Agreed. It doesn't seem possible that Cronin can go another full season without being sidelined with an injury. Hopefully he does, but he still is going to need rest at some point in order to stay fit and injury free. Whoever plays in his stead (Ring looking like the most likely option) is going to have to produce at very near Cronin's ability. If he's better, then great. The major issue for me is what do the Quakes do if they want to shift gears? Normally it was Baca who was taken off if the Quakes decided to go forward heavy, and that approach probably isn't that likely to change. Personally I am hoping for a more fundamental midfield configuration shift, which might make Ring less than ideal as a replacement, but to be honest, it probably isn't something that will come up next season. And for the record, on the Smith and Kaepernick debate, I personally like both of those guys as players and was surprised to see Kaepernick start once Smith was cleared (although I'm pulling for Kaep since we went to high school together and home town pride is in me to some extent.)
"Cronin not bitter about Reo-Coker's crunching tackle" (SJEarthquakes.com - Friday, 4/12/13) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I don't know but I really like the way Sam Cronin plays. Am I seeing something different than everyone else?
no i like his play too, hes become a very solid player for us, i still think he is very underrated. Cronin is the least of our problems right now.
Yeah I also think he is solid. I think he needs more help in the midfield though to shine. Salinas is hot and cold and we all know what we get with Ramiro and Baca.
Great goal by Sam Cronin. He is a solid player in my opinion. Too bad he let Justin Mapp get by but he redeemed himself with that goal! Simply beautiful!
I saw Cronin lose the ball on defense in front of the Quakes penalty area but his lob for Alan Gordon's goal was a thing of beauty!
It's odd, but it seemed like Cronin was uncharacteristically error-prone last night. But otherwise, cronin is reminding me more and more of Richard Mulrooney (one of my favorites) - a steadfast hard worker and disruptive defender.
yeah, overall the cronin move was a good one, hes been a good player for us. plenty of other places to upgrade before cronin.
Quakes' unsung hero: The Croninja http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2...am-cronin-receives-recognition-teammates-fans Yeah, I was kinda thinking the opposite
Croninja is a great nickname. But am I the only one who, after watching Sons of Anarchy, just wants to call him SAMCRO?
No, I first saw it in an Earthquakes video where, if I remember correctly, Bobby Burling referred to him as Croninja. Also, in an interview, which I think was before one of the games on CSN, he was asked whether he preferred Croninja or Cronan the Barbarian, and he said he preferred Croninja because it was a family thing, so it definitely didn't originate from Mark. I can't seem to find a video of either, though.
Because no team is going to be #1 every year, and frankly, if that's the measure, then it's hardly worth backing ANY team...
never said anything about being #1 every year. the goal for every team is to at least reach the playoffs and in MLS thats a pretty low bar for success.
In a way the Quakes year is parallel to the SF Giants year. More or less the same players, but much worse results. Brian Sabean was saying that maybe it's just a "bad penny year" where things just don't go your way. You have to make a determination - are you really just that bad now, or was it just a "bad penny year" and you can expect things to go better next year. 'Cause if you completely clean house based on a "bad penny" year, you may be doing the wrong thing.
Croninja has played well this season and even stepped up his offensive contributions a tiny bit. Unfortunately the rest of the team has stunk it up. He has been one of the few players I would NOT accuse of "coasting" and having a supporters shield hangover in the first half of the season.