After spending several years trying to find a high caliber Striker to build around, Minnesota United has found themselves in an interesting position with 2 Strikers playing at a high level this season. This has obviously been a good "problem" to have for Minnesota, but it hasn't come without some challenges in how to best utilize these 2 Strikers over the course of the season. Eric Ramsay has used them in a variety of different ways including some different variations of 2 Striker formations to allow both to play at the same time while other times having to leave 1 of them on the bench to come on as a sub.
Going into the year, Kelvin Yeboah was widely expected to be the top Striker for Minnesota this season. He came in last summer as a big Designated Player signing and immediately produced at a high level with 9 Goals and 2 Assists in under 1,000 minutes played. This season, Tani Oluwaseyi has taken several steps forward in his development and has emerged as one of the top Strikers in MLS. Statistically he currently is top 10 in MLS play in Goals+Assists with 17 total. Kelvin Yeboah on the other hand started the season strong over the first month of the season then had a bit of a slump for a couple months. An ankle injury he suffered around that time likely played a significant role in his production dipping. Despite that, Yeboah has since found his form again with 8 Goals and 1 Assist in his last 1,000 minutes played (in all competitions).
This high level production from both of these players had me thinking about some of the previous top seasons from Minnesota United attacking players. Players like Darwin Quintero, Christian Ramirez, and Emanuel Reynoso came to mind. I thought it would be interesting to see how Yeboah/Oluwaseyi stack up against the best statistical seasons from attacking players in Minnesota United's history (since moving to MLS) in terms of Goals+Assists.
Statistical Comparisons and Potential to Break MNUFC Records
Here's how Tani Oluwaseyi and Kelvin Yeboah stack up so far this season in term of Goals and Assists in all competitions:
Tani Oluwaseyi- 11 Goals, 8 Assists (19 Total) in 1,857 minutes played
Kelvin Yeboah- 13 Goals, 2 Assists (15 Total) in 1,873 minutes played
Here's a list of the 10 best Goals+Assists seasons in Minnesota United's history while in MLS:
(2018) Darwin Quintero- 11 Goals, 14 Assists (25 Total) in 2,488 minutes played
(2019) Darwin Quintero- 16 Goals, 7 Assists (23 Total) in 2580 minutes played
(2024) Robin Lod- 8 Goals, 15 Assists (23 Total) in 2,729 minutes played
(2023) Bongi Hlongwane- 17 Goals, 5 Assists (22 Total) in 3,093 minutes played
(2022) Emanuel Reynoso- 12 Goals, 6 Assists (18 Total) in 2,673 minutes played
(2017) Christian Ramirez- 14 Goals, 3 Assists (17 Total) in 2,392 minutes played
(2020) Kevin Molino- 13 Goals, 3 Assists (16 Total) in 1565 minutes played
(2017) Kevin Molino- 7 Goals, 9 Assists (16 Total) in 2514 minutes played
(2021) Franco Fragapane- 6 Goals, 9 Assists (15 Total) in 1,634 minutes played
(2023) Emanuel Reynoso- 8 Goals, 7 Assists (15 Total) in 1,842 minutes played
As can be seen from the list above, Tani Oluwaseyi is already among the top 5 best seasons in Goals+Assists. Kelvin Yeboah is also among the top 10 best seasons in Goals+Assists. Obviously the season isn't over yet for these 2 and there should be at minimum 11 more matches that they could play. With potentially closer to 20 more matches left depending on how Minnesota United does in Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, and MLS Playoffs.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Tani Oluwasyi is in a good position to climb to the top of this Goals +Assists list this season. He is currently averaging a Goal or an Assist every 98 minutes played this season. With 11+ matches left this season, Tani would surpass the mark Darwin Quintero set in 2018 with 25 Goals+Assists if he were to continue this current rate to close out the season.
Bongi Hlongwane currently holds the Minnesota United record for most Goals in a season (in all competitions) with 17 in 2023. It would appear that Kelvin Yeboah has a good chance to surpass this mark this season. Kelvin Yeboah currently has 13 Goals in all competitions and is averaging a Goal every 144 minutes played this season (in all competitions). If he were to continue at the same scoring rate to close out the season, he would finish the season as our top scorer in a season (in all competitions).
Christian Ramirez holds the record for most Goals in a season in MLS play with 14 in 2017. Currently Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi both have 9 Goals in MLS play. So far this season in MLS play, Kelvin Yeboah is averaging a Goal every 182 minutes played. Tani Oluwaseyi is averaging a Goal every 184 minutes played. Minnesota United has 9 MLS matches left this season. They are both just under the pace to break the single season MLS season scoring record for Minnesota United, but are also within striking distance likely needing a couple big games to close out the MLS season to potentially break it.
Goals and Assists obviously aren't the only metrics to define how valuable an attacking player is. For example, Tani Oluwaseyi is easily one of the best defensive Strikers in MLS with the amount of pressure he puts on opposing teams each and every match. With that said, one thing that stuck out when I was looking at this list of Minnesota United players, was how productive Darwin Quintero was for Minnesota in the 2 seasons he was here. Quintero still has the 2 most productive seasons of all time for Minnesota United in terms of Goals+Assists. It will be interesting to see if Tani Oluwaseyi can surpass him this season.
Either way, in writing this, it was a good reminder of what a joy Darwin Quintero was to watch back then with how dynamic he was on the ball. Quintero to this day has one of the most impressive hat tricks I've ever seen with his July 4th performance against Toronto back in 2018. For any fans that aren't familiar, it can be seen in the video below: