Analysis: Loïc Mesanvi, Kelvin Yeboah give shorthanded Minnesota United new hope

MINNESOTA UNITED | ANALYSIS

Minnesota’s 10th loss in 10 games in Seattle might not have had many silver linings, but at least more help is on the way.

On Saturday, the Loons made their expected signing of forward Kelvin Yeboah official, adding a third designated player to the roster. Yeboah, who was on the books at Genoa in Italy but most recently played for Standard Liège in Belgium, is signed through 2027 with a team option in 2028.

It came on the heels of the Loons deploying another shorthanded squad. In the Leagues Cup, teams are allowed to have 23 players on the matchday roster, but Minnesota had so few available players it could only fill 19 spots.

That did give the Loons space for a call-up, though, and if there was a bright spot in the loss, it came from forward — or perhaps now right wingback — Loïc Mesanvi.

Mesanvi has come up through the levels in Minnesota: he was a high school standout at Lakeville South, played for Minneapolis City SC, caught on with the Loons academy, and graduated from there to Minnesota United 2 — and now, this season, to Minnesota United.

The 20-year-old played as a substitute in each of the first two games of the season for the Loons. Unfortunately for him, thanks to MLS roster rules, that was the end of his year at the senior level.

Since Mesanvi is signed to a contract with Minnesota United 2, the first-team Loons are limited to calling him up four times this season, using what MLS calls a “short-term agreement.” In addition, Mesanvi could play in a maximum of just two MLS games, and so once he’d appeared in the first two games of the year, his MLS season was done — unless Minnesota chose to sign him to a first-team contract instead.

The rules, however, allow Mesanvi to play in non-league games, so he is eligible to play in the Leagues Cup. And when the Loons ran out of right backs — due to injuries to DJ Taylor and Caden Clark, and Sang Bin Jeong away for personal reasons — Mesanvi got a first start for the first team, albeit at a position he might not have expected.

Minnesota has used its wingbacks in a hybrid role all season, and Mesanvi was no different. Though he defended as the right back in a back five, when the Loons were building out from the back Mesanvi was playing where you’d expect a right winger to be, more of his natural forward position. In some ways, he was a lot like Jeong, another forward who has had to fill in as a wingback this year.

Mesanvi was able to get so far forward, fans were treated to the rare sight of a fullback being caught offside.

“I felt like Loïc would give us what he did give us, which was a real pace, a real change of rhythm on the outside, a willingness to run in behind, and also an ability to handle the ball,” coach Eric Ramsay said. “We have struggled over the course of the last month for real continuity on that side — often spells of possession will break down very easily, and we’ll turn the ball over cheaply. I think Loïc really helped us navigate that.”

Both Ramsay and Loons Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Khaled El-Ahmad have used Mesanvi as an example this year in interviews, lamenting the rules preventing second-team players from playing more games for the first team. If not for the rules, this certainly wouldn’t have been only the third time he’d played for the Loons this season.

Ramsay went out of his way to highlight that. “We’re a club that’s trying to promote youth, and trying to really strengthen the link between the academy and the first team, and he can be a bit of a beacon for that,” Ramsay said.

Hassani Dotson was sent off for the second time this season, lunging in on a tackle against Raúl Ruidíaz as the latter tried to turn for a counter. Though Dotson didn’t go over the ball or spike the Sounders striker, he did slide directly into Ruidíaz’s ankle, and it wasn’t a surprise to see referee Joe Dickerson reach for his red card.

“He’s obviously made a rash decision,” said Ramsay. “It’s perhaps a harsh red there in the sense that there’s not a load of malice there.”

There’s never a good time for a red card, but Dotson’s came at an especially unfortunate time for the Loons in Friday night’s 2-0 loss at Seattle. Minnesota had just made three substitutions, and for a moment appeared to have the upper hand in the game — certainly a place they haven’t found themselves in often at Lumen Field.

After the red card, the Loons were reduced to playing a 5-3-1 with Tani Oluwaseyi on his own up front. They managed to hold out defensively for almost the remainder of the game, but eventually the inexperienced left side of the defense committed what Ramsay called a “pretty fundamental” error.

Samuel Shashoua, playing as a left midfielder, and Devin Padelford, playing as the left back, came out to meet a two-man attack that included Christian Roldan and Paul Rothrock. But when Roldan passed the ball back inside, neither player stayed with Rothrock, while left center back Morris Duggan stayed inside rather than tracking Rothrock’s run. Two passes later, Jordan Morris was punching the ball into the back of the Minnesota net.

“We did it relatively well up until the point at which we really switched off on that one side on a couple of occasions in quick succession,” Ramsay said. “That’s been a bit of a problem of ours over the course of the year so far.”