Why Minnesota United's scoring soon should increase and how to own a piece of a local soccer team

Minnesota United has been eyeing the current two-week break in its schedule for most of August, but not just for the chance to take a few days off from soccer.

After the break, the Loons are hoping to have most of their team ready to play again, big news for a team that's struggled to finish their scoring chances recently.

"I've never had it where nearly all your forward players are the ones who are injured," coach Adrian Heath said.

The team bolstered its attacking corps by adding striker Adrien Hunou in April and winger Franco Fragapane in May, but since acquiring the pair, the Loons have played only two games where Fragapane, Hunou and leading scorer Robin Lod have been in the same starting lineup. Lod has missed the team's last four games with a calf injury, and Fragapane hasn't played since July 18.

United has been creating opportunities offensively, but until Hunou scored twice last Saturday against Houston, the Loons' finishing had entirely deserted them. According to venerable advanced statistics site American Soccer Analysis, United has piled up just over 33 expected goals this year, but has scored just 24 times.

More than half of that negative differential came over the three games before last weekend's win in Houston, as the Loons scored just once despite a tally of 5.7 expected goals. After that barren stretch, their overall mark is the second-worst differential in the league, just behind LAFC, and nearly three goals worse than third-place Chicago.

In other words: Fragapane, Lod, All-Star creator Emanuel Reynoso, and backup attackers Niko Hansen and Juan Agudelo can't come back soon enough.

As of Friday, all the injured players had returned to training, whether with the full team or individually. "It looks like there's a light at the end of the tunnel," said Heath.

Women's team launched

Minnesota Women's Soccer, the as-yet-unnamed women's team that will play in the USL W-League starting next season, is doing things a little differently — it's letting anyone who wants to buy in become a part-owner of the club. According to the team's page on the investment site, more than 1,000 people have already signed up to buy an ownership share of the team.

"We have clearly demonstrated that the Twin Cities is excited about a new women's soccer team, and that the country is incredibly interested in this business model," said team president and co-founder Andrea Yoch.

The next step is hiring a head coach, finding a venue and picking a name for the team — the last being the focus for the many new owners, who'll vote on the new branding.

Reality check for U.S. men's team

It was positive summer for the U.S. men's national team, which took home trophies in both the Nations League and Gold Cup, beating Mexico in the final each time.

Qualifying for the World Cup isn't about beating Mexico, though — well, it is, but it's not just about beating Mexico. Win at home, grind out results on the road; that's the usual plan for World Cup qualification in CONCACAF.

In that sense, Thursday's 0-0 draw in El Salvador was a good result for the USA, a point on the road in inhospitable conditions. But in practice, the scoreless draw — filled with misfires and uneven performances from big-name players on the American side — was a reminder of the biggest worry for American fans in this qualifying effort: that there's no one to put the ball in the net.

The Americans have three strikers in the squad. Neither Josh Sargent or Jordan Pefok has looked all that dangerous in a USA uniform, and Ricardo Pepi is 18 years old and has never played for the senior national team before.

While the team has plenty of exciting midfielders to create chances, too often it's looked out of sorts in physical CONCACAF play, and the team has had to fall back on set pieces and other such lottery tickets to score goals. Starting Sunday night against Canada, the team will need more than gritty, scoreless draws.