NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

You have to go all the way back to May of 2012 to find Minnesota’s last two-game winning streak (excepting, of course, the first two rounds of last year’s playoffs). That said, it’s worth remembering that May 2012 was the culmination of a fairly epic run for the team that was then called the Stars; from September 2011 to the start of June 2012, Minnesota went seventeen matches in all competitions without losing.

Needing results to squeak into the 2011 playoffs, the Stars won two of their final three and drew the other – then beat Tampa Bay, Carolina (over two legs) and Fort Lauderdale (over two legs) to win the 2011 league title. They then started 2012 with a nine-game unbeaten run in the league, while also advancing to the fourth round of the US Open Cup, knocking out Real Salt Lake in the process.

In one week, though, they lost at San Jose in the Cup, then got drilled 5-1 at Carolina in the league, and since then, inconsistency has been persistent for the team. It knocked them down to a sixth-place finish last year, and to a sixth-place finish this spring, and unless they can start a new streak this fall, it’ll do the same to them once again.

Defender Aaron Pitchkolan can’t quite put his finger on the problem – but did note that Minnesota is hardly the only team suffering through it. “With the season as it is, it’s kind of weird, taking a long season and splitting it up into two,” he said. “You’re not going to have a whole lot of continuity with anything. I think the whole league has kind of struggled with that.”

Currently, three points separates first place and seventh place in the NASL standings, with only San Antonio off the pace. Said the defender, “You see in years past there’s a little bit more separation. This year I think everyone’s kind of feeling it out, and I think with so few games – twelve, fourteen games in a season – it’s just kind of basically a sprint. There’s no marathon here.”

“I think it’s a big deal, it’s something we’re very cognizant of,” said head coach Manny Lagos. “A little bit of it is we haven’t been as dominant at home as we should be this year. I don’t want to say we’ve dropped points at home, because every game has been different and there has been adversity.”

Lagos referred to the team’s 1-1 tie with Edmonton last week as another disappointment. “I think it’s another example of a game we probably should have won, even down a man, and we couldn’t quite do it,” he said. “Certainly that’s something where we’re trying to get better and trying to figure out a way to get mentally more consistent from game to game. That’s been difficult. That’s been a challenge. I think there have been some nice moments of soccer – both in the play and the attitude – but it hasn’t been consistent enough to put us on top of the table.”

The fall NASL season has eight games to go, and with United just two points out of first, the fall title is there for the taking. It’ll take more than one-game winning streaks and two-game unbeaten runs, though; it’ll take something like what Minnesota unleashed in late 2011 and early 2012. Whatever mentality the team had then, they need to get back for this year’s stretch run, or a disappointing finish awaits.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Chances are, if you’ve heard anything about the NASL this fall, the New York Cosmos have been mentioned. The Cosmos were the most famous club of the original incarnation of the NASL, winning the league five times; they’re what people think of, when they think of pre-MLS soccer in America – Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, and all the rest.

It’s fair to say that the current NASL was near-desperate to get the Cosmos name back into the fold. (It was long rumored, though never confirmed, that one of the reasons for the split season this year was to get the Cosmos on the field as soon as possible, even though they couldn’t be ready for the April opening day.) It’s led to a huge amount of publicity for the league; even The Economist took a break from world and business news to mention the re-formation of the team.

Publicity aside, though, New York still had the small problem of forming a team from scratch and competing with seven other squads that already had a half-season in the books. I thought that they’d either be dominant or awful, but so far, they’re splitting the difference; they’re undefeated in three home games, with two last-minute victories and a draw, but have yet to win on the road, with two draws and a loss. The Cosmos sit fourth in the standings, one point above Minnesota.

New York has put together a veteran, experienced defense. Kyle Reynish, who started seven games over three seasons for Real Salt Lake, has played all six games in goal for the team. Left back Hunter Freeman was a regular for Colorado last season, and Houston the season before that; center backs Carlos Mendes (158 MLS appearances from 2005-12) and Roversio (a veteran of La Liga in Spain) also bring a wealth of experience. The only youngster featuring regularly over the past few games is right back Hunter Gorskie, who is in his rookie year. The 22-year-old began the year at center back but has switched to right back (at least, according to the posted lineups).

The midfield is anchored by Marcos Senna, perhaps one of the biggest names in the new NASL’s history. Senna won a European Championship for Spain in 2008, and played much of eleven seasons for Spanish giants Villareal. At 37, he’s taking his chance to be the new Beckenbauer, so to speak, and he leads the Cosmos with two scores (though admittedly one was a penalty and the other was a free kick on which the Edmonton wall accidentally jumped over his low shot).

