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Minnesota United played out another close match at home, this time losing out to the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.
The Loons have finally come to grips with Major League Soccer as their scorelines now start to represent normalcy. Back to back 1-0 games (one win, one loss) shows Minnesota is continuing to make the progress towards becoming consistently competitive.
A couple of veteran players that Minnesota lean on heavily not having their A-game and one of the defense’s biggest deficiencies led to tonight’s loss.
United head coach Adrian Heath said he needed to see more energy from some of his bigger name players.
“I’m sorry. I thought the two youngings came on and gave us that,” Heath said. “They gave their teammates a lift. They gave the crowd a lift. That’s what we expect.”
Heath added: “I support my players, always will do. But I expect some things in return and I thought we were a little bit lacking in certain parts this evening.”
The Loon’s defense has greatly improved and one of the primary reasons is communication amongst the backline. Against San Jose, it was visible as players gesticulated and mouthed organizing commands to one another. The stats back up the progress too as United went 191 minutes without conceding in MLS play until the Earthquakes scored in the 54th minute.
Both sides looked dangerous throughout the first half, but Minnesota felt like the more likely to score. Though, San Jose, which entered the game on a scoreless streak of 180 minutes — i.e. two full games, hit the crossbar with a shot from distance.
At this point, the Minnesota offensive looked close but in need of kicking things up one gear. Kevin Molino and Ibson were the drivers forward for United, but their link up play with Miguel Ibarra and Johan Venegas left something to be desired.
Venegas and Molino were both substituted in the second half. Heath said he wasn’t sure if fatigue played a factor in their performance.
“I just expect more out of those two. That’s the bottom line,” Heath said.
United’s defense has been mediocre for parts of the season and though it has taken great strides recently, defending crosses appears to be a particularly big weakness. This showed itself clearly when San Jose was able to bundle a goal in from corner kick in the second half.
Credit to Heath who gave youth a chance with his team trailing as he subbed on Abu Danladi and Ismalia Jome, a local of Brooklyn Park, when his more established names weren’t cutting it. Venegas in particular had a dodgy performance. Heath said he hopes his starters see this match and the requisite substitutions as wake up call.
“I thought the introduction of Ish [Jome] and Abu gave us some life,” Heath said. “But I am disappointed. We are better than that. I thought it was a nearly night — the nearly ball, we nearly got it to people. I think it’s disappointing considering the momentum we’ve had the last few weeks.”
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After the game, coach Heath was clearly a bit frustrated with some his go-to starting players.
Ismaila Jome said he was happy he was able to make his Major League Soccer debut in his native Minnesota. Jome said he had lots of friends and family in the crowd.
Kevin Molino said he needs to do better and that there aren’t any excuses.
