NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Minnesota United’s midfield looked a little different on Saturday against Atlanta – not only because of new players, but because of a new formation. Edi Buro, who had yet to play this season for Minnesota, got the start, along with loan signings Calum Mallace and Sinisa Ubiparipovic. It led to a little bit different of a look for United, with Buro playing in front of the center backs, and the other two attacking.

“Tonight we started out with more of a diamond midfield,” said head coach Manny Lagos after the game. “A lot of the first season we were doing more of a 4-2-1-3. Tonight we tried to get Sinisa and Edi a little more staggered and Calum a little more to the left – he’s a central tendency player… We wanted Sinisa up a little higher with the forwards – he’s a setup guy, likes to get up there to try to find spaces for the guys who get forward. Hopefully as we move forward we’ll figure out how to make that work. ”

Buro was substituted in the 57th minute, in favor of Kentaro Takada, who played more along the left-hand side as United attacked to try to claw back a 1-0 deficit. Until then, though, it was a slightly different attacking look from Minnesota, with Simone Bracalello pushed a little farther forward than normal on the left, ahead of Mallace. It’s also worth noting that Mallace and Ubiparipovic made a noticeable difference in keeping the ball moving through midfield, something United sorely needed.

One other note: Minnesota won a number of free kicks in attacking positions, but Bracalello put a number of chances straight into the Atlanta wall. He’s been a weapon for the team from those dead-ball situations, but Saturday was not his best game.

Kallman sent off

Right back Brian Kallman was sent off in stoppage time in the second half – a rather weak red card, to say the least. Kallman, who had just argued with the referee about another foul call, tried to kick the ball away from Atlanta forward Kellen Gulley, who was shielding it near the sidelines in a bid to run the clock down. Kallman connected with Gulley, rather than the ball, and the forward went down more or less as if a land mine had blown off his foot, leading to the straight red for United’s captain.

Lagos was not happy with the card, which will see Kallman automatically suspended for next week’s game. “I don’t think it was a red card,” he said. “Yeah, he might have kicked him, but when you’re sealing the ball to see a game out, the defender’s going to try to kick the ball away. I think he went down way more easily than the foul itself, and stayed down.”

For Lagos, it felt like the continuation of the July 4 game between the teams, when Atlanta took enough dives that United actually released a video calling out Silverbacks midfielder Pablo Cruz for one of the more egregious pratfalls. “For me, there’s too many antics right now of going down too easily and trying to get the ref – particularly with Atlanta, the last game they were here, there were some tougher moments for us. We’ve got to get over that stuff. There’s got to be more honor in the game.”

One signing complete – one not

I mentioned last week that United was attempting to sign winger Omar Daley and center back Logan Emory, both of whom were on trial with Minnesota over the summer break. Lagos confirmed via text that Daley will sign for the team, but that Emory will not. No reason was given, but Emory – who was released by Toronto FC in late June – is certainly looking to play regular minutes, and try to resurrect his career; perhaps United just wasn’t able to promise him anything.

Minnesota United signed striker Etienne Barbara in the off-season, but traded him Thursday, before the second half of the season even began. According to Barbara, he clashed heavily head coach Manny Lagos, a conflict that led to his departure from the team.

The striker spoke angrily and at length from the airport in Tampa, where he was with the rest of the Rowdies, preparing to travel to San Antonio for their game today. “Now that I’m out of there, I wanted to speak about this,” he said. “Minnesota people think that Manny is some sort of god in soccer because [the team] achieved what [they] achieved – the championship and the final of the other [year]. But trust me, I tell you the honest truth: it’s not like that. Manny doesn’t know anything how to coach a team. No inspiration for the player, no communication with the player, nothing. It’s the rest of the crew that does the job. It’s the assistant coaches that do the job. The captain does the job. This is how [Minnesota] survives.”

His diatribe helps shed light on Minnesota’s decision to move him on, only halfway through the season; it seems clear that the relationship between player and team deteriorated to the point that team chemistry was affected.

Barbara had a number of criticisms of Lagos, foremost of which in his mind was what he felt was the team’s lack of tactical discussion and preparation. “What kind of coach in four years doesn’t do one session of tactics?,” he asked. “Why do I have to come there and I’m a new guy and I have to go to ask the coach, and I say coach, please, we need to start doing some tactics, we’re not on the same page. And he takes it against me because of that. I go ask the assistant coach, or the other players, and the other players tell me we never did tactics in four years. How do you play if you don’t do tactics? If nobody is on the same page? And the answer is, we figure it out, we figure it out ourselves on the field. I said, are you kidding me? I’m not up for this. I said, I don’t like this kind of stuff. So people have to figure it out themselves, the way they want to play on the field, and how to motivate themselves, and they have to go to speak to the assistant coaches because if you try to speak to the coach he will punish you or take it against you. I don’t understand it.”