New York has also offered a path back into soccer for American international Danny Szetela, whose name might be familiar to US national team fans from his three appearances for the team in the late part of the last decade. He was enough of a prospect that MLS held a weighted lottery for his rights when he signed in 2004, but he was out of soccer by 2010, due to a knee injury that eventually required three surgeries.

The midfield has lately been rounded out by Ayoze, who also played two seasons in La Liga for Sporting de Gijon, and American youngster Hagop Chirishan. Up front, the Cosmos have gone with some combination of Diomar Diaz, Alessandro Noselli, and Stefan Dimitrov; the three have combined for two goals, as the Cosmos have scored only six in six matches.

Even so, it’s going to be difficult for Minnesota to get a win at New York. The Cosmos are drawing some of the league’s largest crowds to Hofstra University, their temporary home, and they’re playing genuinely good soccer. Though United will talk about making a statement with a win, a point on the road would probably be a good result for the visitors on Saturday.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Three thoughts from the USA’s 2-0 win over Mexico, which – combined with Panama’s draw with Honduras – has ensured the USA will qualify for next summer’s World Cup:

1. You can’t beat the poetry of yet another “Dos a Cero.” That’s now four consecutive 2-0 home wins over Mexico in World Cup qualifying. The USA supporters unveiled three enormous banners before the game, commemorating the 2001, 2005, and 2009 wins; they’ll have another to add for 2017, when the USA returns to Columbus to play Mexico (a location that’s not decided but is absolutely certain).

The Americans really had only a handful of chances; Eddie Johnson’s solid header from the USA’s first corner was denied in the first half, but he made no mistake with the team’s second corner, powering home for the first American goal. The USA’s second was created out of nothing, with some quick feet from substitute Mix Diskerud, who found a sliver of space through which to thread a ball that Clint Dempsey just missed turning home, but which rolled through for Landon Donovan to prod into the roof of the net.

Dempsey missed a penalty with the final kick of the match. I don’t mean to suggest that he did it just to preserve the happy poetry of a fourth straight 2-0 win, but I think I’d like him more if he did.

2. What has happened to Mexico? Where is the swashbuckling side that effervescently destroyed the USA 4-2 in the 2011 Gold Cup final? The squad whose youngsters took home the Olympic gold medal last summer? That battered the USA for almost the entire 90 minutes in a 0-0 draw just last March?

Wherever they’ve gone, they don’t appear to be coming back. Throughout the game, Mexico completely refused to press the USA back four; even after the Americans made mistakes playing the ball in defense, the Mexicans sat back and completely ignored the ball once the USA had taken possession. At times, it looked like a rule had been passed that banned the Mexico forwards from pressuring American defenders. It bordered on the absurd; at least once, Donovan, having won the ball in his own half, just stood on the ball calmly as Mexicans walked past him, back to their own half, heads down, not looking at the ball at all.

At the rare times that Mexico committed players forward – for much of the first ten minutes, and occasionally in the second half – the USA would get completely stuck, unable to get the ball out of defense without hoofing it into the crowd. Why they refused to get forward more often, I’ll never understand. It’s not as if the USA were rampaging forward on counter-attacks.

For USA fans, beating Mexico has always been a joy, not least because it seemed so impossible. Year after year, Mexican sides were simply better, more put together, more able to attack remorselessly and tirelessly, over and over again. This time, Mexico just seemed sad – a little pathetic, even, like someone who’s been yelled at one too many times to ever completely meet your eye during a conversation again.

3. Jürgen Klinsmann has now been completely vindicated. In mid-March, the Sporting News published a piece that called into question virtually everything about Klinsmann’s tenure as USA head coach. Klinsmann was judged by former and current players to completely lack any tactical sense, to spend too much time on off-the-field efforts, and to change lineups too often.

Since then, the USA squad has won the Gold Cup, established a record for their longest-ever winning streak at twelve games, and now, earned qualification for the World Cup with two matches to go. Not only that, he’s never lost to Mexico, with a draw and a win in the World Cup and the USA’s first-ever win in Mexico City to his credit.

I’m certain that there are critics and doubters left among the USA fanbase, but it’s impossible to argue with results. All that’s left for Klinsmann is his chance, next summer, to lead his team to success in the World Cup. If he can do that – however you might define success on the world stage – the German will certainly be recognized as the best coach in USA history.

Coming in to yesterday’s game against the Angels, the Twins had lost ten in a row at home. Over at Twinkie Town, I invented a few reasons for why this might be.

Sixteen years.

The last time that Mexico scored a goal in a World Cup qualifier in the United States was April 1997. Since then, the Mexicans have tried three times to beat the USA on American soil. Since then, the Mexicans have lost 2-0 three times, all in Columbus – the location of tonight’s renewal of North America’s best international rivalry.

