i dont think anyone is, he is a low risk, high reward proposition. We are just hoping for a pleasant surprise. I suppose think of Tracy as a draft pick right now. Think of him as what once was a first overall player that had an injury, and now we are picking late 2nd round and he is still on the board. Thats exactly where you take a player like that. We lose nothing if he doesnt pan out, absolutely nothing. We only have the potential of a former #1 overall draft pick. Ive seen the guy play once against Man City in the UEFA Cup, he looks the part. Thats what i am actually hoping we do with Taylor Kemp this year. first round prospect that got injured we can take a chance on.
Yup! This. At the moment, Tracy is just depth. We'll see how he turns out. Probably better than Sercan, yeah? Probably for a lot less money also? We've got Wondo, Flash, and Lenny at forward. No other team can boast that sort of quality and depth at forward. But, let's be honest, Wondo and Flash are not young. Wondo has avoided injury, but who's to say that some thug in our gentle league won't hurt him? Flash has had injury problems off and on and he's not young. Lenny had a concussion during this past season. <sigh><missing the 2012 season> So some depth at forward is good, but we don't need another starter. Maybe Tracy can spend a season getting used to MLS and getting fully fit, and learning our system and players, and then start or get a lot more minutes in 2014? That would be fine. GO QUAKES!!! - Mark
"This & That: Quakes notes for Nov. 26, 2012" (SJEarthquakes.com - Monday, 11/26/12) (John Todd) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
You know, someone told me the Don is pretty nice guy but you know, I never hear or read him say anything about San Jose in his State of the League address.... Its either or NY Beckham & LA but I never read about the Quakes! Isn't it getting a little old by now? http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/...the-league-don-garber-david-beckham-us-soccer
From back in the day when teachers insisted that in every class your spelling, grammar, and punctuation be correct. I took a fiction writing class a couple of years back and the professor lamented to me outside of class that many of her students weren't college ready. (This was a community college.) Scary stuff that. Oh and Albany, you using that history major much? I did international politics, so I can read the newspapers, and I recognize political BS when I hear it. I sound great at a dinner party, but I'm sure not using my degree, except when I volunteer for a campaign. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
You've got that right. He doesn't talk much about Columbus, nor KC either. I'm sure the RSL fans feel hard done by his ignoring them too. We need a commissioner who cares about every team, not just the chosen big boys. And yeah, I know that Gerber is not going anywhere. The point is, we need a new commissioner, we just aren't going to get one. GO QUAKES!!! F#$% MLS!! - Mark
Back in the last millennium when I went to college, being an English major meant that you had to take a lot of classes in Shakespeare and Chaucer and the like. It did not mean that you knew anything about grammar or writing, and academic writing is often not particularly good writing (though it is usually sort of grammatically correct). You hear people say that kids don't learn how to write in school, and part of the reason is that many teachers don't know how to write. I've had teachers miscorrect my kids' papers, which is especially maddening. Anyway, what are we supposed to be discussing in this thread? Oh, right, the off-season. I guess this post qualifies. P.S. If anyone has any pull with the weather gods, help me get the rain out of the forecast. All offers of voodoo, magical potions, and incantations will be appreciated.
Do we need a real a-mid?! or just better grammar? Ooooo! you're old. Sorry. I think it's harder for liberal lefties like me to get teaching gigs these days, so you get the dregs. Stop whining about the rain! It rains twice as much up here and it's much colder. So, we need: At least one back up outside defender, preferably left-sided. At least one or two more central defenders. At least one more backup forward, and I'm assuming that Tracy is OK, and we dump Sercan. Questions: Do we need an a-mid? (I'm not sure.) Do we keep Diaz Pizarro? (I hope so.) Does Bingham really want to start or leave? (I don't know, but Favlo is right about these things often enough.) GO QUAKES!!! F#%$ el-lay!! (I'm certain about this!) - Mark
do we need to change the formation for CL e.g., 4-2-3-1 , 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 or do we stick to 4-4-2? does Lenny & Gordon continue to share minutes? Where does Wondo play if we don't upgrade the a-mid position? Who plays LM if we don't re-sign Dawkins? Do we need a "true" holding midfielder? Who do we pair with Victor at CD?
