Free Headers: Postseason or no postseason, Saturday is playoff time

Maybe Minnesota United will make the postseason this year, and maybe they won't. But Saturday night's game against San Jose - which the Loons need to win to have a hope of moving on - is going to feel like a playoff game, no matter what.

"I know it's fan appreciation night, so I hope everyone shows up in black," said defender Morris Duggan. "I know our fans will bring the heat."

Minnesota doesn't need to watch results during the other games, not really, because no matter what happens their on-field calculus remains the same: if they don't win, their season is over.

Assuming they can beat the Earthquakes, that's when the other games come into play; they need two out of three of a Colorado loss (at Dallas), a Portland loss (at Austin), and a Seattle loss or draw (home against LAFC).

If you're a believer in the wisdom of crowds, the odds for the needed combinations are currently putting the odds of the Loons getting into the playoffs at about one in five.

"We went into the LAFC game with that mentality of be on the front foot, score the first goal, and try and impose ourselves," said Cameron Knowles. "We need to do the same thing."

Wil Trapp didn't train on Friday, as he's still on the slow recovery from a brain injury. This remains the hardest thing about concussions; there is no linear progression. A player can wake up feeling great one day and awful the next.

It'll put Nectarios Triantis - whose midweek absence from training was termed "an extra day of recovery" by Knowles - and Owen Gene in line for another start in midfield, where the two remain undefeated as a central-midfield duo this season. Pleasingly, this fact made it from the comments section here (thanks to brilliant reader Brandon Hundt), via the great Matt Doyle and the Soccerwise podcast, all the way back to Knowles being asked about it.

"The two of them together have shown to be a good partnership," said Knowles. "Nectar obviously has a bit more going forward and joining the attack and helping create from there, and a goal-scoring threat too."

The other undefeated player in the Loons lineup is right back Cherrion Valerius, whose versatility Knowles credited with the team being able to swap their usual back five for a back four. Valerius has started six times for Minnesota, played mostly in a back four, and the Loons are 3-0-3 in that span.

"Really focusing on that four-back makes things clearer, the way we want to defend," said Duggan. "I think the coaches realized that if you can make it as clear as possible, as simple as possible, that's the way we can really shine."

For Duggan, though, it's not midfield partnerships or formations that have really changed the Loons. It's the simple fact that for weeks now, the squad has had its collective backs against the wall.

"Obviously right now we are on a bit of a run, and it feels good," said Duggan. "We had a tough season, can't really talk around that. But ever since it was kind of like that must-game mentality, something switched in the group. It would have been better if the switch would have flipped earlier, but we just found our group and the way we want to play."

The play-in game, should the Loons make it to the postseason, would be Thursday, November 19, with the first round proper set to open the following Sunday. It feels almost impossible I'm saying this, but: maybe mark your calendar, just in case.