The new Loons’ second team is the perfect setting for St. Paul’s Fred Emmings – InForum

St. POLL – Fred Emmings hasn’t played a consistent streak of games in over two years, so the homegrown Minnesota United goalkeeper is eager to start the inaugural season for MNUFC2, the club’s new development team.

However, the Emmings have one conflict with the season schedule: The June 8 game in San Jose, California, falls on the same night the 18-year-old held his graduation party from St. Paul Central High School.

“I don’t know… I kind of want to walk down the aisle,” he said this week.

Emmings has a decision to make this particular day, but the big picture, the junior Loons team will provide an ideal setting to continue developing as a footballer.

After five years without an in-house second/reserve team, MNUFC2 will serve as a bridge for players, like the Emmings, coming through the club’s youth academy to take the next step toward MLS. MNUFC2 will also serve as a network for marginal first-team players to stay alert during match minutes, and continue their development or return from injury.

MNUFC2 has joined the emerging MLS NEXT Pro League and will play its first game against North Texas SC at 8 p.m. Saturday at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. All 24 MNUFC2 games through September will be broadcast on mlsnextpro.com, with the opening match against Sporting Kansas City II scheduled for 1pm on April 3 at Allianz Stadium.

“This is a great opportunity for someone like (Emmings),” MNUFC2 coach Cameron Knowles said this week. “To get games, make mistakes, see what he’s capable of and what he can’t do, and get the instant feedback you get with games.”

Minnesota United goalkeeper Fred Emmings prepares before a game in August 2021 against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park in San Jose.

Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports

MNUFC2 and MLS NEXT Pro are running. MNUFC Vice President of Football Operations Alex DeRosa said in the club’s podcast that the league itself has admitted flying the plane while it was being built.

Just this week, MNUFC2 added two assistant coaches, with a strength and condition coach yet to arrive, and the club is still trying to navigate the league’s regulations, including how players can transition between club teams.

“There will be some teething issues with all of that because there are so many moving parts.” Loons Director Adrian Heath said. “Having all the rules and records of what we can do and even knowing some gray areas about how often you can move up and down. But it would be invaluable.”

In addition to the Emmings, MNUFC2 will be key to fellow local signing, left-back Devin Padelford, and recent college draft picks Tani Oluwasyi, Justin McMaster and Nabi Kibunguchy, as well as older first-team youths (Jacori Hayes and Abu Danladi) coming back from injury. MNUFC2 has only nine players on the roster to start the season, a move intended to be a clear channel for current players within the club.

Knowles, who has had success in a similar position with Portland Timbers 2, said MNUFC2’s gameplay will reflect how Heath runs the MLS side. The goal of MNUFC2 is to be competitive on the field, but more than that, put players in positions similar to what they would see in MLS.

DeRosa said the most important thing emerging players and their agents want to know is whether they will get a chance to be seen by the club’s senior leaders. This was the case at MNUFC during second-team practices and pre-season matches.

“All the key decision-makers at the club were watching these players play,” Knowles said. “You have the coach of the first team talking to the players in the first half and after the game about how they did. That is really, really beneficial for these players and for the program.”

When the Emmings joined MNUFC in January 2020, he wasn’t 16 yet, so he didn’t have his driver’s license, which meant his mom had to drive him to courses at Blaine. A fact raised by his older teammates.

Now he drives himself, and while he’s grown to just under 6-foot-6, he still doesn’t need to shave his face. And while he didn’t play in many games, the Emmings benefited from training with MLS players for two years. For example, in a short side game on Wednesday, Emmings managed to block a powerful shot from Loons main player Hasani Dotson from close range.

Emmings’ size is one of his best qualities at the net, but Lions goalkeeper coach Stuart Kerr said this was also his calm demeanor and decision-making. Kerr said his mobility had improved a lot, but his weakness was the lack of movement. This is about to change.

The message from CARE is to embrace mistakes because this is inevitable. “What we expect is for him to grow from that and look to improve with every game,” Kerr said. “It’s to have the mental ability when you make a mistake not to fall apart and come back, and it’s (around) the next ball and do what you have to do.”

Kerr wants the Emmings to be a better student in the game. “At the beginning, he relied on his talent, now he’s going into playing situations, and that’s not going to be enough,” Kerr said. “He has to look at the other team and he has to analyze it. This is the next step in his progression to hope one day he will be a key goalkeeper in MLS. He has the potential to go further.”

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