"Signing: Earthquakes ink German veteran Gorlitz" (SJEarthquakes.com - Tuesday, 3/4/14) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Good signing...No depth problem at RB with Bark, Andreas and even Cato...Now how about some attack help???
We have a starting quartet on the back line that should have the skill and composure to pass out of the back and link up with our midfield. Hopefully a lot less panicked hoofing of the ball up field. Now we just need that right winger that can feed our big men and Wondo, and cut inside to shoot. Let's get that other deal done!
Seems to work across many arenas: http://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2013/may/27/what-could-umlaut-do-for-you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_umlaut
That reminded me that Görlitz shares the same first name as Q's father Andreas (whose only public appearance thus far was with his son Q during the pregame of Real Salt Lake's first-ever visit to Spartan Stadium the day before Father's Day 2005). GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"Influx of Aging Players into MLS - San Jose and Andreas Görlitz" (Soccerly - Wednesday, 3/5/14) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
So you're telling me a team that's owned by the same people as the Oakland A's are signing past-it, oft-injured, wily veterens and hoping for the best? Ya don't say?!
I wonder how much overlap there is in the A's approach to building a roster and the Quakes. With the A's, there has been a very specific plan to find players with particular skill sets that help them get runs to win games and limit the ability of their opponents to score runs, especially at the Coliseum. In that way, it's not unlike the Quakes making the field a particular size and then building a team around that. It would seem that there is a definite plan in place, and certain types of players are being selected for. Some of those players are older, but not all. I think the age things gets overplayed a bit. There have been plenty of young players that the Quakes have signed. They added a good number of them this season, even. The Quakes don't really need to worry about where they fit on the age trend if they are getting the kind of players they want. What they do need to be concerned about is whether or not the players they got and the skills they are looking for are ones that will make them successful. The Quakes haven't had the sustained success that would suggest their methods are truly being effective. One missing piece, I think, is an MLS equivalent of Billy Beane. As much as you need a good coaching staff, you need an even better negotiator who understands how much players are worth to the team and how to find what they need at the value they have set. I don't think the Quakes have that in John Doyle. I'm not even sure MLS as a whole has that equivalent.
This is what I would want to see - a creative soccer ops guy who is innovative and has a plan to try some things to get an edge. I agree that Doyle is not very likely the guy. He seems more like a status quo soccer guy - this is how we do it in soccer, we'll just try to get as many good players as we can, and BTW we're a "small team" so we may not get as many good players as other teams, etc. This is kinda where I was going with the "experienced outside backs" theory. It was probably wishful thinking more than anything - that Doyle / Wat had developed a theory about how to get quality into their outside backs with experienced international, possibly older players who can be acquired for relatively cheap. It's a kind of "outside the box" thing that Beane might come up with. Other teams tend to be focused strictly on high-priced attacking players in their international acquisitions (not that the Quakes don't need that also).
Meh, it's just cheaper to build around size and speed (i.e. the two strengths of American soccer players) and hoofing the ball.
I see it as a trade off. If you can keep reloading over the short term with quality then the long term isn't as critical in this situation. Not saying that is the best way, but, you can also avoid dealing with the learning curve that you have with a younger player. On the other hand an older player can be more injury prone. Stewart was an immediate and obvious improvement over Morrow. If he can get through this season relatively unscathed and continues to play well I would say it was a good move. Hopefully we get the same result with Gorlitz.