By now, MLS knows what’s coming from Minnesota United on set pieces. The Loons are going to take every long throw-in they can, they’re going to put every free kick into the penalty area that can possibly reach it, they’re going to be active from corner kicks.
Knowing it’s coming and stopping it are two different things.
Before Saturday’s 4-1 Loons win at Allianz Field, San Jose probably talked about little else than Minnesota’s set plays, the Loons’ ability to turn them into scoring opportunities — or, in many cases, into more set plays, as those long throw-ins have a tendency to become corner kicks. And yet the Loons got two goals from set pieces in the first half, both from corner kicks. For coach Eric Ramsay, it comes down less to any technical details and more to simple belief.
“I think it’s a dressing room that could not have more belief in those moments,” he said. “And as I’ve talked about, I want to be a team that squeezes the most out of every advantage. Not just set plays, but I think our whole playing style is geared toward that, making sure that we control as much as we can control and we give the opposition as many headaches as we possibly can.”
Ramsay referenced the post-Leagues Cup period last season, in which the Loons won six of nine games to finish the season, as the genesis of the team’s belief in itself and the staff’s methods. Since that summer break, the Loons have earned 59 points in 31 league matches, a near-first-place pace.
“We’ve got a framework, we’ve got principles, and players work towards it and they do it with absolute conviction,” he said. “It could be the most detailed thing in the world, but unless they fill it with real life and real intensity and real desperation to score, we don’t make the same mark on the opposition tonight.”
Joaquín Pereyra, who took both corner kicks, said there wasn’t any particular tactic in play — he just aims for the center of the penalty area and lets his teammates take over. “I don’t specifically look for a player, but rather we know where the ball will land,” he said, via translation from the club. “I know that the players are constantly moving around the area, so I can kick it there toward the penalty spot and then start fighting. … We’re very aggressive on set pieces, so by kicking it there we have a great chance of winning — and it’s obvious that we’ve scored a lot of goals.”
Maybe Anthony Markanich, who keeps turning up in the right place on corner kicks, has the best idea of anyone in terms of how to attack them: Let the ball come to you. “The ball just keeps landing on my foot or head,” he said. “Me and Carlos [Harvey] were joking that they’re jumping — and I’m just standing.”
