At this same time the past two years, it’s not unfair to say that Minnesota United and its fans were not all that interested in looking back at the previous seasons. While the team’s inaugural and sophomore seasons in MLS each began with different shades of hope and ideas about what could be possible, in both 2017 and 2018 the Loons mixed moments of excitement and flashes of potential with grievous stumbles that eventually grounded them well before the postseason.
Whether building the roster from whole cloth in 2017, or working to integrate midseason acquisitions fully in 2018, or adding serious veteran mettle down the spine in 2019, MNUFC began its first three seasons with more or less fresh starts, cursed or blessed — depending on your perspective — to be largely unbeholden to the past.