Minnesota United: New positional battles with new arrivals

In the past week, Minnesota United signed Robin Lod and Wilfried Moimbe. Here is how they will fight for starting roles in the team throughout the remainder of the season.

In the past week, Minnesota United have officially announced the signings of Finnish attacker Robin Lod and French left-back Wilfried Moimbe.

These are two players who Adrian Heath feels will add needed competition for their spots, with the former expected to be a big contributor for Minnesota.

The Loons have made it clear that they see Robin Lod, a TAM signing from Spanish side Sporting Gijon, as a left-winger first and foremost, with the ability to play as an attacking midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder if necessary.

Occupying the left-wing spot for most of the season has been a combination of his countryman Rasmus Schuller, Miguel Ibarra, and most recently, Ethan Finlay. Schuller, a centre-mid by trade, is reportedly on his way out after this season, and with better options emerging in both of his positions, it would be surprising to see him play significant minutes over the course of the remainder of the campaign. The expectation is for Lod to start on the left ahead of Ibarra, who has struggled recently, with Ethan Finlay and Kevin Molino battling it out for the right-wing spot.

The other signing, 30-year-old Moimbe, has joined the Loons on a deal through the end of the season. He will add depth to the full-back group, as well as some competition for rookie Chase Gasper. The Loons have gotten great contributions from rookies at the full-back spots so far this season in Gasper and Hassani Dotson, who is naturally a central midfielder but has performed supberly out of position when called upon.

The former Nantes defender, however, is a more experienced option than both, and, in theory, should be less error-prone than the rookies. at the very least will add needed depth behind Gasper, who was the only natural Left back on the roster. Moreover, If Moimbe doesn’t work out, he is only signed through the end of the season and will leave for nothing at the end of the year.

Can he beat out the rookie for the starting left-back spot or will he simply provide some insurance at the position? One thing is for sure: Like the added competition on the wings, it will certainly be an interesting positional battle to watch moving forward.