2013 San Jose Earthquakes preseason thread [R]

at last night's STH event, several (key) players were walking with noticeable limps.

When comparing & contrasting between this year & last year (heading into the season opener),
BIG BIG HUGE HUGE difference to me. Last year, the guys were having a lot fun knocking the ball around in the preseason which gave the team so much confidence heading into the season opener. This year, seems like a train wreck ready to happen.

READY: Wondo, Baca, Cronin, JM, Victor, Busch.

Ready: Shea, Ring, Jason

 

Kind of crazy that not one player had a successful offseason surgery+ recovery. Gordon had hip then a second one on his foot, Beita had hernia and a second one to repair nerve damage , Lenhart had meniscus, and is still not recovered (though 6 months in not that unusual) but people are mentioning microfracture being necissary? Tracy had knee surgery before we got him and is now diagnosed with bonespurs in his foot. The Chavez hit was just some extra bad luck. Looking at all of this I guess if there is someone to blame it's Morgan but i'm sure the team and players were aware of their injuries towards the end of last season.

The good news: if there is a time for us to be missing players it's the first month where all teams will still be in early/pre-season form. Bad news: even those that are game ready after a month, it will be longer than that till they are 100%. If it's longer, we'll have to look once more at blaming JD and Frank for not bringing in more meaningful depth (we already needed some having 3 competitions this year).

 

You'd have to go higher than Morgan if you want to change the team's culture and making eating right a priority. At present, they have no problem with these guys living off donuts and other crap. If you eat donuts, you will not have a healthy musculoskeletal system. You can't train your way out of a bad diet....seems obvious, but it's sadly not to Frank Yallop. I'm just resigned at this point to an unnecessarily high number of injuries and prolonged recoveries. It's going to be at least 5 more years before they catch on to the importance of diet, and that's optimistic.

 

2013 Preseason Wrap (video)

 

it really blows my mind because we have some outstanding surgeons in the area too. sometimes your just unlucky i guess

 

Is it time to lock this thread?! First kick is upon us!

 

we still haven't signed Muller or Delgado yet have we? lots of trialists still up in the air as first kick approaches.

 

Fine fine. 2 more days.

 

Jump to unfounded conclusions much?

 

Like our late game heroics last season, when something happens often it's not luck. I may be wrong but there is some reason Morgan is no longer our trainer and I'm not sure where else the fault lies . . . besides with players insisting on playing through injury.

 

Man this guy served the Clash and the Quakes for years. His service record with the team was longer that of Corrales. He brought in many training innovations and took care of the guys. He was also the first person to run away from Houston once he heard that the Quakes would be starting up again in '08. Unless there's evidence that he went blind or had early onset Alzheimers I refuse to believe anything negative about him or his methods as a trainer.

 

I respect all that. When I mentioned who to blame it was mostly in passing and disbelief with our current injury situation.

 

I agree that the injuries going into this season are frustrating, but I'm not sure it's a "Big Big Huge difference" from last year. Remember last year Gordon did not play in preseason and was not ready to play at the beginning of the year. Also, Hernandez was hurt and Lenhart was barely ready by the season opener (played sparingly in preseason, was still getting back fit after taking the previous half year off). Opara was with the US Olympic Qualifying team, and Dawkins had just joined the Quakes on the second loan and was not ready to play in early March.

Gordon didn't play until the 4th game, and only played 3 of the first 10; Lenhart was playing but was not playing well in the first few games because he had played so little in preseason and was clearly struggling to get back fit. Dawkins played very little in the first month, and it was the same with Hernandez. And then in the second month both Bernardez and Salinas went down with serious injuries and each missed a couple of months, and Chavez also missed a couple of games due to injury and suspension.

Yes, it's a bit worse this year to start, but it's not really THAT much worse, assuming the guys come back by the end of March/early April and then STAY healthy for the most part during the year. Last year guys like Morrow and Baca stepped up, and Khari did an ok job of filling the hole in midfield and at forward when required in the first couple of months. So will guys like Fucito, Garza and Gargan step up this year, or will the Quakes depth not do the job. That's the question.

It's a long, long season and last year you could argue that the team peaked too soon and was not playing their best soccer at the end of the year. They also had key guys injured and either not playing (Gordon, Dawkins, Salinas and Chavez on and off) or playing below their normal level because they were injured (Beitashour and perhaps Lenhart). If Beita, Gordon, Chavez and Lenhart all get back by early/mid April, then the team will be fine. But if the injuries linger and one or more of these guys have additional problems, then it's definitely an issue. That's perhaps another reason the Quakes didn't want to use all of their available cap on someone like Bostock - if Gordon and/or Lenhart don't come back in the next month or two, then that money may be better spent looking for another target forward.

 

Did anyone hear about possible sponsors for jerseys or stadium at the STH event? I know I heard possible kit (not sure if third or not), having red on it. Didn't sound like a full red kit though.

 

Finally had a chance to watch the preseason match against Dallas last week. Despite the score, the Quakes were solidly outplayed for most of the match. If Dallas was finishing better, and Busch was not entirely on his game, they could have scored 6 goals, 5 just in the last 30 minutes of the 1st half. Dallas is clearly a better team than the Quakes right now IMO.

Only a few players looked good: Wondo, Fucito, Morrow, and Baca. Gargan was particularly bad. He looks reasonably quick - quick feet, which is good, but his passing was unbelievably horrendous. Salinas was generally ineffective, Garza was poor, Tommy couldn't seem to find the game, Bernardez did one of his run way out of position, dive in and miss, and leave the defense out to dry moves that should have cost the Quakes a goal. It was not pretty. They can't win a header, and their aerial attack seems completely toothless w/o Lennie or Gordon (though Wondo is still a threat, he is going to be marked out). They may have to try to win "2010 style" where they pack it in, hoof it, and hope for a moment of Wondo magic.

 

I guess since teams are playing now....