We'll see. I thought that Fraser had them playing much better at the beginning of last season. They fell apart towards the end. We'll see what happens with them next year. I could be completely wrong. Sorry. It is the number one most important thing we can do to improve our team though. So Fire Frank is going to come up a lot. It is looking good so far! I was worried when Frank said no more big signings, and then they signed Bernárdez, so my blood pressure has lowered substantially. Let's say we go with Baca to start the season. He'll get better game by game, as long as he doesn't lose his confidence. If we can keep more or less the same starting lineup on the field, we should do better. What I worry about is this. How many great seasons does Wondo have in him? Will Baca come into his own (say the 2013 season) just in time for Wondo to start to slip? I think that we have a window of opportunity with Wondo and Lenhart up front to really be great. But I think that's a one season window. I expect that we will get Dawkins back. I think the Shea and Chavez signings were great. Getting Bernárdez was the right move, and didn't waste a draft pick. I haven't seen enough of Alexandre to be sure, but even if he only pushes Ring and Cronin to be better, that's an improvement. (Let's be hopeful that Jean is good enough to take over the starting d-mid spot!) Everything could come together for us this season, or we could be mediocre or worse. We were terrible last season. We often looked like a pickup team that had just met in a bar a couple of hours before. See, I'm wandering back into nasty Mark territory. But honestly, tell me that I don't have reason to be concerned? So, let's hope that the new guys can come in and make a difference. Baca will at least have better guys on the pitch with him, and that should help too! GO QUAKES!! - Mark
JazzyJ - have you seen Attakora play outside of his time with the Quakes? I admit I don't remember him much from TFC, and he was hurt when he first came to the Quakes (and then not fit for a while). But, he didn't look that good with the Quakes. I understand he's young and probably has a lot of upside, but I just don't see him better than Hernandez right now. I thought Hernandez had a down year in 2011 compared to 2010, but he still is one of the smartest positional defenders the team has. Partnering him with Opara or Bernardez (big, athletic guys) would probably be a good pairing. Now if you assume Bernardez brings the positional sense and brains to "captain" the defense (which he might), then I would agree you might be able to play Attakora or Opara with him. But there's no way Opara and Attakora are ready to play together, as I don't think either of them can provide the positioning and leadership. I do hope the team signs Attakora, but with a salary cap league, you can't afford to sink a lot of money into your 3rd or 4th central defender. And at this point, it's hard to project Attakora higher than that. But as others have pointed out, it seems likely that Bernardez is going to miss some time with the Honduran National team, and even optimistically it's hard to predict Opara playing 100% of the time, so the team does need a 4th solid central defender. I guess you could say that Ward or Corrales could play there in a pinch, but that's a pretty big dropoff.
I think it was needing the upgrade, and also not being sure if either or both Burling and Attakora would sign for what the team wanted to offer. If you have two players you aren't sure you are going to sign, why waste a protected slot on them? I'll be very interested to see the MLS salaries next year and see what Burling signed for in Montreal. I heard that the Quakes offered him in the neighborhood of $100k and Burling turned them down. I also want to see what DC signed McDonald for - I liked Brandon as a central defender, but he also had a hot temper and made a fair number of mistakes. And in spite of his size, he was horrible offensively on set pieces - how many times did he head a wide open header over the goal? and more often than not his distribution of the ball out of the back was poor. I heard that DC threw a lot of money at him, that's how they kept him from going to Europe. It obviously depends on what "a lot" really is, but I don't think he's worth really big $$. I'd rank him as an average MLS central defender. For Burling, I'd rank him about the same. Brandon has more athleticism, but Burling seemed more consistent. Both were solid players for the Quakes, but I'm not sure either of them were dominant. It's a big leap of faith, but based on his resume of club play and international play with Honduras, I'm hoping Bernardez is much better.
We have a first round, and 2 second round picks, so selecting a 4th CD in the draft is certainly an option.
Chivas played poorer than the Quakes in the first half of 2011 - through 17 games, Chivas was 4-7-6 (18 pts, 1.06 ppg) and San Jose was 5-6-6 (21 pts, 1.24 ppg). What killed San Jose was the middle part of the season, from late June to late August, where they went 13 games without a win. So I guess you can say that Chivas was better in the first half of 2011 than they were in 2010, but they were not that good. And you can definitely say that Chivas was better in the summer than the Quakes. But the Quakes were better in the beginning, and better at the end. There's absolutely no reason that I can see to think Chivas will be better than San Jose in 2012 at this point. Totally disagree - Yallop does a lot of things coaching that I don't like, but to say that firing him is the one most important thing to improving the team is ridiculous. If he's so bad, how did the team get within one game of MLS Cup in 2010? There are a lot of worse coaches out there. As pointed out below and elsewhere by other posters, the NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING the team can do to improve is to learn to hold leads. You'll argue that is due to coaching, which is partly true, but it's also due to the players. You have to hold the players accountable for their performance at some point. The team did not score enough to get two goals leads (easier to hold onto), had some very bad luck (bad PKs called and questionable red cards given), and had defensive breakdowns late in games too often. Finally, one thing we can agree on. I wonder if that quote was taken out of context, or if Yallop was trying to "play possum" about additional roster moves. Regardless, I'm very happy that they seem to be still trying to make some moves. I really wonder if the team will go with Baca or Stephenson (or Dawkins). While Khari has his faults, he did some very good things last year. And when he is engaged, he can muscle up and play pretty well as a two way midfielder. By the way, I think your hangup about having the same guys in the same places on the field is way overstated. I would like to see Yallop mix up the lineup based on who the opposition is (or who is playing well). Assuming the team stays more healthy this year, having guys pushing each other for starting positions will be a good thing. And mixing up the lineup will keep guys more healthy. But your complaints about what Yallop did with the lineup in 2010 are silly -there were way too many injuries, so it was impossible to keep a consistent lineup. The only real argument to be made could be playing Convey at left back and Corrales at left mid when both were healthy. Otherwise, the changes were pretty much required. One season? Are you kidding? Lenhart will be 26 in 2012, Wondo will be 29. Both have relatively little "wear and tear" on their bodies from playing or major injuries, and neither relies on speed. They are both the type of players that can play well into their 30s. Wondo particularly should have a body that is much "younger" than his age - he didn't play much at all in his first 4 years in MLS, and has only suffered one serious injury to his knee in 2009. He's one of the most fit guys on the team. I could easily see him staying at or near the top of his game for 4-5 more years. As Lurking has rightfully pointed out, the Quakes were not "terrible" in 2011. I don't understand why you say they "looked like a pickup team that had just met in a bar". As JazzyJ and others have posted in many threads, the team actually played more attractive, possession oriented soccer in 2011 than they did in 2010. The biggest problem was blowing leads, leaking goals late in games. If that problem can be fixed and the team can do what they did in 2010 as far as holding leads, they would be near the top of the table. Based on a quick check of the schedule, the Quakes had 4 losses and 4 ties that resulted from goals scored by the opponents in the last 15 minutes. They had 1 more loss and 1 tie resulting from goals scored in the 70-75th minute. One of the losses in the last 15 minutes was where Seattle scored TWO GOALS in the last 15 minutes, so the team went from a win to a loss. For every tie, that's two points dropped (tie instead of win); for every loss, that's one point dropped (loss instead of tie). But for the Seattle loss, it's 3 points dropped, because the Quakes were winning with 10 minutes left, and gave up two goals. So, that's 14 points dropped in the last 15 minutes, an additional 3 points in minute 70-75. So they dropped a total of 17 points in the last 20 minute of matches. If they got ALL of those points, they would have earned 55 points last year and had the 3rd best record in MLS. More realistically, let's say they just earned HALF of those dropped points, for a total of 9 more points (rounding up). That would have given them 47 points, tied for 9th best in the league, in the playoffs. And I didn't include other "blown leads" that the team had which were given up in the second half of the match, but not as late as the 70th minute. There were a few of those. Bottom line, the luck the team had in 2010 in closing out games and winning 1-0 more than evened out in 2011 (in a bad way). If they can get to be just a bit better at closing out games with the lead, they would be an above average MLS team. If they get better at closing out games and get better offensively, they would be a far above average team.
