The Loons are flying west again, making their return to sunny California for a head-to-head against Bruce Arena’s San Jose Earthquakes. With another loss behind them and a jam-packed fall ahead, both of these Black and Blue squads are on the hunt for a form-breaking change.

Run of Form

Minnesota United FC
Run of Form: L-W-D-L-D (All Competitions)

Aside from a late Leagues Cup win over Atlante FC, the Loons have been struggling to find three points since early May. In regular-season play, they’re riding a nine-game winless streak and have dropped to 11th in the West. Last night’s loss to bottom-of-the-East Atlanta was a tough one, and another installation in the familiar storyline of struggling to score consistently despite moments of attacking brilliance. A major momentum shift is needed, and taking down a team like San Jose would certainly be a way to take back control. 

San Jose Earthquakes
Run of Form: L-L-L-D-L

Despite their stunning run of form to start the season, the Quakes have also been having a rough go of it lately. Last night’s loss to a 10-man LA Galaxy brings their winless streak up to five. They’ve scored four goals in their last five games but conceded 13. Though San Jose’s early-season run built up enough points to keep them at fourth in the West, their recent form has them in a bit of a free fall.

Keys to the Match:

Welcome Back, AZ

Aziel Jackson has donned the Black and Blue once again, and he looks good doing it. He saw the pitch for 22 minutes last night in front of Wil Trapp and Owen Gene’s double pivot, and his strength on the ball plus his breakneck speed make for an attacking presence the Loons have sorely needed. With Marcus Caldeira making his first start up top and a rotation of Kelvin Yeboah, Mamadou Dieng, and Mauricio González seeing minutes as well, Minnesota’s attack is finally building up some roster depth that will be immensely helpful as the squad navigates a slew of upcoming double-game weeks (including this one). Personally, I think the combination of AZ Jackson and Gene could be lethal once they’ve played together a bit more. Throw Joaquín Pereyra in there, and you’ve got an attacking unit that might just be capable of turning things around for the Loons.

Scoring Problems

Depth doesn’t solve every problem, and the fact is that the Loons are still struggling to finish. Minnesota has dominated expected goals in their last four matches, despite winning only one of them. As we saw last night, the squad has had no problem creating chances — it’s the final touch that’s been missing, and in the end, that’s the only thing that matters. A pattern has certainly emerged this season where Minnesota dominates play for large stretches of the game, then slips up once or twice and concedes goals they can’t get back. It feels like there’s a dam that needs to be broken here to turn a few trickling goals into a flood, and it needs to happen soon.

Fortunately for the Loons, San Jose has also been struggling to finish. The Quakes boast the seventh-highest xG in the league at 1.57 and outplayed the Galaxy in their most recent loss, logging 2.5 xG to the Galaxy’s 1.5. They still finished that match scoreless. It’s always frustrating for a team when they control the game and still manage to lose, and that has been a recurring theme for both of these sides during their ongoing second-half slumps. So what happens when they go up against each other? Either we’re in for a push-and-pull stalemate, or one of these teams will finally break the chains.

San Jose’s Slump

The San Jose we saw at the beginning of this season was unstoppable. They won nine out of their first 10 matches and were a scoring machine. So what gives? We just talked about the squad’s lapse in scoring, but that’s not the only factor responsible for this rapid decline. Since coming back from the World Cup break and being shut out 0-4 by Orlando City at home, the back line has gotten sloppy. Perhaps the issue stretches back farther than the break — the Quakes actually haven’t logged a clean sheet since April, despite maintaining winning form during some of that stretch. Even in that insane run of victories in the spring, they weren’t particularly good at keeping goals out. They just scored so many themselves that it didn’t matter. Now that they aren’t finishing with nearly the same frequency, San Jose’s defensive deficiencies are glaringly evident. 

After goalkeeper Daniel de Sousa Britto was transferred to FC Dallas over the break, Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn took over. He’s been working overtime, making 21 saves in his first five matches. The real problem is that so many shots are coming his way to begin with. Arena hasn’t been shy about acknowledging the team’s defensive struggles in postgame press conferences. The line is proving far too easy to break. Reid Roberts and Daniel Munie just aren’t the stable forces San Jose needs in the center right now. Recently, Arena has opted to play Jack Jasinski at right back over Benji Kikanovic, but the switch hasn’t been enough to keep even a 10-man Galaxy squad out. Either San Jose’s midfield needs to put on their defensive hats, or the back line needs to make some serious changes.

See if the Black and Blue (ours, not theirs) can pull off a win this weekend at our official watch party at Uptown VFW. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. for a 9:30 kickoff.