Gonna be honest, there’s kind of a lot here; it took me a bit to get site updates running on my new machine. I bet these are not the sort of problems normal journalists have.

November 8

On the face of it, Minnesota United hasn’t been all that successful against the LA Galaxy, their MLS conference semifinal opponent, this season. The Loons drew with Galaxy at home, lost to a late goal on the road and so ended up with only one point in two games.

The two teams have two weeks to go until they meet in Carson, Calif., for a winner-take-all playoff game Nov. 23 or 24. But Loons coach Eric Ramsay isn’t headed back to the drawing board. “I feel like we’re a good matchup for them,” he said. “I don’t think it will be quite the David vs. Goliath match up that everyone will paint it as.”

Read more: Analysis: Minnesota United believes it matches up well with LA Galaxy

November 2: Minnesota 1(3) - Real Salt Lake 1(1)

Game story: Minnesota United wins close-as-can-be MLS playoff series, defeating Real Salt Lake again on penalty kicks

Dayne St. Clair came into Minnesota United’s first-round playoff series with Real Salt Lake knowing he had a good record in penalty shootouts.

After two more shootout wins, and RSL converting only five of 10 attempts across the two games, his confidence is now even higher.

Read more: Analysis: Goalie Dayne St. Clair makes clear that going to penalty kicks with Minnesota United is bad strategy

November 1

Thursday’s winter-weather slop-fest chased Minnesota United indoors for training. Friday morning, the team moved practice to Allianz Field, which has both natural grass and under-soil heating.

If the rumors about MLS changing its schedule are true, the Loons might have to get used to this sort of thing.

Read more: Minnesota United analysis: What if MLS flips to a fall-spring schedule?

October 29: Real Salt Lake 1(4) - Minnesota 1(5)

Game story: Minnesota United beats Real Salt Lake to open MLS Cup first round

Minnesota United’s penalty-shootout victory over Real Salt Lake had many architects. There was goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, whose presence helped force two RSL players to miss the net with their attempts. There was defender Jefferson Díaz, who calmly converted his sudden-death effort despite not being one of the five originally selected penalty takers. There was manager Eric Ramsay, who insisted that his team practice penalties multiple times in the lead-up to the game.

And, of course, there was the entire MNUFC front office.

Read more: Minnesota United employees heckled team to prepare for penalty shootout

October 28

A year ago, Minnesota United was at the end of an era. Manager Adrian Heath was fired after a stretch-run faceplant, and the club took its time getting the new brain trust in place.

Khaled El-Ahmad was hired as chief soccer officer, but couldn’t start work immediately. When he finally did, he didn’t make big offseason signings and took his time hiring a coach, meaning that new manager Eric Ramsay didn’t arrive until the fourth game of the season. And while all this was happening, Emanuel Reynoso, the squad’s best player, went AWOL twice and burned his bridges with the club.

It was a recipe for a rough 2024. A coach with no preseason planning or training time, a front office that had seemingly misplaced its checkbook, the team’s best player hastening his own departure; everything pointed to Minnesota taking a pass on being competitive for 2024, and beginning to build for 2025.

Instead, the Loons are not only back in the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, but as one of the hottest teams in MLS. Minnesota is almost universally being picked to upset No. 3 Real Salt Lake in their best-of-three first-round series, and to move on to the final eight of the league playoff picture.

Read more: How Minnesota United dug out of a huge hole and made the MLS Cup Playoffs

October 25

The distance between the penalty spot and the goal is one of the shortest distances on the soccer field. It’s 12 yards, short enough that most people secretly believe that they could beat a professional goalkeeper from the penalty spot, short enough that the historical penalty conversion rate – a shade under 80% – seems surprisingly low.

The longest distance on a soccer field is the length of the field, but talk to enough people in soccer, and they agree: Actually, the longest distance is the length of the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot, during a game-deciding penalty shootout.

Read more: Analysis: Minnesota United’s playoff series has penalty kicks written all over it

October 22: Minnesota United in MLS Cup Playoffs: How to watch, what to know

October 20: Analysis: Minnesota United’s Eric Ramsay strikes managerial gold with a single decision

October 19: Minnesota United cruises past St. Louis City on final day of MLS regular season

October 18: Minnesota United faces St. Louis City with MLS playoff positioning at stake