All Things MN United Season Thread

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It seems like we are finding very young, high ceiling talents in Argentina, South Korea and the lower Euri leagues. I have to take a wait and see approach but all of these moves look good. Hopefully we can cram in some preseason minutes with as many of these players as possible as we are a little over 2 weeks from the openers in LA
 

I was lucky enough to see Messi play for Argentina last summer in the Copa in the Giants/Jets stadium. I don't think I'll be shelling out the big bucks to see him in May but it looks like no international window should interfere with his availability for the game in MN. Should be a fun experience for the people that go. Suarez, Busquets and Alba will all be worth seeing as well if everyone is health
 

The double (or triple depending on how you count it) nutmeg is pretty great, but it's the announcer that's truly elite...

 

Full Speed Ahead said:
The double (or triple depending on how you count it) nutmeg is pretty great, but it's the announcer that's truly elite...

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It doesn't get any better than Ray Hudson as a color guy, especially when he was paired with Phil Schoen.

"It's magisterial!!!"
 

Loons absolutely falling apart in the last 20 minutes. We went from up 3-0 to tied 3-3.
 


2-0 win. Looks like it was pretty miserable weather in MPLS (I'm down in Austin TX for a bit). Way to play through the slop for the win. For those of you that don't have a Apple pass to watch games on TV, here's how to get one for just $5.

 

Great game last night - best I've been to in a long time. Absolutely terrible ref, Alexis Da Silva, but that certainly got the crowd into the game. Five yellow cards for us, none for Seattle. For baseball fans, Alexis Da Silva is the equivalent of Ángel Hernández, except his focus is making really bad calls against the Loons - it's happened in multiple games now.

For those of you who don't follow the Loons, now is a great time to start as we're in the playoffs, with a 1-0 lead on a best-of-three against Seattle. Seattle used to own us, always pulling off a late win with some freak goal, but this year we've beaten them three straight times - two in regulation and last night in the first game of the playoffs.

Our style of play is very different than every other MLS team. In basketball terms, we're a solid zone defense (except we play five along the back line, and four accross the midfield - what they call a "compact" defense. On offense, we're a quick counter team (when we win possesion of the ball we attack fast and if it fails, we go back on D), AND, we're really focused on set pieces. We're a rather low payroll team compared to the rest of the league (think of Twins compared to the Yankees), so we don't have individual players who can win games for us (think of Messi), but we absolutely play as a team with a focus. Our coach (the youngest in the league by quite a bit) has a clear game-plan, and we execute it very well. One aspect is the set pieces. In the graph below is a dot for all the teams in the league. You want to be in the upper-left corner of this chart. The Loons "dot" is the one that has that spot, with the rest far behind. It's actually a bit magical watching them execute the plan, with teams still trying to figure out how to stop us. Ramsey, our coach, always seems to be a step ahead in changing his strategy to take advantage of whatever the other team tries to do to counter.

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Much better ref tonight, keeping the game running smoothly.

Loons need one more in the last 15 minutes.
 

Minnesota take Seattle in 3 games to move on.
 









Full Speed Ahead said:
It was a great game. For the PKs we joined the WonderWall folks - standing right behind the net.
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Watching on TV, the crowd was great throughout the match but during the SO, they brought it to another level. A terrific showing by Loon supporters.

I'm always a little surprised that more players don't shoot for the middle of the net with their penalties. You very rarely see that fail if taken with even moderate pace.
 

It’s because if the goalie stays up you look foolish and you have to hold your nerve until the goalie commits. Much tougher than it looks
 

Slim Tubby said:
Watching on TV, the crowd was great throughout the match but during the SO, they brought it to another level. A terrific showing by Loon supporters.

