Post-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Sporting Kansas City (Saturday, 4/20) postgame thread [R]

Thanks TS!

Back to the thread....

The much maligned Eriksson seems to be improving. Maybe it’s the coaching?

 

I would have preferred green (although it's true the earth is 2/3 ocean), but once I got over the initial confusion, I was fine. At any rate, they are a damn site better than black!

 

I liked them. Uniforms are one of those things that I only really pay attention to if they are absolutely hideous (anything the Seattle Seahawks wear) or simply majestic (late '70s to early '80s Houston Astros jerseys).

The Quakes have not once had a jersey that was majestic, though 2015 is the closest they've ever come. They've also never had awful jerseys, unless you count the Clash days. Outside of taking an extra second to identify the teams due to unfamiliarity, these temp jerseys were perfectly fine, though ultimately unremarkable.

 

I missed the Houston game due to vacation. So, in the last two games that I have watched the Quakes, they scored seven goals and given up only one. Who would thought after the start of the season?

Even more than scoring four goals was that they did it against a pressing team. Vega makes a huge difference in goal with his composure and distribution. While not perfect, the team actually played the ball out of the back!

Also, when was the last time you saw the other team get tired before the Quakes? Nice to see.

Danny was the MOTM. Sure, he scored two nice goals, but his defense work was huge. He covered a lot of ground.

Probably because we won, but I was expected more discussion about the officiating. Not so much on the PKs, although the first one was iffy, but his inconsistency. If Anger Mark was posting, he would say that KC were diving, cheating, scum!

Two tough games with Seattle and Dallas. Any points would be great, but more importantly, they need to keep building on these home games.

 

I didn't mind them. I'm not a fan of the mono-chromatic badge, though.

 

Lost my voice after Salinas' goal 15 seconds into second half. Only 4 out of the 22 players on the field touched the ball.

There were moments in the first half that SKC CB had the ball near the centerline, looked up and found that every team mate before him was man-marked and had no way to pass. The look on the CB was priceless.

The next two road games will be tough and we will need to rotate to keep the legs first.

 

I think it's a blessing in disguise that Godoy is out with card accumulation. This will force some tinkering in the lineup.

 

I was happy that VAR resulted in correcting something in our favor. I'm worried it didn't work right though at the end of the half with the Cummings incident. I thought that Hoesen earned one ungiven penalty and that need for them to be essentially 100% sure the ref got it wrong (in the sense he'd for sure change his mind) before going to VAR continues to to be a problem. These are all VAR things though. The ref himself was pretty good for a newbie. I didn't much like the card to TT. In terms of scum, the play by Gerzo was it on Cummings might well have been very scummy, but we didn't get a great replay so I don't know for certain. Gerzo is a bit of jerk.

 

Kinda like Kasha being injured and Lopez injury being blessings. But Godoy has actually played a few good games in a row now.

 

Maybe Luis Felipe can learn to be a tank like Godoy? I liked the energy he brought last year. I wonder if he has been able to adapt to the new scheme. I'd love to see him get on the field, anyway, to see if he can fit. He has a strong shot and some decent forward passing ability. I don't remember seeing him body people off the ball, though.

 

That was a pretty amazing play. Instead of the usual kickoff and pass back into our own end of the field, we charged forward and caught SKC off balance.

 

will jesse admit the HUGE fail on these two and pull the trigger on a trade or a release ... i don't know but hope so

 

There'd be little point in releasing them, as they would get nothing in return for doing so. Their impact on the roster and salary cap are set. A trade would be the best option, but there has to be a buyer.

I actually liked what Vako had to offer as a player in many respects, but unless he plays where Eriksson plays, there's no room for him on the field. He could come on as a sub for Hoesen, I guess, but doesn't seem like the best place for him and it's a lot of money sitting around for few minutes.

But who knows? Maybe Almeyda will find a way to get him out there and it'll work out? Thompson may have made a case for taking over the right back spot permanently and Lopez might have trouble getting back on the field. Maybe something prompts Vako to come in and he makes the role his own. Almeyda isn't averse to experimenting, and so long as the players are willing to give it their best effort, it seems they can certainly earn their place back.

 

Thanks for the insight. I had forgotten about the foul against Hoesen. Gerzo ran right into Cummings in attempt to get a call. Pure garbage.

 

Yes! We are doing much better, however, it's only the last three games.

Finally got to watch the game.

Wow, that's the best we've played in a long time.

I could have seen giving Shea man of the match honors too, but Danny was the more obvious choice.

Magnus had a really good game, as did Godoy. I really, really, really hope that continues, but I fear that it won't. Magnus wilts under pressure, he just didn't get much this game.

One thing that really stood out to me was that our guys reacted to the ball much, much faster than previously. This was critical to us winning the ball back and critical to us maintaining possession. That's a huge improvement over our previous play. When we lost the ball, we tried to get it back right away. When their guys made a move with the ball, we got on it quickly. When we had the ball, we tried to pass quickly, and a lot of our guys showed much better off the ball movement!!

Hugely better!

I know that I've been unrelentingly negative, and I am still not satisfied. However, I've been one of those arguing that the coaching staff is as important as the players on the field, and I think the upswing in our play is proof of that. With next to no roster improvements, we're playing much better than last season. See, it really is about the coaching! Yes, we need to add some better players, no doubt about it, but, with a better coach, we seem to be much better. At least for the moment.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

Do you think Besler would be willing to move to the Bay Area?
We do need a left sided CB to replace Jungwirth.

 

No thanks.

 

Casey Walls could be your man. Left footed and comfortable on the ball. Needs some seasoning but he could be Matt Miazga lite.

 

We need two new CBs.

Neither Cummings nor Kashia, nor Jungwirth for that matter are starting material on a quality team. That said, Cummings and Jungwirth looked a lot better together than Cummings and Kashia.

Affolter blows. He's had exactly one good game for us since he came here.

Ockford is much better, but also much slower, which is a detriment in Matias' scheme.

Oh, Paul Marie looked good in his limited minutes. That was a nice surprise.

TT is still wasted as a right back, and that means that Lima is sitting the bench, which is a waste of resources. (Yeah, I know, Lima played on the other side against the Sporks. The analysis still stands.)

We should see any of three or four players in Magnus' spot. Yes, he had a pretty good game, and much better than we've grown accustomed to. But he still sucks. Gives the ball away too easily. Was given an assist that he didn't really deserve (or we should have credited another assist elsewhere).

From MLS Power Rankings: "The Earthquakes of the last three games are completely different than they were in the first four games. Some of that is time, and some is the lineup tweaks Matias Almeyda has made, but San Jose are starting to show that not only will they not be an easy out, they can score in bunches, too."​

Yeah, better for sure, but still not really good. It's progress, and I'm hopeful, but not going to count any chickens just yet.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

And I'll be away for the next three weeks, probably with no internet access. Maybe a little. We'll see.

 

Hope rehab goes well.






Just kidding! Enjoy your time off. See you in three weeks!

 

Thanks! Did some detox last week. Going to Turkey and Greece with the wife. Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia! Should be a blast.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

Then stay away from power lines and have a great time!

 

With Mark aboard there should be plenty of hot air available to avoid those situations.. Have a great time, I hear Cappadocia is a beautiful place.

 

Hi Mark, I have done the hot air ballooning in Cappadocia, and it was a blast!

Have a great time, if you get a chance check out Ephesus (awesome) and stay in Izmir, probably my favorite city in Turkey (and you can get to Ephesus from there about 100 minutes away).