The forward, who started six of the team’s twelve games and came on as a sub in another, said several times that he felt like he was being punished for speaking up. “I am a stand-up guy,” he said. “I don’t complain behind his [Lagos’s] back. I go to his face and I tell him face to face. He got that in the wrong way, because I was only trying to help the situation and get the team better at soccer. He took it against me and he started putting me on the bench.”

Beyond denying that Barbara was benched for bringing his criticisms up, Lagos refused to get drawn into a war of words, saying only, “Nobody wanted Etienne to be successful more than the club did. We wish him the best.”

Barbara also spoke about his struggles to meet what he considered excessively high fitness standards with the team. “I don’t expect the coach to tell me, okay, you’re not fit enough, so you have to go and do extra fitness alone,” he said. “And he schedules a fitness instructor, and he cannot get me game fit. I will never be game fit [enough] for him. We are always running off the ball, we don’t play soccer. How can I be game fit? I’m not like Miguel [Ibarra], 22, 23 years old, all lightweight that can run all day. I’m 5 foot 11, 200 pounds. I can’t run all day up and down. I play with the ball. You can rest on the ball. You make the ball move, you make the other guy tired. How many games did we play, twelve games – we never changed the situation, we’re just hoping and wishing.

“This is not athletics. This is soccer. We try to play soccer here, not athletics. If you want to just run after a ball, then go into athletics. I tried to play soccer, with the ball.”

Barbara felt that the team’s lack of tactical discussion led to a general team confusion, especially in the attacking third of the field. “We’re always chasing after the team we played, chasing the ball and hoping and wishing that something happens and we score a goal,” he said. “…But we are not creating any style of soccer. We didn’t have a style of soccer… We just play a game in which you’re hoping and wishing that something happens.”

As the 2011 NASL Most Valuable Player, Barbara thought that this especially showed up in the lack of goals from the team’s MVP duo up front.  “I mean, me and Pablo scored 32 goals in Carolina [in 2011],” he said. “I scored only two [this year]. Pablo scored only four. Pablo played all the games, I played half the games of the first round, because he [Lagos] wanted to keep me on the bench. So there is something missing, when you see the two MVPs in the last two years cannot score a goal and find it very difficult to score goals. It must be something that is not working in a team.”

The outspoken forward has publicly disagreed with team management before, notably during his MLS experience with Montreal and Vancouver in 2012. After his departure from Carolina in 2011, he spoke out about the team’s collapse.  He says, though, that he is speaking for the rest of the United players on this issue.

Said Barbara, “Most of the players, no matter what they say, I lived with them day by day every day for the past five months. They are not happy. You can go and ask them and they will tell you they are the happiest person on earth here. But they will never tell the truth because they are afraid of losing their jobs. I’m not. I’m not. I played soccer all my life. I’ve seen good coaches and I’ve seen plenty of good players in my life. I speak up whenever I see something that I think can help the team, and I don’t expect the coach to hold it against me for trying to help improve the team and help improve our game.”

He did, however, have good things to say about his time in Minnesota. “I really wish to thank [team president] Nick Rogers and [team owner] Dr. Bill [McGuire] for bringing me there. They are fantastic people,” he said. “They are doing a great job and I am very happy that they came into soccer. I really wish to thank them for the time they gave me and for bringing me there.

“I’m the kind of player that express my emotions, and I was punished for that. I feel sorry because I really enjoyed my time there. I like the players, I like Nick. I admire Bill and what he’s trying to build. And I love the supporters there. I like being in the city. But I cannot stand the coach. I’m sorry, but I can’t work with a person like that. So, better that I’m out of there, and I’m looking forward to my new adventure with a new team and in a new city.”

For two seasons, the Atlanta Silverbacks propped up the rest of the league in the NASL standings, finishing last and second-to-last and winning just 11 times in 56 matches. Come 2013, though, the team came together. Technical director and former US National Team star Eric Wynalda found some talent; new coach Brian Haynes got things to jell on the field. It all led to six wins and three draws in 12 games for the Silverbacks, including a 3-0 win at Minnesota in the spring’s final game – and that was enough to give Atlanta the spring title.

