San Jose Earthquakes - Sacramento Republic FC U.S. Open Cup (Tues., 6/11) pre/in/postgame thread [R]

1 meatball. Not plural.

 

Only if Stahre stuck around!


Only good for Magnus Eriksson!

 

Is it just me, or does Georgian cuisine seem to be exclusively bread-related. Probably not a good place to visit for my low-carb lifestyle...

 

I had Pad Thai last night from the food trucks (courtesy of @Quakes05) in honor of the Women's World Cup result.

 

I think the regular starters and more experienced players were consistent. My focus in the game was the backup players.

Godoy+Yueil > Judson+Yueil > Felipe+Calvillo
The drop off in quality is rather significant. Calvillo was very bad and looked lost on where he should be in this system. Also, Felipe and Calvillo reminded us last year's midfield: slow to react, tentative, safe side and back passes, inability to advance the balls through dribbling or quick releases.

Lopez is a liability on the left right now. He is young and may be able to grow his game, but right now he is not ready as LB.

Tarbell tried to distribute the ball but his "distribution" resorted to chipping the ball up to the outside backs. That is actually very dangerous as a high ball gives the opponents plenty of time to intercept.

Sacramento started the game with a lot of energy chasing down every ball and made it difficult to the Quakes. I told my wife they would not be able to sustain that 90min, especially in such heat. And 10-15min into the second half, the Quakes basically dominated the game as Sacramento got slower and slower to react.

I don't know anything about the Sacramento team. They do have a few very tall guys and some storky guys. It feels like team constructed by Dom an Doyle. And a few of them seem rather arrogant and annoying (that #11, and the tall dude scored the free kick, plus the two outside backs).

 

The Quakes started off shaky but pulled through in the end.
I forgot how much I loved the USOC. It was a blast in 2017 and this game was great. I hope we can win it this year. I also hope next weeks game is at Avaya - I want more games! Although playing any of portland, seattle, lafc, lag won't be easy without our full strength team and from what I saw of lafc it looks like they are going full strength in the USOC. They had Vela out there. Bradley going for the treble I see.
If we're keeping Vako through the summer I would like to see him get more playing time. He is a quality player and I thought he looked good in this game.
I also thought Cowell looked good - he's fast. Looked like he was causing trouble for the Sac defenders.

Once again the VIP parking was awesome! Thanks @TyffaneeSue!

 

Glad I went to the scourchfest (temp)... I do have a word of warning for you new VIP invites (parking and moat)... it's hard to go back. You'll soon want to avoid the unwashed masses and hang out in our hot tub.

As for the game... I was mostly disappointed all around with the Quakes.

Positives:

1) Espinoza has some good wing play and looked like he was having fun toying with their left back

2) Magnus gave a master class in wiley veteran soccer play (well timed nudge here, well time dive there, etc). He simply dominated in the upper middle when around the ball.

3) Before he went down, Flo was having his way with the forwards as well

4) While he should have had more (or had an assist or two) Vako pulled us through.

5) Luis Felipe did well at center back... I think he might have moved ahead of Ockford.

6) TT looked great again.

7) Cowell looked ok... can't believe he's 15. I think he just moved up the depth charts ahead of Haji (or should have anyway).


Opportunities:

1) My god were both Calvillo and Luis Felipe bad in the middle. So much slow play, bad passes and lost cover. We have a GIANT drop off from our starters there (that lack of quality includes Judson)... I think we may need to fill that gap in the summer window.

2) I'm done with Lopez... I guess he is a serviceable backup.

Edit: I just saw the Quakes salaries and this guy makes 280K minimum. Wonder if we can cut that out? He is WAY over paid.

3) So much wasted opportunity in front of their goal... just couldn't get our timing down and it took way too much individual effort from Vako to pull this out. We should have CRUSHED this team.

4) I also done with Haji. Typically Dom player: fast, some decent dribbling skills and no vision what so ever. He has no idea what's around him either before he gets the ball or after he receives it. His play slows us down so much. And then, when he's exhausted his running/dribbling options, he sends a panic ball into no man's land.

