United takes on Fort Lauderdale tonight at 6:30, in a matchup of a team that’s tied for first and a team that’s alone in last. Here’s David La Vaque’s preview of the game. If you’re looking to watch tonight, you can do so at the NASL website.

It sounds strange to say, just four games into the year, but Fort Lauderdale already seems like a team with nothing left to lose. With six teams above them in the standings and eight games to go in the spring season, the Strikers may well be adopting more of a role as a spoiler.

United head coach Manny Lagos knows well that this could make the home team even more dangerous in south Florida tonight. “I think we have to be aware that we’re going to play a team that’s going to be hungry to get a result,” he said. “We have to make sure from the get-go that we are ready to match and exceed their intensity and their workrate, and from that, play good soccer.”

The Strikers, shaky in goal this year, will depend on loanee Jeff Atinella, who was the best keeper in the league last year for Tampa Bay before catching on with Real Salt Lake in MLS this year. On the one hand, you can wonder how effective Atinella will be, given that he’s only been with Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days. On the other hand, the same was true of Carolina’s Enzo Martinez, and he scored the game-tying goal last week.

The return of the US Open Cup

This year marks the 100th edition of the US Open Cup, a knockout tournament that includes all levels of American soccer. United, being in the second division, enters the tournament in the second round of the competition; MLS teams enter in the third round.

The first round (following, of course, a bunch of qualifying rounds for amateur teams) takes place on Tuesday. Minnesota will face the winner of the first-round match between the Des Moines Menace of the USL Pro Development League, and the Madison 56ers of the National Premier Soccer League – two leagues that are generally considered to be in the fourth tier of American soccer. Minnesota played Des Moines last year in the tournament as well, beating them 2-0 in the second round.

United’s first match is Tuesday, May 21, and will be played at home. It’s a key match for the team, as the winner moves on to the third round, where they will play an MLS team – and, with the possible exception of the NASL league finals, there’s no game that United’s players are more excited to play than a game against an MLS team.

You might want to keep Tuesday, May 28 open on your calendar. If United wins, and if they win the coin flip to host in the third round, an MLS team of some kind will be coming to town.

Injury report

Defender Connor Tobin is set to miss his second straight week of action with an ankle sprain. He’s been walking around fairly normally – no walking boot, no limp, but has a ways to go before his ankle is ready for game action.

Midfielder Kentaro Takada has also been bit by the ankle-sprain bug; he turned his ankle on Monday, and didn’t make the trip to Fort Lauderdale as a result. Striker Max Griffin also did not travel, as he is still dealing with a hamstring injury suffered in the run-up to the Atlanta game two weeks ago.

Midfielder Bryan Arguez, however, could make his season debut tonight for United. He was on the bench last week against Carolina, though he didn’t play, but we could very well see him play tonight.

Walk by a football coach’s office in the fall, and you’re likely to see a thick binder on the desk, emblazoned with the name of that week’s opponent. That binder contains that week’s game plan, and it’s the result of hours of video study, scouting reports, and breakdowns that result in an almost militaristic report of the best way to defeat the upcoming enemy. Basketball teams depend on similar preparations. Many baseball teams have video stations that allow players to study upcoming pitchers and hitters. The overarching idea in those sports is to leave nothing to chance.

For the Minnesota United FC coaching staff, though, weekly preparations are less about the opponent, and more about their own team. Said player/assistant coach Kevin Friedland, “In terms of an overall game plan, we typically like to do our thing, and hopefully then they have to adjust. I would say most teams kind of come out with a similar plan. ”

Head coach Manny Lagos thinks that the closest sport to soccer, in terms of preparation, might be hockey. In hockey, the team prepares by working on its own skills, and while they might study certain set plays for other teams, the game itself is, in Lagos’s words, “more instinctual.”

The week begins with a look back by the coaching staff at the previous week’s game. “We try as a coaching staff to absorb some of the things that the game before presented – challenges, places we want to get better, things that we did really well,” said Lagos.

In many ways, the United coaching staff focuses more on correcting problems, rather than preparing. While Lagos notes that they don’t want to dwell on the past, much of the coaching time is devoted to minimizing the team’s own errors, rather than concentrating on the opponent.

Said Friedland, “First, between Manny, [assistant coach] Carl [Craig], and myself, we all kind of look at the game that we previously played, we look at the errors that we made, and the good things that we did.  We talk about the mistakes that may have happened, and we try to fix those during the week. As we get into to the weekend, closer to playing the next opponent, I think we start to talk about the opponent, watching their last couple games, kind of identifying their shape, and how they like to play… I don’t think it’s as in depth as you see in some other sports – football, even basketball.”