I'm always a little surprised that more players don't shoot for the middle of the net with their penalties. You very rarely see that fail if taken with even moderate pace.
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The Wonderwall had done advanced scouting on their goalie. Seattle put in a substitute goalie right at the end of the game, one just for the PKs. Wonderwall did its stuff in trying to get to him, and they did. Some chant about his sister (I think, I couldn't quite make it out), which caused him to react. Whatever it exactly was, he didn't like it. When he'd make a save, he'd gesture back to the Wall, which just caused the Wall to push back more. Karma then kicks in:
  • For the 10th round of PKs, we were out of field players (one our players was kicked out in the first half so we were down to 10 for the rest of the game). So DSC (our goalie for those that don't follow the loons) had to take the PK, and scored on their keeper. I saw later in the press that was the first PK he'd done in a game since he was 12 years old.
  • Then Seattle's backup, second-string, PK-specialist goalie was up vs DSC. Score it, and the PKs continue - don't score and the Loons win - He missed it and the Loons won, the Wall gets to sing while their keeper sulked away into the smoke.
It was a great ending to a great game.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
The Wonderwall had done advanced scouting on their goalie. Seattle put in a substitute goalie right at the end of the game, one just for the PKs. Wonderwall did its stuff in trying to get to him, and they did. Some chant about his sister (I think, I couldn't quite make it out), which caused him to react. Whatever it exactly was, he didn't like it. When he'd make a save, he'd gesture back to the Wall, which just caused the Wall to push back more. Karma then kicks in:
  • For the 10th round of PKs, we were out of field players (one our players was kicked out in the first half so we were down to 10 for the rest of the game). So DSC (our goalie for those that don't follow the loons) had to take the PK, and scored on their keeper. I saw later in the press that was the first PK he'd done in a game since he was 12 years old.
  • Then Seattle's backup, second-string, PK-specialist goalie was up vs DSC. Score it, and the PKs continue - don't score and the Loons win - He missed it and the Loons won, the Wall gets to sing while their keeper sulked away into the smoke.
It was a great ending to a great game.
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clearly seemed like he was rattled as he just went and kicked as hard as possible, hence the riser clattering off the bar. as they say, scenes
 

The Loons have run this play quite a bit, because it works. It's so simple, you'd think other teams would be prepared for it.
  1. In the setup, Markanich and Trapp are positioned at the top of the box with Bongi deep to provide cover for a quick break. We stack the far post with two players, and the rest are close to the near post. This leaves a gap right in front of the net.
  2. When Pereyra starts moving to make the kick, Markanich runs towards the far post. At the same time, the two players who were at the far post shift forward into the open space in front of the net. The players marking them naturally follow, as does the keeper who is sensing everything is flowing towards the near post.
  3. The "far-post" players then create a bit of a wall to keep the defenders, who are now pulled out of position, from being able to quickly move back to the far-post.
  4. This leaves the far post wide open for the unmarked Markanich to finish off the play with an easy header.
We also run a version of this play where the ball is served in short and then the near-post Loons use their head to flick the ball back to the far post where Markanich can head it in. To see that in action, take a look at the Dallas game.

 



Why is this such a bad decision? I see 90% of the games will be in the same time frame as currently?

I don’t follow mls as closely so just genuinely asking
 

upnorthkid said:
Why is this such a bad decision? I see 90% of the games will be in the same time frame as currently?

I don’t follow mls as closely so just genuinely asking
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Regular season games will be played through mid-December and start up again in early February. For the Loons, this means good players won't want to come here to play in the cold (we already had that issue of MN not being a good place to pay - small market and all, but now it's 10 times worse), and for the fans, they won't want to sit in a freezing stadium watching a no-longer competitive team. It was fun while it lasted though.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
Regular season games will be played through mid-December and start up again in early February. For the Loons, this means good players won't want to come here to play in the cold (we already had that issue of MN not being a good place to pay - small market and all, but now it's 10 times worse), and for the fans, they won't want to sit in a freezing stadium watching a no-longer competitive team. It was fun while it lasted though.
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Gotcha. Aren’t they moving schedule so basically we’re just on the road in the cold months? Feels like ways around this scheduling wise
 

upnorthkid said:
Gotcha. Aren’t they moving schedule so basically we’re just on the road in the cold months? Feels like ways around this scheduling wise
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The primary purpose of this change was to match the global professional soccer schedule. It's obvious that very little thought or concern was given to what this will mean to attendance for northern climate teams.

