Minnesota United FC on 2025 season: ‘We want to win a trophy’

Minnesota United FC on 2025 season: 'We want to win a trophy'

Minnesota United FC opens its 2025 regular season on Saturday in Los Angeles. Loons coach Eric Ramsay and midfielder Wil Trapp spoke after the team's training session on Tuesday in Blaine.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Eric Ramsay delivered a pretty clear message to his Minnesota United FC players as they started training this week: The season is here, the preseason is over. It’s now real.

The Loons open their second season under Ramsay on Saturday at L.A. FC. That’s right, they’ll head to the West Coast on Wednesday as Minnesota starts to get out of February deep freeze. But Ramsay and the Loons had a meeting before training this week and the message was to be ready from the first minute.

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"I sort of brought that elephant to the front of the room with the players this morning. It becomes very real now and suddenly you’re going to have, come Friday afternoon, 11 or 12 unhappy players that are not playing or have not made the lineup," Ramsay said after training on Tuesday in Blaine. "In one sense it’s exciting, I think we’ve banked six weeks or so of really good work. We feel like we’re in a really good place, but then the realities of the season hit home."

‘We want to build on last year’

Why you should care:

Minnesota United earned the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs last year after a 15-12-7 regular season mark. They beat Salt Lake in penalty kicks to advance in the postseason before a 6-2 loss to L.A. Galaxy.

There are new faces in the fold this season, but the goal remains the same: Winning.

"We want to win a trophy, whether that’s League’s Cup, Open Cup or MLS Cup, these are situations where there’s always an opportunity for us to grab hold of something," midfielder Wil Trapp said.

The schedule

Big picture view:

The Loons will need to improve on their 7-6-4 record at Allianz Field from last season. In addition to the normal full season slate, Minnesota United will also be in the League’s Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Players will have their international obligations, so roster flexibility will be a necessity.

They have core pieces back in Bongi Hlongwane (11 goals), Robin Lod (15 assists), top defender Michael Boxall and keeper Dayne St. Clair, who made 74 saves last season. Ramsay likes what he sees in his roster early on.

"We don’t have any superstars in the group for sure in comparison to some of the other bigger hitters in the league, but we’ve good a really good working culture and a coachable group, which is a big thing," Ramsay said.