I personally have no issues with rain, but the cities around here do, and all the fields are going to be closed and end-of-season tournaments that involve thousands of kids, coaches, and parents are going to be canceled. This isn't a northwest drizzle -- I'm seeing 3" of rain predicted for Saturday! But it could be worse! We could be at Buck Shaw on Saturday getting drenched. Whereas the probability of rain in LA this Saturday is pretty small. The soccer gods and the weather gods were not aligned, and I guess we know who won.
Being at Buck Shaw, or more likely Spartan Stadium, this Saturday would have been better (much better), not worse. Ah, what might have been. MLS Cup in San Jose in pouring rain. Can't imagine a better December 1st.
Frank is our coach, therefore, we will not change from the 4-4-2. Also, we are built to play a 4-4-2, therefore, we should not change. Were I head coach (probably a good thing that I'm not), we'd probably play both a 4-4-2 and a 3-5-2, so we'd be able to change as necessary. Yes. Lenny and Flash will continue to share minutes, and we may include Diaz Pizarro (or someone else in that mix). They are both physical guys who bang around a lot, so expect some level on injuries to both of them. Wondo will continue to play as a withdrawn striker, because he rules like a God on High. This is independent of us getting a new a-mid or not. If we don't resign Dawkins, Mehdi Ballouchy will play left mid, and he will be good. Also, Shea and maybe Garza will get minutes at the outside mid spots. Do we need a real holding mid? or A-mid as the case may be? - We could discuss this for most of the pre-season. Baca and Croninja were great at the start of the season. Baca ran out of steam towards the end of the season. Will Baca be able to play at a high level the whole season in '13? I think there is an excellent chance of this. Will Frank put his trust in Baca to go the full season at holding mid? I think so, but Frank doesn't drink beer with me any more, so I might be wrong. If we get another central mid, will he be an attacking mid? or a holding mid? Only JD and Frank know for sure. (And maybe Ian and or Ian's parents.) Were it up to you, what would you do? Would you get a real attacking mid from Central America? I sure would, but then I like attacking mids, and Central Americans, and plantains. Know what I'm saying? IKE! Assuming that he gets healthy, that he accepts a heafty pay cut, and that he regains his form. So, either Ike, or some new guy from Eastern Europe or Central America. Maybe Big Vic has some suggestions? GO QUAKES!!! F#$% el-lay!!!! - Mark
I was trying to put a positive spin on it instead of doing the Debbie Downer thing. I mean, it's not like I don't have boots. But thanks for bursting that bubble.
i think some folks are underestimating two important position possibilities for our team. 1) Medhi can play the middle, he did it a ton with RBNY, he knows what he is doing there, so we actually do have depth for the center of the park provided he comes back on schedule. 2) Left mid is NOT the crisis position many think it is. Garza looked awesome in the USOC games, he could easily lock down that left mid spot ahead of Salinas i think. Salinas is all speed. Garza has good wheels, but has some fancy footwork, a shot from distance, and can actually cross the ball. He could be ready this season to start.......and I think he will surprise a ton of people here. He's a top 6 pick and a Gen Ad pick.......dudes got some skill. We are at least two deep at left mid right now, easily more if Corrales comes back and Medhi can play out left as well. But for what Frank is looking for; we got two speed merchants for outside left mid. we are pretty good there.
no way! talk about a pleasant surprise! i had absolutely no hope of that. so yes.......midfield is set
That's good. I guess it also implies Dawkins wants to stay in SJ at least for another year. If not, we won't be working out a deal in London. Will it be a longer loan deal or a permanent purchase? Also, I wonder if they will be able to bring in more Spurs players who need regular games.