Analysis: Minnesota United’s pattern of pulling ahead and then pulling back awaits a cure

Minnesota United has a six-game unbeaten streak and four wins in that stretch. The Loons have scored first in all but one match this year.

In other words, their main problem this season is a problem other teams might wish they had: It’s just so dang hard defending all these second-half leads.

In three of the past four weeks, Minnesota has had a multiple-goal lead in the second half. The Loons blew the first one, to Sporting KC, and only some misfires from Real Salt Lake kept last week’s win to a two-goal margin.

When NYCFC scored with three minutes to go Sunday in Yankee Stadium, it felt like a case of “here they go again.” The Loons held on for a 2-1 win.

The first-half version of the Loons is pretty dominant, but the second-half Loons are too focused on trying to keep players back on defense and start settling for long, hopeless clearances for the two strikers and two attacking midfielders to chase.

“I think there are times when we get a little bit too comfortable, when we get our wingbacks a bit too deep, and that makes it harder for [the four attackers] to get the ball and let us get out of that defensive shape,” center back Michael Boxall said. “I think if we were able to even connect three or four passes and go from one side to the other where there’s a bit more space, then obviously keeping the ball is a much better way to defend our lead than what we did for the last 30 or 40 minutes today.”

Even veteran players like midfielder Robin Lod end up being guilty; counterattacking has been so successful in the past that the team collectively seems to forget that playing a pass sideways or backward is even an option.

“Again, it’s an age-old story for us, we are such a threat on the counterattack that our tendency is to try and counterattack at almost every opportunity,” manager Eric Ramsay said. “It’s an endless topic of conversation for us, and it’s not just me who sets the direction of what we do; we have a very open and honest conversation with the players.”

Both Boxall and Ramsay mentioned the wingbacks as a bit of the canary in the coal mine in that regard. Watching the game, you can probably tell when the Loons have gone too far into their defensive shape — simply watch whether Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Joseph Rosales are getting on the ball and making passes to teammates, or whether the team is choosing to just boot the ball downfield.

“Obviously, we’re really well-suited to attack in big open spaces, so we want to make sure we create those and use it well,” Ramsay said. “It’s going to be, I’m sure, a topic of conversation in every single one of these press conferences as to how well we were able to strike that balance.”

A Wil Trapp goal is a rare diamond. Sunday was the defensive midfielder’s 328th game in regular-season MLS play, and his 29th-minute goal was just his fifth goal.

The Loons, with a free kick just outside the NYCFC area, chose an option that nobody expected: playing the ball for Trapp to shoot from the top of the penalty area.

The shot deflected off a defender, hit goalkeeper Matt Freese’s foot and bounced into the roof of the net.

“Without giving detail away, within a certain setup there are multiple options available to the players, and we give them lots of liberty to play the situation in the way they see fit,” Ramsay said.

It was part of the midfielder’s career-best day. Trapp had three shots on target in the first half, just the second time in his career he’s had more than two shots on target in the same game.

In fact, three shots on goal was not only Trapp’s best game, it equaled his career-best output for an entire season.

Even his teammates were a bit shocked by the offensive outburst. “I said that the dubious goals committee was going to take it away as an own goal or something,” Boxall said. “It wasn’t something we precisely worked out on the training pitch, but when you’ve got good players on the ball who were alert to those situations — happy for him.”