Jan Gregus: Minnesota United’s missing link?

Entering their third year in Major League Soccer, Minnesota United splashed some cash on their third designated player to fill a role that troubled them all last season: defensive midfielder. The usually parsimonious club spent a reported $1.5 million to bring in Jan Gregus, a 27-year-old Slovakian from FC Copenhagen, to the United States Midwest. They hope it will solve an issue that they’ve had since they joined Major League Soccer from the NASL. In return for their outlay, they get a player with 21 caps for a team ranked 27^th in the world by FIFA, who has also made over 20 appearances in UEFA club competitions.

Defensive work

He represents a different type of defensive midfielder to the type normally seen in MLS. The prototype of this position is still a physical beast always willing to put in a tackle that can best be described as agricultural, while providing only basic abilities on the ball.

Jan Gregus doesn’t fit into this mould. The other key off-season signing for the Loons is a more stereotypical MLS holding midfielder, Osvaldo Alonso from Seattle Sounders. Gregus tends to do most of his work with positioning and intelligence, rather than getting stuck in. He specialises in blocking passing lanes and interceptions, looking to seize on poor touches or sloppy passing to turn the ball over.

He will provide height to an undersized Minnesota United midfield, as none of their other regular midfielders are more than six feet tall. In the past this has meant that it was easy for oppositions to work the ball forward, as they were able to play high balls into the midfield zone to take advantage of the Loons Lilliputian midfielders. Coach Adrian Heath is obviously hoping that having him in that area shielding the back line will make it harder for the opposition to work the ball forward.

FC Copenhagen tend to play a high press, with the midfield block operating high up the pitch to support their forward line’s pressing actions. He was very effective in this role, as his intelligent movement allowed him to consistently position himself to close off passing lanes and make it hard for the opposing side to play out from the back.

By