Where we left off last year
2025 season: 58 points, 4th in the Western Conference, 8th in MLS
Last year was a year of almosts for Minnesota United — and it was a year of forming an identity.
The Loons reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, but fell at home to Austin FC in September. Their MLS Cup hopes were dashed just two games away from the trophy, courtesy of a narrow defeat to San Diego FC in the Western Conference semis. Those are the almosts.
Despite their incomplete trophy pushes, 2025 seemed to establish something about Minnesota United: they’d been reborn, this time as a data-driven, budget-beating club. With a heavy emphasis on scouting undervalued talent, set pieces, and clever defending, it seems as though Minnesota emerged as MLS’s Brentford last year (though one with an actual ability to compete thanks to MLS’s much smaller spending gaps compared to those in the Premier League). Chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad even name-checked Brentford in a conversation with Backheeled last fall.
Ultimately, though, Minnesota’s season fell apart when they transferred Tani Oluwaseyi in the summer to Villarreal for a fee approaching eight figures. Can they retool for 2026? And will their identity really stand the test of, say, one offseason featuring an incoming Colombian star?
What changed in the offseason
Notable arrivals:
- Cameron Knowles, manager: Knowles kept Eric Ramsay’s seat warm as Minnesota’s interim head coach before the British manager arrived in 2024, and now the two are trading places yet again. The 43-year-old is one of three managers hired over the offseason to go from assistant to head coach within the same organization. Well liked by players, Knowles provides useful continuity (though there will be tactical evolution, too) and his appointment underscores the fact that Minnesota United are a front office-driven club.
- James Rodriguez, AM: Find me a more surprising move of the MLS offseason. I dare you. No luck? That’s what I thought. Minnesota United, one of the league’s true low-spenders who posted the fourth-lowest first team salary spend last year while playing anti-soccer, signed James Rodriguez. Former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich star and current Colombian national team talisman James Rodriguez. The silky smooth on-ball technician James Rodriguez. Will the dude play games? I’m not sure! He’s bounced around to four clubs in the last four years without leaving a star-level impact. It’s that fact that led him to Minnesota on a short-term, non Designated Player deal. James may have the highest variance in potential outcomes of any player in MLS this season.