Silverbacks marketing and public relations manager Neal Malone gives much of the credit to Haynes, a former Trinidad and Tobago international who has coached for more than ten years in MLS and lower leagues. “I think it starts with the guy who leads the team,” he said. “He’s a player’s coach. I’ve been here the previous two regimes; you sort of had a divided locker room, not everybody bought into it. But everything Brian is giving to the team, they’re soaking it in. He’s a players coach that likes to goof around with the guys and keep things lighthearted. But I think also they respect him and his knowledge of the game.”

Atlanta’s made strides in the stands, as well; according to Malone, the team sold out five of its seven spring home games. And it’s not just people looking for a day out, but people who are there to see the team. “We still had really good attendance even when we were losing a lot of games,” said Malone. “I think the winning has certainly helped; a lot of people are coming to the games to see the team now, as opposed to coming to the games for a fun family experience. You see the crowds that are a lot more into the game and tied into what’s going on on the field.”

If they are to repeat in the fall, the Silverbacks will have to do so without a pair of stalwarts in their lineup. Forward Ruben Luna, third in the league with five spring goals, had planned all along to play only the spring season; he’s left Atlanta for some opportunities for tryouts in France. Defender Mark Bloom, who played every minute of every game at right back, was loaned out to Toronto FC for an MLS opportunity.

Malone is sorry that the team lost Luna, who he called a “lethal” finisher, but it’s Bloom’s departure that worried him a little more. Calling him a “fantastic player,” Malone noted a couple of options to replace him, including Willie Hunt, who played some center back this season for Atlanta, and Shane Moroney, who has played for the Silverbacks, including some at right back, since 2011.

Atlanta will play a 4-5-1 formation, occasionally more of a 4-4-2 look, depending on whether the second striker is playing more up front or more as an attacking midfielder. In their July 4th game against Minnesota, though, the team played a 3-5-2, with two midfielders in front of the center backs to try to blunt the force of Pablo Campos. Haynes may decide that a 3-0 win was enough to convince him to try the same thing again tonight.

Ultimately, the Silverbacks have the luxury of knowing that they could lose all 14 games this fall, and still play at home in the November 9 Soccer Bowl. Even immediately following Atlanta’s July 4th win, though, Haynes knew that his team’s season was just getting started. “Now they’ve [referring to his team] got something to prove”, he said. “Before they didn’t. They were in last place last year. Now they got something to prove. People are going to be coming after us, we’ve got to be ready.”

NOTE: This also appeared at SoccerCentric.

Hours after the team announced the trade that sent striker Etienne Barbara to Tampa Bay in exchange for attacker Mike Ambersley, United head coach Manny Lagos was already trying to start looking forward to the fall season that begins tomorrow.

“As a club, you have to try to get better and find the right mix of players, and that’s what makes you successful,” he said. “We as a club felt like making the change would help us in both the short and the long term.”

It was clear that Barbara just couldn’t settle in Minnesota, for whatever reason. His outspoken nature may simply have clashed with the all-for-one locker-room culture that United had forged over the past two seasons as a league-owned, us-against-the-world type of team.

Said Lagos, “We’re honest that it didn’t quite work out. Unfortunately, a better environment on both sides might be what is needed.”

Ambersley, the player Minnesota received in return, is no slouch himself. The 30-year-old, who has played both up front and in the midfield, has scored 17 goals for Tampa Bay over the past two-and-a-half seasons. He battled injuries this spring, playing the equivalent of three matches’ worth of minutes, but he scored two goals in that span.

“He’s just a smart forward, who makes good runs, who is clever off the ball, and has good touch and has a knack to finish,” said Lagos. “We as a club think we’re doing it for the right reasons, to get better and be more competitive. Mike’s a quality player, he’s a proven forward in this league.”

According to the coach, it was a trade that was two weeks in the making, and one that finally came together midweek. “It had to be a unique situation for us to move Etienne,” he said. “He [Ambersley] was probably one of the few guys in the league who made sense.”

The front office isstill working out the complications of getting Ambersley to Minnesota, and so he won’t be available for Saturday’s game against Atlanta. He’d be more likely to make the trip to Fort Lauderdale the following week – or even debut the next week, when Minnesota is at home against the Rowdies.

