Canada strike late to take lead in Nations League quarterfinals: They left it until late, but Canada are 1-0 aggregate leaders in their Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals series against Suriname.
With the international break at hand, we figured we’d take a look at each remaining playoff team and gauge their hopes of winning an MLS Cup. We’ll go from lowest seed to highest seed, starting with the East. Yesterday, Orlando City. Today, Minnesota United.
The path behind
The Loons are in the middle of their third season this season.
Let me explain.
- From game 1 to game 15 (The Tani Oluwaseyi era): 1.87 points per game
This is where the Loons started the year off as one of the best teams in the league. Only five teams were better over this first stretch despite DP Bebelo Reynoso going AWOL (again). Robin Lod got on a heater and Tani Oluwaseyi broke onto the scene. Oluwaseyi put up such an impressive performance as Minnesota’s No. 9 - seven goals, six assists - that he earned a spot on the Canadian national team for Copa América.
Sounds great on paper. Not so great in practice. Oluwaseyi and multiple teammates went off on international duty. So this happened…
- From game 16 to game 27 (The international duty depression): 0.73 points per game
Not good! Only four teams were worse over this span. They needed to make major changes. And with multiple DP spots open in the summer window, they did.
- From game 28 to 34 (The Kelvin Yeboah era): 2.11 points per game
The Loons brought in Kelvin Yeboah and Joaquín Pereyra as Designated Players during the summer transfer window. Yeboah immediately changed this team for the better. In 10 starts (including the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs), he’s scored seven times and delivered two assists. He looked the part from the jump and the Loons started to thrive again. Only two teams were better over that span.
That carried over into the playoffs, where they did enough to pull off the West’s only Round One upset, winning a pair of penalty shootouts against RSL. They’re the sixth seed, but the third Pokémon evolution of this team is good enough to compete against anybody.
The path ahead
As good as they are, that dip in the middle of the season has tied one of their hands behind their back. They’ll be on the road against the Galaxy in the Conference Semifinal. Should they win in Los Angeles, they’ll be on the road in the Conference Final against either LAFC or Seattle. And they could be on the road for MLS Cup on Dec. 7 if Orlando City come out of the East.
They’re a team that has improved. As always, though, the only constant in MLS is that road games are hard.
Can they do it?
They can! But….
Why won’t they do it?
Again, the bottom line is being on the road in MLS is hard. Being on the road against great teams is really, really hard. Taking down the Galaxy and LAFC/Seattle in back-to-back games on the road is as tough as it gets.
Still, those teams aren’t invincible. Each of them has clear flaws. The Galaxy can be exploited defensively. LAFC can be thrown off their game if they’re forced to use the ball. Seattle may never score again. The odds aren’t high, but the Loons could come out on the other side.
What will decide whether or not they do it?
- Is Yeboah going to start scoring again? It’s been five games now.
- If it’s not Yeboah, who is it? Can Bongokuhle Hlongwane make the difference? Robin Lod? Can Oluwaseyi get back in form?
- Is Pereyra going to make an impact? Pereyra hasn’t produced much since arriving. He has just one assist in nine starts. He seems to clearly make the team better. But Minnesota probably needs a little more from him if they’re going to pull off multiple upsets.
- Can Dayne St. Clair win shootouts into infinity?
- Charles Boehm looked at what’s next in San Diego FC’s roster build.
- I ranked the remaining playoff teams by pressure.
Good luck out there. Be elite on multiple continents.