Taking away video study from coaches in other sports would be akin to cutting off their air supply, but according to Friedland, Minnesota doesn’t spend a lot of time on it, at least as a squad. “As a team we don’t do a lot of video,” he said. “Video is something that some coaches are really into, some are not. As a staff we watch a lot of the video, and there are times where Manny will bring in a player at a time, maybe a couple of players together to talk about certain instances from the last game… But we don’t typically have whole-team video sessions. We have had some in the past, but we don’t do it often.”

The game plan itself comes down to a few basic conversations, especially about set pieces, as well as players to watch from other teams. Said Friedland, “We typically look at their what they do on set pieces, highlighting maybe some of what we consider their standout players or special players.”

Friedland, who has the added advantage of being a player as well as a coach, also said that he’ll use his past experiences against teams to inform what he’s doing, and will warn players to watch out for certain things – for example, if a team likes to take short corner kicks, rather than swinging the ball all the way into the penalty area.

Perhaps the best explanation of why the team has no overstuffed game plan, though, comes from Friedland the veteran defender, not Friedland the coach – who knows that sometimes, its best to focus inward. “You can plan so much for the other guy that you’re kind of not worrying about yourself,” he said. “You’re so worried about what they’re going to do that you’re not taking care of your own game.”

This Saturday, Minnesota United FC is in Fort Lauderdale to take on the Strikers, the team that’s currently at the bottom of the NASL Standings. Fort Lauderdale tied Edmonton on the season’s opening day, but hasn’t earned a point since, losing twice on the road and once at home.

For a few answers about the Strikers, I contacted Pieter Brown, who hosts the nationally known internet soccer radio show Ultras Alive (www.UltrasAlive.com). You can listen Monday nights at 8pm Central Time as they discuss every level of American pro soccer.

1. Four games in, and the Fort Lauderdale has only one point. What’s gone wrong for the Strikers?

One point in four games is an embarrassment, but the Strikers have been dealing with a lot of early injuries. Midfielder Walter Restrepo, midfielder Mark Anderson, and defender Ivan Guerrero have all dealt with the injury bug. All that said, the main problem is they have not been able to score goals. Stefan Dimitrov (on loan from NY Cosmos) has started every game at forward, with little to show for it. With the return of forward Aly Hassan, maybe things will change for the better.

2. Young goalkeeper Cody Laurendi replaced Matt Glaeser in the starting lineup last week against Tampa Bay, but he was injured and carted off the field. What is his status going forward, and while he’s out, will the team go back to Glaeser, or go with another option?

Laurendi is out for the season with a lacerated kidney, and will need 6-9 months for a full recovery. Glaeser will get his staring spot back for now. Glaeser has had a unusually poor start to the Spring Championship. Word is the Strikers will bring in another quality keeper to push Matt. [NOTE: Pieter later followed up to note that several people on Twitter have suggested that former Tampa Bay keeper Jeff Atinella, now with Real Salt Lake, will join the Strikers on loan.]

3. What is going on with forward Andy Herron?

The Andy Herron soap opera is in full effect. Andy spoke to the Strikers owner and complained about his lack of playing time. From what we have gathered Coach Daryl Shore did not appreciate Andy going behind his back and the player and coach had a falling out. I was notified by the Strikers that Herron is still under contract and part of the team. They are looking at their options regarding Andy, who clearly wants out. We were supposed to have Andy on our show Ultras Alive, but he was advised against it.

Here’s a quote from the Costa Rican striker’s Facebook account: “I’m not running away.. is not my style, I love this challenges, the real reason, is because a spoke to the owner.. for the team benefit but Daryl see it the other way.. 17 years playing pro..never see this.. thanks to all of you..and God bless..”

4. No one in the NASL took more shots last year than Strikers midfielder Mark Anderson, and it brought him 11 goals. Through four games, though, he’s without a goal. Is it time to worry?

Mark Anderson had a pre-season injury that he is still getting over. That said, he is in a slump for sure. He has missed clear shots that he would have put away last year… but we are not worried yet. The best thing for Mark will be Walter Restrepo getting back into the starting lineup, as Anderson plays much better when Restrepo is on the field. Last year Mark went into a similar slump when Walter got injured. Look for Restrepo to start this weekend.

5. Can Fort Lauderdale turn it around this spring, or is it time for them to start looking toward the fall season?

Technically the Strikers are still in the hunt for the spring championship, but they need to go on winning streak pronto. While I hope for the best, I fear the worst. I am not confident they can dig their way out of the basement for a Championship run. They are one of the lower payroll teams in the league, and it shows. Lucky for the Strikers, they can have a fresh start in the fall.

 

My thanks to Pieter for helping out with the Q&A this week.