Coach Heath on a speaking tour

Adrian Heath went on a speaking tour, having a very illuminating conversation on Extratime radio. For Minnesota United FC fans, the most interesting piece was how he is expecting his team to play.

He also appeared on the ESPNFC show The Boot Room. Adrian Heath is rather frank, admitting that Minnesota is in bit of a time crunch to put a team together before the season. He’s pleased with the team that they are putting together, young but with a lot of experience playing in MLS or other leagues.

Both are definitely worth a listen for fans of Minnesota United FC.

Congrats to Golden Gopher Rashida Beal

FC Kansas City selected Rashida Beal, one of four Gophers eligible, in the fourth round of the NWSL draft on Thursday. She’ll join Christina Gibbons (Duke), Toni Payne (Duke), Stephanie Ribeiro (UCONN), and Alexis Shaffer (Virginia) in Kansas City.

The #NWSLDraft card that made @RashidaBeal a professional soccer player. ????⚽ pic.twitter.com/sm3Ks8yn4u

— Minnesota Soccer (@GopherSoccer) January 13, 2017

MLS draft notes

Source: In addition to Canadian GAs, Canadians Kwame Uwuah, Chris Nanco and Brian Wright will count as domestic players for all MLS teams.

— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) January 12, 2017

Canadians who will count as domestics will be very valuable in the draft. Prior to this year, all Canadians counted as domestics only for the three Canadian MLS teams. Now, there are rules that will allow some Canadians to count as domestic players.

Also, rumors are starting to spread that Minnesota might not take near consensus top pick Jeremy Ebobisse, including the possibility that Minnesota might trade out of the top spot. He played in a scrimmage at the combine on Thursday, which many took as a sign that Minnesota might be going in a different direction with their first overall pick. If he was sure to be signed by Minnesota, he probably wouldn’t have played today and risked injury.

Matthew Doyle’s second mock draft still has Minnesota drafting Ebobisse, although he mentions that Minnesota might be interested in Abu Danladi as well.

News Bits

• Looks like the NFL Chargers, who are moving from San Diego, will be calling the Stubhub Center home. Now we get to hear football fans complain about soccer lines in their field.
• Douglas Sidney, former Notre Dame goalkeeper, will be the new goalkeeper coach for Minneapolis City SC.
• North Carolina FC will have a partnership with Croatian side NK Istra involving the loaning of 2-3 players from NK Istra to the NASL side.
• Minnesota United FC will have single game tickets on sale February 9th.
• Good luck to Megan Ryan as she starts covering Minnesota United FC for the Star Tribune. May you be the second best resource for Minnesota United FC news, after FiftyFive.One.