Agree. I don't follow college ball that closely, so I can't comment directly on the players available in the draft. But from what I've read, we should be able to draft a pretty good central defender in the second round of the superdraft (where we have two picks).
No, I didn't really watch Attakora play for TFC. But apparently he had a real good 2010, paired up with Adrian Cann. First impressions tend to stick, and I think he got a bit of an unfair rap for his early games with the Quakes, when he wasn't fit to play yet, but was kinda forced into action due to injuries. He had some better games later. But still, he never really had a significant run of games to settle in. I don't get the idea that you'd want to pair him with a "big, athletic guy", like Bernardez or Opara. He is about the same size as those guys. Maybe a little shorter, but he's listed at 6'1" and Ike at 6'2", and Attakora has a sturdier build. So he is a big athletic guy. If there's a "less big, less athletic" guy of the four (Bernardez, Opara, Attakora, Jason), it would be Jason. I'm also not so big on the idea that you need an older player for "positioning and leadership". Leadership is needed, but you don't need an older player for that necessarily. The flip side is that you may have good veteran players who are not great leaders. How do we know that Bernardez is a good leader? He will probably be the #1 guy, but I think Opara and Attakora would do fine together. They'd be possibly the fastest, most athletic center back pair in MLS, and they'd benefit from the leadership that Busch provides. Attakora is not necessarily a "3rd or 4th central defender". He's been a starter in a center back line that apparently did well (Attakora - Cann in 2010) and I have even seen his name come up in "best all-time lineups" for TFC, for whatever that's worth . And he's young, but not inexperienced. It took me something like 4 or 5 posts to get another poster to understand that he wasn't a rookie last year! This will be his 6th year in the league (if he plays in MLS this year). When I look at Attakora play, I see athleticism, the most important thing being "the burst". How quickly can he close the gap on a player? It's not about speed but quickness in a short burst. I think he's off the charts in this area. Guys like Burling would be thinking about taking their first step and he'd have taken 5. But along with athleticism I also see a soccer player, the way he plays the ball at his feet, the way he heads the ball. He looks like a soccer player to me. Guys like Jason, Burling, BMac look like "guys playing soccer" to me. There's a difference, in my mind anyway. I guess what I mean is that those guys' skills look pedestrian to me. And Attakora will occasionally score a goal or get an assist for you, largely due to that "soccer player" thing. He's got some skills. I think he has 3 MLS goals and 4 assists. By comparison, Hernandez has 0 goals and 2 assists in well over 2x as many MLS minutes.
Sorry, my post was unclear. I was referring to Hernandez as the guy who is better when paired with a big, athletic partner (Ike and Jason were a good pairing when they played together, and Jason and Brandon McDonald were pretty good). Attakora has a lot of experience with Toronto, but that was also when Toronto was not a very good team. That doesn't mean Attakora was not good, but it doesn't necessarily mean he's a starting quality central defender either. I did check, though, and Attakora did not play against the Quakes in 2010 when Wondo had the hat trick, so I guess that's something ;-) With his age and physical attributes, I do agree that Attakora would be a good signing and hopefully the team can sign him. And, as you point out, at least statiscally it looks like Attakora can help bring some offense to the field as well as defense, which has been a big problem for the Quakes central defenders. Other than Opara, none of the central defenders the past couple of years have contributed much.
Meh, Toronto finished with a -8 goal differential in 2010, and in 11th place. The Quakes had a +1 and finished 8th, and with a run of unbelievable good fortune. There's a lot of parity in MLS, enough that I don't think that you can say if a player starts on a team that is say 11th, then he can't start on a team that is say 6th. Besides, Hernandez was a starter on the 2011 Quakes, which was also not a very good team. IOW, by your logic, based on recent form, we can't necessarily say with any certainty that any of the Quakes 2011 center back starters are "starting quality central defenders".
Fair point - but Hernandez was recognized in 2010 as the "most underrated player" in MLS, so that tells me that people outside of Yallop think he's a good centerback. It would be a great problem to have - a healthy Opara, Bernardez, Hernandez AND Attakora, all to select from!
