling a 20 year old american MLS star to Europe every handful of years for $10-20 mil is a good chunk of change.
 


Zlatan to LA Galaxy is confirmed. Older but still very exciting player to have in the league.

Sounds like the Loons are in on Darwin Quintero - not sure how I should feel. Was exceptional at Santos but not so much at América.
 

Gopher07 said:
Zlatan to LA Galaxy is confirmed. Older but still very exciting player to have in the league.

Sounds like the Loons are in on Darwin Quintero - not sure how I should feel. Was exceptional at Santos but not so much at América.
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Dang that's too bad, I was really hoping the Loons would get him... :(
 

The game on Saturday is going to be a real test of the Loons backline depth. All four starters for the 1st 3 games will be out. Calvo & Boxall on national team duty, and Thiesson and Mears are injured.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
The game on Saturday is going to be a real test of the Loons backline depth. All four starters for the 1st 3 games will be out. Calvo & Boxall on national team duty, and Thiesson and Mears are injured.
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Looks like some of the rookies are gonna be put to the test. If Thiesson can't go we'll probably see Burch-Kallman-Omsberg-Manley.
 



Burch and kallman I'm not worried about.

We'll have to get use to this if we want national team caliber players....
 

So perhaps unsurprisingly we got blasted in New Jersey on Saturday. BWP was just too much for an inexperienced back line to handle.

On a potentially brighter note, more and more signs point to an upcoming announcement of Darwin Quintero joining the team, perhaps as soon as this week. I imagine he won't be on the field for a few more weeks but if he's able to even competently play that #10 role the team will be a whole lot better as a result. Add in the guys returning from int'l duty and a healthy Danladi (Ramirez just does not seem right so far this year) and I'm still excited about the potential this season holds.
 

Yep 4 new guys against one of the greatest goal scorers in league history worked out about as expected. Manley seemed to play OK defense, was in the right position most the time, had some good plays, but coming forward wow was he awful...

Ramirez is fighting through an ankle injury, but his struggles are starting to mess with him mentally which is not good.
 

I am hearing that Darwin Quintero is a done deal and may even be landing at MSP tonight or tomorrow!
 



bottlebass said:
I am hearing that Darwin Quintero is a done deal and may even be landing at MSP tonight or tomorrow!
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TNE reports he's landing at Terminal 2 at around 8:30 tonight, so yeah, sounds like it's as close to being a done deal as possible. Of course, I'll still hold some doubt until I see him in a jersey. But would be an exciting signing for the club.
 

Sounds like he just has to pass a physical and sign some papers, so a normal club would announce this tomorrow or Friday.

We'll probably get a press release in May.
 


bottlebass said:
What do you think about Alexi Gomez?
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It'd be nice to sign him and have him at left back but I don't think it's going to happen, or at least I'm very skeptical. Sounds like there are a lot of rumors going around, including one from yesterday that he's coming here, and also one from yesterday that he's going to Bolivia (here)
 

Quintero arrived at MSP last night, club should announce him officially today. Loons have their first DP
 

Sounds like Gomez might happen now, at least according to some mildly credible Twitter and Peruvian news sources. That'd be a nice pick up for the club if it does indeed happen.
 




mnsportsgeek said:
I feel lucky to have witnessed that. This game has had everything.
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And Zlatan with the brace to put LAG up 4-3. If people weren't into MLS before this game they might be now. What a frickin' classic.
 

Gopher07 said:
And Zlatan with the brace to put LAG up 4-3. If people weren't into MLS before this game they might be now. What a frickin' classic.
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That game was unbelievable. Would have been amazing to be a galaxy fan and be at that game.

Our game on the other hand was about the most frustrating game I've ever watched.
 

Finally bought in and got season tickets this week. And apparently not a moment too soon - the club sent a note yesterday that they are extremely close to 14,000 tickets sold. They are planning on 14,000 season tickets in Allianz next season, so once they pass that mark it's likely you'll be on a waiting list to get in.
 

Gopher07 said:
Finally bought in and got season tickets this week. And apparently not a moment too soon - the club sent a note yesterday that they are extremely close to 14,000 tickets sold. They are planning on 14,000 season tickets in Allianz next season, so once they pass that mark it's likely you'll be on a waiting list to get in.
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Congrats!
 

Alexi Gomez confirmed by the club: https://www.mnufc.com/post/2018/04/11/alexi-gomez-joins-mnufc

That means probably Gomez and Nicholson on the left with Jerry and Finlay on the right, with Mears and Burch coming off the bench. That sounds a lot more palatable than what we've been doing.

Excited to see Quintero in action on Saturday, even if playing Portland in their home opener will be difficult.
 

It finally seems like we have some depth to work with!
 

Looks like we will need that depth. Finlay now out for the season with torn ACL.

They finally released the rest of the season ticket pricing. It's not as bad as I thought. Should be able to get comparable tickets to where we are now for just a slight increase. Trying to decide if we want to just move to the front rows of the upper deck though. Would be nice to be under the covering during bad weather.
 

Great win last night. Darwin is still trying to figure out his role a little bit, and when they put in Gomez he was a nice spark. That looks like it will be a fun duo once they are more up to speed. We have to stop letting in those early goals though.
 

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