ST. PAUL -- Minnesota United鈥檚 season has been a rollercoaster and the Loons are now in danger of being thrown off the ride all together.
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MNUFC was one of the worst teams in MLS through most of May and June, earning only four of a possible 24 points in that span. But in whiplash fashion, the Loons ascended to be one of the league鈥檚 best through late August, netting 26 out of the next 33 points during that stretch.
They鈥檝e turned down again, scoreless in three straight defeats, and are in danger of being left out. They have fallen from third place in the Western Conference to sixth with four games to play, only four points away from missing out on the MLS Cup Playoffs entirely.
鈥淲hen you get to this stage of the season, where every point is crucial, obviously, it has an effect on your mindset of thinking, 鈥楬ow are we doing?鈥� 鈥� Loons manager Adrian Heath said. 鈥淏ut I think you鈥檝e heard me say on numerous occasions, I鈥檓 more of a performance man.鈥�
Heath and captain Wil Trapp don鈥檛 see the sky falling. They point to 鈥渇ive minutes of madness鈥� that resulted in three Dallas goals in a 3-0 loss Sept. 3. There were two isolated defensive breakdowns and no breakthroughs offensively despite plenty of scoring chances in the 1-0 loss to Portland Timbers on Saturday.
Heath showed the players a lot of the positives they had in the previous two games on Monday morning. 鈥淲e had 180 minutes, but apart from a mad five minutes, we鈥檝e been the best team,鈥� he said Monday. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been better than Dallas and we鈥檝e been better than Portland. If we can put up a performance like we鈥檝e done in the last two games, going into this game, I will be delighted.鈥�
MNUFC (13-12-5, 44 points) face Los Angeles FC (19-8-3, 60) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allianz Field. LAFC still sits in first place, but has lost four of its past five games.
Minnesota has been prone to defensive lapses in the past three games, and LA鈥檚 Cristian Arango has feasted on any sort of opening. He has 16 goals on the season, including four in the past four matches.
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鈥淭he best players, they never switch off,鈥� Heath said. 鈥淭hey are forever looking where the defenders are.鈥�
In addition to Arango, LAFC boasts Carlos Vela and Gareth Bale.
Trapp said it鈥檚 about realizing that those small moments can change entire games. 鈥淚 think that is something we are trying to stress among the leadership group of the team,鈥� he said.
Trapp said he felt he should have been more assertive in the Dallas match to keep the damage to only one goal and not let it become three.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about understanding that encouragement and those things are important,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, it鈥檚 about grabbing (the opportunity) with two hands and how do you bring that out of the team and really, at times, lose your mind to get everyone in their right frame of mind.鈥�
After missing the Portland loss, MLS All-Star Emanuel Reynoso trained on his injured ankle Monday, and if it doesn鈥檛 swell up and have increased pain Tuesday morning, the Argentine is expected to play.
If Reynoso can鈥檛 go, look for MNUFC to use the 3-5-2 formation that created chances against Portland.
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鈥淲e have a big one (Tuesday),鈥� Trapp said. 鈥淲hether it looks pretty, it鈥檚 about winning the game.鈥�
Briefly
LAFC lost its appeal of a red card given to fullback Ryan Hollingshead in Saturday鈥檚 loss to Dallas, so he will be suspended for Tuesday鈥檚 match in St. Paul. 鈥� Franco Fragapane will serve a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation on Tuesday. He will be eligible for Saturday鈥檚 game at Sporting K.C. 鈥� Loons winger Bongi Hlongwane (knee) is expected to be out 4-6 weeks, meaning he will miss the rest of the regular season and possibly the playoffs, Heath said. 鈥� MNUFC2 forward Loic Mesanvi and Tani Oluwaseyi scored their first MLS NEXT Pro goals in a 4-2 win over Portland Timbers 2 on Sunday. Aziel Jackson scored his 10th goal of the season and Nabi Kibunguchy netted his fourth.
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