Minnesota United are out to continue their success with a two-striker formation when they visit New York City FC on Sunday afternoon.
Playing mostly out of a 5-3-2 formation, Minnesota (3-1-2, 11 points) enters on a five-match unbeaten run with one of the more unique tactical setups in the league. The club is led by an attacking duo who could each start as a lone striker on most MLS sides.
Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi each have four goals, with the latter scoring twice in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.
And in an era in which most teams only employ one center forward, manager Eric Ramsay sees no issue with continuing to use a formation more common two decades ago, as long as the duo stays disciplined in the attack.
“The biggest message in and out of possession for those two is that they stay close enough to one another,” Ramsay said. “And I think in order to get the benefit of one another’s movement and one another’s physicality, they need to be close. And I think largely we’ve seen that in most games.”
When Yeboah and Oluwaseyi visit NYCFC (2-2-2, 8 points), they also will be facing a defense that could be lacking confidence after giving back a two-goal lead in a 4-3 loss at Atlanta last weekend.
Alonso Martinez scored his fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot, and Hannes Wolf added his second and third. But Atlanta’s late rally halted a modest three-match unbeaten run and marked only the second time NYCFC had conceded multiple goals.
City manager Pascal Jensen indicated that slip-up wouldn’t result in a substantial change in approach this week, nor would Minnesota’s unique, counterattack-driven approach.
“Like always, in our games, we want to control the games,” Jensen said. “We want to control the ball. We have to find a good balance in when we’re going to play a little bit more direct ourselves, because we’ve seen a few opportunities in that area as well. But basically controlling the counter while you’re in possession and while you’re in the attack is the biggest challenge that is there for us.”
–Field Level Media