5) Where's Wondo? Did he play? I can't blame most of the stuff on him since the passing was so piss pore from everyone but Espinoza and Magnus.

 

Nop, that's just the ones they popularize in the west because such foods are favored over here. If anything Georgia has a vast variety of healthy spicy stews and soups. But those don't look as nice on the ads and Instagram posts. Demand is also lower from tourists so we just keep it our secret https://image.shutterstock.com/imag...itional-georgian-dish-lamb-450w-433046173.jpg
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Meanwhile Kashia seems to have lost his form, the step down from his last year's form is significant, at least on the international level. People back home gave him a lot of S**t for coming to America before the nations league playoffs.

 

Gee, Sorry, I was actually at the game, and not reading the in-game.

 

Silliest thing I've seen in a long time happened during the match.

Sac Supports start chanting "we can't hear you" (I think they were up 2-1 at that point). 5 minutes later the Ultra's start the same chant. Followed 5 minutes later by Sac with "We still can't hear you".

Some time later (I assume we were winning 3-2 at that point) Ultra's start up with "We still can't hear you".

 

Yeah, I noticed that also. Maybe if they stopped pounding their stupid drums they might hear each other.

 

I thought Luis Felipe had a nice game. He created the first goal by winning possession, and seemed very composed for not having played much. Tommy was great, his foray into the penalty area was smart, he controlled that whole situation from start to finish. Espinoza took the pen (now Wondolowski?) and was rightly psyched to get the goal. Oh, and we took my friend's Audi which meant free parking in the Audi lot up front.... like a boss

 

I was almost expecting them to start yelling "We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got spirit, how 'bout you?" at each other.

How about that national anthem rendition? :|

I had to move seats because the people behind me were vocal Sac fans and the guy next to me screamed like it was a World Cup golaso every single ********ing time the Quakes touched the ball. Every time. Like on back passes. I come to these quiet weeknight games to relax.

If the over-eager Quakes fan is one of you on this board, sorry I don't mean to offend but dude, less caffeine.

 

I went to a Georgian restaurant in Palo Alto when Vako arrived, and I went into a carb coma after eating some very heavy dishes. I don’t know if that place is still in biz...

 

I thought about doing that too! But the line was too long for my limited patience

 

I'm probably one of the hardest on Vako on this board, but he's been better lately and for folks saying he should have done more... 2 goals in a half hour's work is more than enough. Sac GK also deserves some props for keeping it from being a hat trick.

 

I was telling my wife to sub him at half-time. He is not MLS calibar.

 

You must be a man of patience. I stood up and screamed "Take him out now" in the first half as Almeyda was standing at the sideline.

 

Radio mix?


That was just weird. In over 20 years of attending Quakes games, I had never heard such a thing until this year. We've had two of those meltdowns this season. I hope it's not a trend.

FYI, I HATE it when the singers use it as an opportunity to showcase their 'chops'. Here's a clue: It's not about you, the singer! Don't add your little scat riffs or country licks or millennial whoops. Just sing the ********ing song the way it's written and GTFO.

That said, I thought Saturday's rendition (IIRC, the Silicon Valley Gay Men's Chorus) was the best I've heard in years. Sign them up!

 

Fun game sort of. Easy to park and get food. Weather was nice! Quakes started out slow and gave up the early goal. Fortunate to be tied at half time.

Other than Espinoza, Erikkson, Vako, Flo, Cowell and to certain extent TT (Sorry, he was beaten on the break a couple of times, but Sac didn't get his mark the ball), the remainder were poor. Cavello and Lopez should not be playing in MLS at the moment. Haji has looked good as a sub, but he was poor (slow, indecisive, and lacked vision). Felipe was not good in the CM, but showed better in defense.

Tarbell. Sigh. He made one real nice save, but otherwise, no real change. Sigh.

Affolter took a step back after a decent game against Dallas. He was late and gave up a silly foul which led to the second goal. Sloppy with passes and gave too much room at times.

 

I have a new name for him: "sLopez"...