While I'm pleased with the signing, I will still take a wait and see approach. Other than not playing a lot recently, he does have a good resume. Additionally, rather than coming a month before the season starts, he can start training camp and should have the proper fitness for the season. I'm not sure that I agree with some posters who think Attakora is the best option for Bernardez to pair with. While he was fighting injury issues and was new to the team, he made some positional errors which made me think that he is not ready to start full time. While he does have more MLS experience than Opara, I don't see him to be much better at this point than Opara. I would like to see an open competion for the second starting spot between them. As far as Jason, he is not getting better as center defenders often due with age (understanding of the game and ability to manage the defense). In fact, his consistancy has gotten worse. Still, assuming he is healthy, I expect him to start at the beginning of the season and fight for playing time with the other two (assuming Atrtakora gets signed). Generally, I'm pleased with the off season signings at the moment, but we really need to have Dawkins back to have a competive team this year.
Hah, that would probably be poster singular . I agree though, if Bernardez is the #1, then open up the #2 for competition. All I ask is, if Attakora is signed, don't assume that he's the #3 or #4 because he came from Toronto or he's young or something like that. Let these guys compete for the spot. And don't assume that Jason is the #2.
Neither Jason or BB were in the top ten of Soccer American centerbacks for last year. Jason is average. He positioning is usually good and plays a full 90 minutes. However, he is poor with the ball at his feet, average at best in the air, and doesn't show much from a leadership perspective. Still, I wouldn't get rid of him. I would prefer to the two young CBs step up and take the spot and move him to a backup role (similar to Beta taking over for Leitch). May happen this year or next year.
Looks like we may have beaten D.C. United out to sign Bernardez... it sounds like both clubs had conflicting discovery claims on him but we won priority. Black and Red claims it's because we had a worse record but MLS rules indicate we win b/c we filed our claim earlier than them. Not sure which is right. http://www.blackandredunited.com/2012/1/3/2680539/how-to-build-an-mls-franchise http://carpetportlandoregon.org/inc...efender-victor-“muma”-bernardez-to-dc-united/ http://www.mlssoccer.com/2011-mls-roster-rules
If there was a lot of swelling you would an expect an X-ray immediately but that they would wait 2-3 days for swelling to subside for an MRI if one seemed necessary. In any case, even if Bernardez is OK by opening day, you still have a preseason where you did NOT have your two starting CBs and your immediate backup CB practicing with each other or the rest of the back line. And if Bernardez is hurt more seriously and Jason's calf is like his past calf injury history and Opara has been away with the U-23, the center of the back line could need many weeks before the players there know each other and aren't vulnerable to a missed offside trap or getting beaten for a goal. In a season where a fast start could be important, the back line could be the difference between a tie and a loss or a tie and a win at home. The CB situation is really worrisome. Other parts of the lineup upgraded, but if those players are more offensive and less defensive, the back line could get hung out to dry and that's where the CB injuries or inexperience with each other will be dangerous.
Agree - the problem is that even if they bring in someone new to the team now, it's pretty late to get that person up to speed with the other defenders. That's why I think a good option is to negotiate with Montreal and Bobby Burling to acquire his rights and get him to sign. Burling has played with Hernandez and the Quakes and should get up to speed quickly. The problem is that I don't think Burling has even been training with Montreal, and he was not able to come to a contract agreement with them. So that could mean that he overvalues himself and wouldn't agree to sign with the Quakes for a reasonable amount, either. The strange thing is that it doesn't look like Burling went on trial anywhere else, so maybe he's just got other non soccer options that he prefers. The first month of the season is looking pretty scary in central defense - no Opara for 3 of the first 4 matches (he'll miss March 17, 24, and 31 matches while he's with the Olympic team), and both Hernandez and Bernardez battling injuries. Morrow has looked pretty good in preseason, but that's when he was paired with an experienced defender, it's hard to see him paired up with an inexperienced central defender and being able to hold up. I sure hope that Doyle is burning up the phone lines today and exploring options with other MLS teams, and that Bruce Morgan (Quakes trainer) is working some kind of magic with Hernandez and Bernardez to get them healthy!
Back to actual discussion of Bernardez....tweet today from SJ Earthquakes said he was on the sidelines in Portland juggling the ball and that the injury was not bad.
"Quakes' Bernardez earning reputation after one game" (MLSsoccer.com - Monday, 3/12/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G