A little less than two years ago, Jimmy Nielsen captained Sporting Kansas City to their second MLS Cup title in club history. Now the second-year head coach of USL side Oklahoma City Energy FC is about to lead his team into their first-ever postseason.
And while the former goalkeeper grew up in a single-table environment in his native Denmark, Nielsen finds himself embracing the American playoff system more and more every time he takes part in it.
“It's growing on me, big-time, and I think it's a very exciting part of the season,” Nielsen told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Friday, two days before the Energy's playoff opener against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks (7 pm ET, YouTube). “When you come to the playoffs, you don't want to sit with that feeling after the game of not giving everything. There's not a game you can prepare for a few days later. You're done. So you don't want to sit with the feeling that you could have given a bit more.
“You've got to leave everything on the field – and when I say 'everything,' I mean everything. You want to be able to look yourself in the mirror, otherwise you're in for a terrible offseason with a terrible feeling.”
Nielsen, who also was in goal when Sporting won the 2012 Open Cup, personified the 'everything on the field' ethic in the 2013 MLS Cup playoffs. He refused to be sidelined despite playing with two broken ribs – and made two saves in a marathon 10-round shootout in the final.
“It's an American mentality,” he said. “You see it in basketball. You see it in hockey. You see it in baseball. You see it in all sports. When it comes to the playoffs, it's just going to take you an extra level up.”
Oklahoma City finished out of playoff contention in the club's – and Nielsen's – first season, but roared to a No. 2 seed in a 2015 season marked by an expansion boom in the third-tier league.
“It surprised me a little bit that we finished where we did,” Nielsen said. “I expect we'd have to battle to get into the playoffs – maybe fourth, fifth or sixth – and I know it's very, very close with the points, but to finish No. 2 was incredible.”
The difference, Nielsen said, was that this time he could assemble the squad he wanted in the offseason.
“This year, I had a little more time to prepare the team and put the team together,” he said. “We spent a lot of time in the offseason on the recruiting part, analyzing the players that would fit in here. The first year, we started Jan. 1 with basically only me and the general manager who was here. We needed to put a team together pretty fast, and I had to take some chances on some players.
“It is what is. When I'm looking back, there's not much we could have done differently.”
Nielsen's biggest recruiting prize turned out to be Danish forward Danni Konig, a 28-year-old journeyman who wrecked the USL single-season scoring mark with 21 regular-season goals.
“He's been tremendous – scores 21 goals in the regular season and he's been extremely sharp,” Nielsen said. “There's obviously a reason why a lot of MLS teams have shown interest in him.”
Loaned players from Sporting are conspicuously absent from Oklahoma City's roster this season, though, despite the affiliation agreement between the two clubs. Nielsen has several former Sporting players on his roster, but only defender Mikey Lopez spent any time on loan in Oklahoma City this year.
That was a deliberate precaution, Nielsen said, after Sporting's injury-riddled 2014 season that saw players loaned out – and then recalled to fill roster holes.
“I saw what Kansas City went through last year,” he said, “and I put a roster together that could go by itself and not rely on players from Kansas City. If we got players from Kansas City, it would just be a bonus.”
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And with his decisions paying off in success on the pitch, Nielsen said he has seen support for the club swell this season.
“It's been huge,” he said. “Last game, we had almost 7,000 people at the game. I have a feeling it's growing day by day, week by week. You can see a total difference when you walk around the city with some Energy gear on. Everyone knows who Energy FC is. And on game days, we have some very loyal fans. They're creating a very good atmosphere.”
An MLS atmosphere, perhaps, someday? Nielsen could see that happening.
“I think it's a good location for an MLS team,” he said. “There's not a lot of other sports to compete with. The college football is huge here, but professionally, you've only got the Thunder to compete with, so when you look at that, I think there's definitely room for another professional team on the highest level.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