It must be said that this year’s edition of this match looks a bit stranger than most. The two countries are generally the powerhouses of CONCACAF, but while the USA is just steps away from sealing a ticket to next year’s World Cup in Brazil, Mexico is reeling, and in some danger of missing out on qualifying for the first time since 1990.

Both teams lost on Friday; the Americans went down 3-1 at Costa Rica after giving up two goals in the first nine minutes. It brought the USA’s twelve-match winning streak to a juddering halt, and made tonight’s game look rather more important for America’s chances.

Mexico, though, fell completely to pieces, losing a home World Cup qualifier for only the second time ever. They took a 1-0 lead on Honduras only six minutes in, but Honduras scored twice in a three-minute span in the second half to turn the tide, and Mexico couldn’t find a reply. The defeat cost coach Jose Manuel “Chepo” de la Torre his job; he’s been replaced by assistant Luis Fernando Tena.

Now, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl thinks that Mexico missing out on the World Cup would be a bad thing for America. I have thought about this, and I can’t say I agree with him one bit. As an American fan, I would much, much prefer that Mexico loses every game 10-0 and fires their coach after every match; similarly, I suspect that Mexican fans hope that Columbus’s stadium falls over and Landon Donovan’s legs fall off. Such is the nature of rivalry. Reason does not play into it.

The USA can clinch a berth in the World Cup with a win and a Panama loss or tie against Honduras. Mexico, meanwhile, trails Honduras by two points for the third and final automatic berth, and leads Panama by only one point in the race for fourth place, the winner of which will play off against New Zealand for a trip to the finals in Brazil. (The standings are here.)

Unfortunately for the Americans, they’ll have to try to beat Mexico without midfielder Michael Bradley, the key to their team. The 26-year-old rolled his ankle in warmups before the Costa Rica game; perhaps not surprisingly, the USA lost the battle in the center of midfield without him. He won’t play tonight.

Also missing out is the team’s best forward, Jozy Altidore, and two of the team’s defenders, Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler. All three picked up second yellow cards against Costa Rica, and are thus suspended one game. Besler’s in particular made headlines after a US Soccer video proved that Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell had taken one of the most heinous dives in soccer history, which somehow convinced the assistant referee that Besler deserved one of the most ridiculous cautions you will ever see.

Stalwart Omar Gonzalez will thus have a new partner in central defense tonight – possibly Clarence Goodson, who played there during the Gold Cup, next to left back DaMarcus Beasley. It’s looking like Bradley will be replaced by Kyle Beckerman in central midfield, alongside Jermaine Jones – the same two that led the USA to their first-ever win in Mexico last year. Up front, the USA will depend on veterans Donovan and Clint Dempsey, in some combination and formation, to lead their attack.

The game is at 7pm, on ESPN. The Twin Cities have sent a large contingent of fans to Columbus; the remainder will be gathering at the Sweetwater Bar and Grill in St. Paul.

It’s been sixteen years since Mexico scored in a World Cup qualifier in the USA. You can bet that every American fan at the Sweetwater would dearly love to extend that streak to at least twenty years – and maybe, in the process, help knock Mexico further into the qualification danger zone.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

We did a post-Vikings game podcast on Sunday. It made us kind of feel better about what was a horrible Vikings game.

In conclusion, Christian Ponder is history’s greatest monster.

*NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric. *

In no particular order, a few thoughts from Minnesota’s 1-1 draw with Edmonton on Saturday:

1. It’s been three months – really – since Minnesota won a home game in the league. Moreover, they’ve yet to win a game at NSC Stadium this year; the last time they won at home was June 8 against Fort Lauderdale, in the Metrodome. Since then, they’ve lost to Atlanta twice, and tied with Tampa Bay and Edmonton.

Throw in the team’s home loss to Des Moines in the US Open Cup, and Minnesota has just two wins in ten home games this year, to go with four ties and four losses. United looked to have a built-in advantage in the fall’s title race, with four of their last six games at home, but right now that’s looking to be more of a hindrance than a help.

1. Miguel Ibarra’s crossing has improved enormously. For the second straight week, an Ibarra cross led to a Minnesota goal – this time, from a short corner. Ibarra played a perfect ball in, one that drew Montons netminder Lance Parker out of his goal but evaded the keeper’s punch, setting Cristiano Dias up perfectly for the header that gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. The winger has always been one of the fastest in the league, but he spent much of the spring searching for that final ball that would give United a chance to score; two weeks in a row, he’s found it.

