Minnesota
Minnesota United counting on Kelvin Yeboah to be its main man in MLS Cup Playoffs
Two days after the regular-season finale, Minnesota United coach Eric Ramsay sent striker Kelvin Yeboah an image from their St. Louis City win on Oct. 19.
It showed Yeboah surrounded in the 18-yard box by four City defenders, who were cutting down his space and angles on goal. Ramsay took the opportunity to demonstrate how much attention he believes Yeboah will receive from Real Salt Lake once the first-round MLS Cup Playoffs series starts Tuesday night for Game 1 in Sandy, Utah.
With seven goals and one assist across his opening nine MLS matches, the Italian/Ghanian forward’s decision-making — shoot or pass? — will be ultra-important to MNUFC’s success in the best-of-three set. Game 2 is Saturday night in St. Paul; Game 3, if necessary, is back in Utah on Nov. 8.
“(Yeboah) will have to execute quickly and execute well,” Ramsay said last week. “But also, his game will become as much about what he can create as much as what it is he can score.”
Yeboah showed goal creation is in his bag.
His first MLS assist was tallied on a great through ball on Robin Lod’s opening goal in the 4-1 blowout of St. Louis almost 10 days ago. Yeboah dropped into the Loons’ defensive half of the field to receive a pass. He turned towards the goal, dribbled through the center circle and perfectly weighted a ball between two City defenders and to Lod. After a soft first touch, Lod coolly slotted his shot into the bottom left corner in the 21st minute.
When Yeboah arrived in late August, MLS teams didn’t quite know what to expect from him. But those days are over.
“His life is going to be more difficult in front of goal than it was in the early stages because I feel like he caught a few teams by surprise,” Ramsay said. “I think now everyone knows the threat that he poses.”
With experience in some of the top European leagues, Yeboah hit the ground running with MNUFC. With three goals from penalty kicks and four from open play, Yeboah’s 0.89 goals per 90 minutes ranks fourth in MLS.
He has lived up to his billing as a high-priced Designated Player. The Loons paid Italian club Genoa a transfer fee of approximately $3.2 million for Yeboah. His guaranteed annual compensation is $1.4 million, per the MLSPA salary numbers released last week. That means he currently is the team’s third-highest paid player.
“He is coming here as a marque player,” Ramsay said. “He’s our big threat. He is our main man at the top of the pitch at the moment, so with that comes a certain amount of pressure that you imagine the top players have had to deal with their whole career.”
Ramsay still took the opportunity to coach up his No. 9 last week. The first-year head coach will often do that in the days immediately following matches. (On that specific play shared last week, Yeboah passed around to get MNUFC another phase of possession.)
“As the season has gone on, we are more established from the perspective of general principles of play,” Ramsay said. “I’m trying to make sure we are homing in on individual details.”
- Playoffs, Minnesota United vs. Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah: Watch Game 1 at 7:50 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday on FS1 and Apple TV.
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