Pre-match: New England Revolution - San Jose Earthquakes (Saturday, 5/11) pregame thread

If the Quakes are going anywhere in 2019 this has to be at least a point if not a win...

New England Revolution set new record with defensive fragility

After starting the season 2-5-1, the Revs have dropped three of their last four matches and have set a new league record by conceding 15 goals in their last three matches. The 18 goals they have conceded in their four matches are tied for the most in league history with Minnesota United FC, who conceded 18 in their first four MLS matches.
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Wow they're actually "first four Minnesota United games with Jermaine Taylor and Vadim Demidov" bad!

 

Rev’s body language is terrible. If the Quakes get the first goal these guys will pack it in. I think there is actually a chance NE would fire the coach if we smash them. The locker room has to be a mess right now.

 

You're absolutely right about needing to score the first goal to demoralize the Revs.

Imagine if we got coaches fired in back to back games....

 

If we wanna throw Wondo in to break the record and be done with it, this might as well be the day

 

I take it back, New England aren't Colorado bad, they're AYSO bad. If we don't win this mismatch outright in a laugher we should be ashamed.

 

I guess the question is whether or not New England continues to spiral downward the way the Quakes did last year, or if they somehow manage to play despite what must be the worst managerial situation in MLS. For the Quakes, the biggest question is how do they deal with Espinoza being out. There are a few potential options, but they've relied very heavily on him, and for good reason. Not sure how Quakes like they will look without him.

 

To be honest, it might actually turn out to be a good thing. The Quakes look to be extremely healthy with several players that don’t make game day rosters. Espinoza has his newborn to be with (and probably lack of sleep to deal with) and maybe a little body rest will make him even sharper next week.

In the meantime we might get to see the return of Paul Marie who was solid against Seattle and maybe TT can get a runout at right mid. A goal or an assist or two could help Tommy’s confidence. I think Lopez could also be a great option at left mid with Salinas replacing Espinoza on the right. There is actually a lot of different options to choose from.

 

Shea on one wing, Tommy on the other. Lopez and Nick defending.

 

I completely agree. Long term (by that I mean, thinking of the entire season), I think it's better that Espinoza misses this game, for family reasons as you mentioned, and to keep him from burning out too early. I just think it means this particular game against an opponent one should expect to beat might not go quite as well as we hope it will. But I think that depends a lot on how well New England reacts to their recent results.

Last year, the Quakes hit a point of no return where they weren't even't competitive anymore, and any team in the league could have expected to beat them and pretty much always did. It looks like the same thing is happening in New England, but you never know.

 

Let's not repeat what we typically did in previous seasons. We were often too generous and allowed teams in trouble to gain confidence in the game and pick up points from us. We have to stay focused, take control and leave no doubts on the field.

 

Beat them Krafts!

 

Friedel fired. The opposition will be motivated.

 

Damn. Teams often get better (at least for a few games) after that. Witness our own situation post-Dom!

 

On the other hand, the Quakes did not get better after firing Stahre. If the assistant coaches are as bad as Friedel, things might not improve at all there.

 

The Quakes were up 4-1 on eventual champion Atlanta in the immediate aftermath of firing Stahre.

 

My initial reaction was that we will lose, now that they are motivated by the classic post coach firing bump in form that lasts a game or two.

But I also feel like our system is hard enough to prepare for that dealing with a new coach makes it that much harder -- especially since we didn't have a mid-week game.

 

True, their interim coach essentially has 1-2 days to prepare.

8th: They lost at night and traveled home from Chicago
9th: Friedel fired in the morning, interim coach takes over
10th: "So what's this Almeyda fellow doing..."
11th: Game day!

 

I wonder. Obviously they aren't in the same conference so they would likely be less aware, but with how big an impact Almeyda's had so far and how much attention it's attracted, I wouldn't be surprised if they have some familiarity.

Whether that's enough to actually come up with a game plan specifically to deal with it is another matter. I don't envy interim positions. You have to assume you won't get the full-time job, so how exactly do you approach things? Do you just play as practically as possible? Do you try to implement your own plan knowing it's likely to be tossed out once they hire the permanent coach?

If it were me, I would just be trying to identify a couple of things that could be improved at a time, maybe defensive shape or coverage, or adherence to formation. I don't think I'd be spending that much effort on preparing for a specific opponent, but one that should theoretically help you improve against all opponents.

I'm not familiar with what New England's intended style was, but considering how many goals they've given up, I kind of expect to see a very defensive postured team.

 

This has become your version of Falvo's Shea miss at the Coliseum.

 

I was traumatized, I will admit it.

 

I stand corrected, Friedel is out. I guess two big shut out losses will do that.

 

I hate to be that guy but in the interests of accuracy... their last two losses were 6-1 and 5-0.

 

Anybody know what New England's odds are for the Wooden Spoon?

Very happy we are not going to win in again this year.

I know it's still early, but I don't see this team throwing in the towel, in Almeyda I trust.

 

The Colorado Rapids have yet to win a game this season.
Their new interim coach once stated that he doesn't watch soccer.

 

Wow. I didn't see this coming.

Third coach fired in a week!

Why was Friedel dismissed by Revolution?