2. Sinisa Ubiparipovic might have just set the bar for worst-ever performance for a Minnesota player. He came on as a substitute, played one minute, and was sent off. I’m not sure why he decided that he needed to kick Edmonton’s Chris Nurse in the chest after he’d been fouled; perhaps Nurse said awful things about his family in the split-second it took for the pair to fall to the ground. Regardless, it was a moment of genuine madness, right in front of the referee, who didn’t hesitate for a second in showing Ubiparipovic the red card.

The last United player who earned a red card, Brian Kallman, hasn’t seen the field since. We’ll see what fate befalls Ubiparipovic.

1. Chalk up another mark on the “goals allowed at critical times” tote board. This time, the smoke hadn’t even cleared from the celebratory flares before Minnesota had given away its 1-0 lead. Dias was beaten down Edmonton’s right-hand side almost immediately from the kickoff by Antonio Rago, and the other three Minnesota defenders got caught in no-man’s land between attackers, and suddenly nobody was marking anybody and Corey Hertzog was booting the ball into the back of the net.

2. It’ll be interesting to watch the attendance trends for the remainder of the fall. Minnesota drew just 3,874 people on Saturday, their smallest crowd of the season. Their first three regular-season games at the NSC drew three of their five largest attendances of the year, all over 5,600 – but with fall comes other distractions, like school for kids, and Saturday college football for casual fans. It’s also only going to get chillier in September and October; not everyone enjoys a cold day or evening out.

3. Every team is still in the race to win the fall championship. Despite earning just eight points in six matches, Minnesota is only two points behind the three-way Tampa-Carolina-Fort Lauderdale tie at the top of the league. In fact, three points is all that separates first place and seventh place in the NASL. Even lowly San Antonio, which earned its first points of the fall with a draw at Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, is not necessarily out of the running, with eight games remaining. Parity was the story of the spring; so too in the fall.

United, then, could become the league leaders with a good run of results – but that’s something they haven’t managed at all this season. Their longest winning streak is one match; their longest unbeaten streak is two matches. You have to go back to May 2012 to find Minnesota’s last two-game winning streak in the regular season.

This time last year, Minnesota was limping through a run of four consecutive draws, treading water and just barely staying in the sixth and final playoff position. That’s not going to work this year. The fall title is all that matters, and United can’t get there with draws and the occasional victory.

Asking United head coach Manny Lagos about formations usually prompts a mildly impatient response. This week, I asked him about his decision to play a 4-4-2 against San Antonio, instead of the 4-2-1-3 with which the team had begun the fall season – and his answer was no different. “For us, the system is important, but the habits that we are trying to incorporate and build off of are important as well,” he said. “I think the guys embraced that for large periods of the game against San Antonio.”

That said, Lagos did single out a pair of areas as impressive – the forward partnership between Pablo Campos and Mike Ambersley, and the wide midfielders and their combinations with the fullbacks. Given that I was also impressed with the central midfield and the center backs, that’s everybody on the pitch. In other words, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more or less an unchanged starting eleven against Edmonton tonight.

The only certain difference is with Campos, who is suspended for the game tonight. Otherwise, I’ve been told that the squad has no injury concerns – at least as of Thursday’s practice – so Lagos has a full squad at his disposal.

Avoiding the letdown

Last time United got a late winner, they lost their next three games. Lagos, though, feels there’s no comparison between the two situations. For one, United had two weeks off in the spring after beating Fort Lauderdale in the 96th minute; for another, the two squads look very different. “I think we’ve moved on,” said the coach.

He also pointed out something else about the game following that Fort Lauderdale win, at Carolina. For most of the first half, United was in control against the RailHawks, who have proved impossible to beat at home. Minnesota took a 2-0 lead with two early goals, and only gave up a penalty to allow Carolina back within 2-1 at half.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, the late stages of the second half gave the RailHawks a 3-2 win – which prompted a slide that didn’t end for nearly two months. Said Lagos of that slide, “I think we learned a lot about our team and ourselves going into that break, and about ways we could potentially improve.”

The head coach feels similarly about the win over San Antonio. “I think we learned a lot about our team this weekend and I think there are a lot of positives to grow on,” he said.

More on why Arguez left Carolina

Over the summer break, Minnesota traded midfielder Bryan Arguez to Carolina, in exchange for Floyd Franks. Just a couple of weeks into the fall season, though, the RailHawks released Arguez with no explanation given – and last week, we learned why. Arguez stands accused of raping a woman in DeKalb County, Georgia,  while Carolina was in Atlanta for week two of the fall season. As of yesterday, he remains in jail, though he has been granted bond.

Game details

It’s a 6pm start at the National Sports Center, for whatever reason this evening. The Dark Clouds supporters group has promised to ridicule anybody who accidentally shows up at 7pm.

If you can’t be in Blaine, you can see the game online at MNUnitedFC.com.