It’s official: Year 10 is over, and your Loons have completed a full decade in Major League Soccer. A lot’s changed since that 2017 debut, and in 2026 alone. Feels like a good thread to follow, doesn’t it?
Welcome to my annual season recap, folks. It’s all about change.
If you followed MLS this year, you know it was a very long season, broken up by a little competition in the middle called the FIFA World Cup. I covered a bit of that in our mid-season check-in earlier this year, so I’m gonna skip some of the World Cup talk today to get into the weeds on what truly defined MNUFC in 2026 — from the product on the field to the trends going forward. Suffice it to say that a two-month break in the middle of your season can be a bit of a disruptor, believe it or not.
When I look back at this season, two categories of change stand out to me: style of play and leadership. I’ve chosen to use those changes as the lens through which we break this season down, and while I didn't go as stat-crazy as I’m known to do, I think you’ll find that this season’s story is best told through shifts in trends, not numbers themselves.
Tactical Evolution
From the moment he took charge, Head Coach Cameron Knowles was adamant that his team would play a more front-foot oriented style than that of his predecessor, Eric Ramsay. He emphasized that employing new tactics wasn’t a matter of picking and implementing, but of evolving and adapting the existing approach to fit the desired direction and the players available. In short, it was always going to be a process to get this team out of the defensive shell they’d nearly perfected under Ramsay, but it’s fair to say that it took a bit longer to settle than anyone may have expected.
In the first half of the season, talks of a four-man backline proved to be premature, as the Loons continued to roll with wingbacks and three centerbacks. They rotated between variations of 3-4-2-1, 5-4-1, and 5-2-3 as they tried to get their best players on the field in a configuration that got the best out of them, and while isolated moments showed promise, nothing produced the consistently different product that the coaching staff was looking for.
Before the World Cup break, James Rodríguez’s first league start as a Loon saw the coaches opt for two strikers, introducing what would prove to be the next step in ultimately finding that tactical sweetspot by match 34 — but it didn’t stick right away. Some more experimenting saw the Loons’ lineup continue to shift just before and immediately following the big summer break as goals became harder and harder to come by. Then, the emergence of Marcus Caldeira changed everything.
When the young Canadian forward stepped into his first shot with the first team during Leagues Cup, his positioning and combination play with Joaquín Pereyra breathed fresh life into the club. He played his way into the starting lineup, pushed Kelvin Yeboah to rediscover his own scoring form, and revived the two-striker system that had shown promise earlier in the year. Now, with the pieces nearly falling into place and the goals flying in left and right, all that was left to sort out was the backline.
Funny how that all flipped, isn’t it?
From the end of May to the end of September, your Loons scored 20 goals in one game — scoring at least once every game and upgrading their threat-level. Unfortunately, they conceded 24 goals in that span, showing the flaws in their five-man backline. Having outgrown their old style, the Loons were fully primed to complete the tactical vision that Coach Knowles had when he took charge. With seven games to go, they found the missing piece, as right back Cherrion Valerius stepped into the backline to change everything. It was 4-4-2 time, baby.
With Anthony Markanich (scorer of nine league goals in 2026), Morris Duggan (who wore the captain’s armband to close out the season), Jefferson Diaz, and Valerius across the back, the Loons had an average age of 24.5 across their backline, trading experience for a fresh crop of players beginning to step into their primes. This freed up the rest of the pitch, allowing the Loons to stretch out into a unique 4-4-2, breaking away from international soccer trends and instead utilizing a formation that fit their personnel perfectly.
While Caldeira’s emergence got the two-man partnership back into the limelight, it was the slight twist toward the end of the season that really tied everything together. By putting the likes of AZ Jackson or Pereyra next to Yeboah, the Loons effectively played with a false false-nine. That wasn’t a typo, just a good idea. By putting an attacking mid higher up the field, Yeboah was paired directly with a creative player who would likewise naturally drop to connect the pivot of Owen Gene and Nectarios Triantis to their forwards. This helped Yeboah complete a late-season revival to set a new goal-scoring standard for the club, ending with more goals in a single season than any other Loon (18) and taking sole possession of the club’s all-time leading scorer title (40).
On the flanks, Valerius and Markanich brought enough energy to get up and down the line consistently, enabling Tomás Chancalay and Mauricio González to really get creative on the ball with support. Across the field, the dots were connecting, leading to a seven-game unbeaten run that saw the Loons come from behind three times to not just level the game, but win (St. Louis, SKC, San Jose). From a pure soccer standpoint, this was a season of searching, testing, and tinkering. By the end, though, all of that adjusting proved fruitful, giving the club a very strong place to build from going forward.
Changing of the Guard
I alluded to it in the tactical portion already, but the tail-end of 2026 saw several fresh faces step into larger roles for your Loons. Club captain Michael Boxall took a backseat to younger centerbacks a few months after the World Cup, an injury to midfield stalwart Wil Trapp allowed Gene and Triantis to shine, and a shift in formation lowered the average age of the squad’s best eleven. But the field isn’t the only place that saw change.
Minnesota United is at the beginning of a new era. Christina Hennington has come in as the new CEO, the search for a new Sporting Director continues, and Cameron Knowles just completed his first full season as a head coach in MLS. Familiar leaders are moving on, and new ones are stepping up. When changes of this magnitude happen in isolation, there are often noticeable repercussions. When they all happen at once, though, it can feel a bit overwhelming.
It can lead to a club missing the playoffs (by a single point) for just the fourth time in ten seasons. It can lead to stretches of losses that stack up to create a feeling of hopelessness and frustration. And it can lead to a whole lot of doubts.
No matter how you slice it, this year was simply not good enough from a results standpoint. But it wasn’t a waste by any stretch of the imagination.
Because uncertainty and change are the breeding grounds for growth. Trials and tribulations are the firestarters for perseverance and problem-solving. And doubt is the ultimate opportunity for belief.
When we left things, your Loons were on an absolute tear, scoring 17 goals in their last seven games and conceding just nine. Three resilient comebacks, a season revived, and an on-field product that worked. Consider those final seven games of the season an indication of this club’s heart, desire, and intent, and let the league take notice: We’re not staying down long.
See you in 2027.