Competing for attention/tickets sales against the NFL, NBA, NHL, college hoops and football is financially foolish IMO compared to MLB which is withering away before our very eyes.
 

Slim Tubby said:
The primary purpose of this change was to match the global professional soccer schedule. It's obvious that very little thought or concern was given to what this will mean to attendance for northern climate teams.

Competing for attention/tickets sales against the NFL, NBA, NHL, college hoops and football is financially foolish IMO compared to MLB which is withering away before our very eyes.
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but their playoffs are doing that right now? Do a lot of people tune in for regular season soccer? Not trying to be antagonistic, I'm actually just curious of the market (I watch more EPL typically, but follow the Loons in the playoffs) but would assume random weekend (or occasional weekday) games are more regional than national vs playoffs which may catch more national viewership
 

upnorthkid said:
but their playoffs are doing that right now? Do a lot of people tune in for regular season soccer? Not trying to be antagonistic, I'm actually just curious of the market (I watch more EPL typically, but follow the Loons in the playoffs) but would assume random weekend (or occasional weekday) games are more regional than national vs playoffs which may catch more national viewership
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I'll be honest...I'm a much bigger Barcelona/La Liga and Man City/EPL fan though we always attend at least one (1) game every year.

My biggest concern is the new schedule will cripple ticket sales and fan support making it nearly impossible to sustain a franchise already facing financial restrictions compared to most of the other clubs in MLS.
 

Slim Tubby said:
I'll be honest...I'm a much bigger Barcelona/La Liga and Man City/EPL fan though we always attend at least one (1) game every year.

My biggest concern is the new schedule will cripple ticket sales and fan support making it nearly impossible to sustain a franchise already facing financial restrictions compared to most of the other clubs in MLS.
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thanks for the insight. Is part of the challenge with the open stadium here I suppose when you have variation in weather. In England or Spain, the geography is much less variable so suppose that doesn't lead to as much differential advantage so get what you're saying on players. will be curious to see what it does to the gate for sure
 

upnorthkid said:
but their playoffs are doing that right now? Do a lot of people tune in for regular season soccer? Not trying to be antagonistic, I'm actually just curious of the market (I watch more EPL typically, but follow the Loons in the playoffs) but would assume random weekend (or occasional weekday) games are more regional than national vs playoffs which may catch more national viewership
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For the Loons, the appx 20,000 seat stadium is almost always a sellout, so that's solid. For TV viewing, MLS decided to sell the exclusive rights to Apple, so I think that really limits viewership. You need to purchase a separate MLS pacakge from Apple to view the games. That subscription is included when you purchase a season ticket, but for the casual fan, they're not going to be able to watch the games on TV. Going to Apple I think was a huge mistake, as sports people don't think if "Apple" as the place to go.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
For the Loons, the appx 20,000 seat stadium is almost always a sellout, so that's solid. For TV viewing, MLS decided to sell the exclusive rights to Apple, so I think that really limits viewership. You need to purchase a separate MLS pacakge from Apple to view the games. That subscription is included when you purchase a season ticket, but for the casual fan, they're not going to be able to watch the games on TV. Going to Apple I think was a huge mistake, as sports people don't think if "Apple" as the place to go.
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this was my issue. i watch if its on Fox9 but otherwise don't see many games. Really not a fan of the Apple route (nor Peacock for EPL, but at least we get games in each timeslot on USA for the most part). Thanks for your insight!
 

upnorthkid said:
this was my issue. i watch if its on Fox9 but otherwise don't see many games. Really not a fan of the Apple route (nor Peacock for EPL, but at least we get games in each timeslot on USA for the most part). Thanks for your insight!
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Apple & MLS is getting rid of the additional cost for MLS, and there is a $14.99/month Apple & Peacock bundle.
 

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