Sattler also down for the count

United brought in five players over the winter – two of which have now been traded, and one of which, goalkeeper Daryl Sattler, will miss the entire fall season. Sattler had surgery Thursday to repair a torn labrum in his hip, a surgery that will remove him from contention for the fall season.

The 32-year-old started the first six games of the season for United, before making way for Matt Van Oekel as the #1 keeper. Lagos wasn’t able to confirm whether Sattler is under contract for next year, but the coach, wearing his GM hat for the moment, thought that the team held an option on his contract for at least next year. For the time being, Van Oekel will man the goal, with Mitch Hildebrant as the #1 backup.

The only other injury of note was center back Brent Kallman, who suffered an ankle injury in an exhibition match and appears set to miss out on Saturday with Atlanta.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Minnesota United FC has yet to name a permanent captain to replace the now-retired Kyle Altman – but, as far as vice-captain Brian Kallman is concerned, replacing that leadership won’t be the work of one man. “It’s hard for one person to step in and fill that role,” said the 29-year-old defender. “It’s like the old saying: it takes a village to raise a village.”

Earlier this week, Kallman sat down with five other senior players on the team – goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel, defenders Connor Tobin and Kevin Friedland, midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan, and striker Pablo Campos  –  to try to assemble a leadership committee of sorts, in the hopes of filling that vacuum.

“Between the six of us, we can kind of reach out to the whole team,” said Kallman. “Maybe some of the guys won’t listen to me, but they will listen to Connor, or maybe some of the guys will listen to me but not to Matt. If I wear the armband on game days, so be it; if not, I’m not going to care. Whether I wear the armband or not, I’m still going to be a leader, I’m still going to work hard and set the tone at training.”

Over the past couple of years, United has depended on a close-knit locker room to give themselves an extra boost, and that team togetherness was a big reason that the club had two successful playoff runs. This year, Minnesota brought in a bunch of new players, and Kallman admits that the atmosphere in the locker room was “similar,” not the same. “I think there were some locker room issues that were resolved with the trade,” he said, referring to the deal that sent Bryan Arguez to Carolina.

“We had a lot of people on board who were willing to buy in,” said Kallman. “We’re trying to get it back to where it has been, and I don’t think it’ll be too hard, because most of the guys on the team are going to buy into what we want to do and buy into that locker room culture. If the older guys all hold each other accountable, and hold the team accountable, then I think we’ll be able to manage it. ”

It might just be a matter of adding the right players to the squad, and Minnesota has three new ones for the fall – and Kallman is excited about all three. “Sinisa [Ubiparipovic] is as old as I am. He’s played professional soccer for eight years. Calum Mallace is a Minnesota guy, he’s happy to be back here. Floyd Franks is another one, he’s my age as well; he’s been around a long time. He’s very professional. I talked to him yesterday – we were doing fitness, and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t ever get to play against you because you’re a center midfielder and I’m an outside back, but I never realized how fast you are.'”

Ubiparipovic, who played one game on loan for the Minnesota Thunder in 2007, might be just as well-placed as the vice-captain to see the changes in the club. Said Kallman, “The club is so much different than it was then. It’s so much more professional. The quality of players is so much higher than we’ve ever had. I don’t even know what our official roster size is, whether it’s 25 or 26 guys; you look around the locker room, and you’re like, any of these guys can play on a given day. Now we just need to figure out how we can get the most out of everyone on the team, and keep pushing each other. Whether you’re a consistent starter, or you haven’t played a minute all season, we just need to make sure we train at a high level. That’s one of the reasons the older veterans got together and were talking on Monday.”

For Kallman, the biggest area of improvement for the team can come from playing hard for all 90 minutes – and not switching off in crucial moments, like the first five or last five minutes of a half, or the five minutes after a goal. “If you look at all the games in the first season, we didn’t play horribly,” he said. “During games, we were awesome, but all of a sudden we’d hit a five- or a ten-minute period where maybe little bounces weren’t going our way, or we couldn’t keep possession, and then we’d end up giving up a goal. Or [we’d make] a silly mistake at a crucial time. There were times, like in Carolina at the end of the game, we’d give up a goal to tie it up, and instead of being like, hey, listen, it’s going to be a tie now, or we have to push for a win, in five minutes we’re giving up a goal and we’re losing in the last four minutes of a game.”

United’s first chance to right the ship comes on Saturday against Atlanta. Whether Kallman or one of the other senior players wears the captain’s armband matters less; what matters more is that someone – maybe all six  – steps up to lead the team.