Wrong Seattle is also in a bit of a "wait and see" stance. Edit: to add Qoute “You guys know me. For better or for worse, I’m pretty meticulous and stubborn. I tend to plan things a long time in advance,” Lagerwey said. “I understand why you guys would come here and be like, ‘What have you been doing? There’s only one center back on the roster.’ But as soon as we get that direction [on the CBA] we’ll move as fast we can.
What does that have to with your statement that the Quakes were the only ones waiting on the CBA to be done.
I get what you’re saying, but the main chance is that no one from last season has a tear it up, set the league on fire season this year. Hopefully Rios and Fiero are better than last season, but neither will be a revelation. IF we are to improve, it will almost certainly be because we signed some new guys. (Chance that Lopez or Lima have a much better season that last year. Maybe TT has a notably better season.) So ... as much as I’m rooting for the guys already on the roster, I want some reinforcements. Go Quakes!! Fisher OUT!! - Mark
My understanding is that Fierro had not reached his peak physical performance by the time the season ended last year and that Rios was in a similar situation due to a layoff from competitive play prior to joining the Quakes. So 2019 was a sort of warmup for 2020 for them. In addition, it seems that Almeyda's training and system is more demanding than almost every other MLS team. By that I mean that if a player is to enter any MLS team during the season, he is most likely to find that it is harder to integrate successfully into the Quakes team than it would be to fit into other MLS teams. (This is not to say that the Quakes players are not welcoming and good teammates, it just means that it is hard physically and tactically for a newcomer if he has not been present all year). Last year the team dropped at the beginning (seen as learning the system and establishing belief) and the end of the season (seen as mental mistakes and lack of confidence rather than team ability) and this is not seen seen as a lack of talent. I think the hope is that this year lessons have been learned from 2019 to make the 2020 team a playoff team. These are some of the reasons the coach and GM are more comfortable than BS denizens are with so many 2019 players staying on as 2020 players.
I believe all of that, but it was surprising to me the lack of significant signings this offseason. I realize improvements are possible without any signings but it seems risky as we didn’t see much from Fierro or Rios and to my untrained eye it didn’t seem lack of fitness was the issue. I’m also of the belief that under the current playoff system positions 5 and below will never win the cup because it requires winning 4 consecutive games on the road against quality opponents. I don’t think that’s possible for any team in MLS short of major injuries or other bizarre circumstances. I realize most people don’t feel this way or they will be happy with any playoff game. I just think we need to be aiming for a top 4 spot.
That's their story, but I'm not certain that I buy it. He wasn't out of season when he came to us, and he wasn't out of a team. He should have been more or less mid-season form, or at least early season. So I'm not sure I believe that wasn't up to stuff. Sure, he will benefit from a full pre-season training with us, and yes, he should integrate better. But, if we're counting on Fiero and Rios to be much better than last season, we should expect to suck like a Dyson. The main chance, the most likely out come is that we have another shitty season. I hope that I'm wrong, but we're rolling the dice here on long odds. GO Quakes!! Fisher OUT!! - Mark
Teams now keep detailed physical assessment data on players, and by the end of the 2019 season Fierro was, I think, something like 30% short of where he had been at the end of his previous season. That may not be the same thing as "form", and obviously is not the whole picture, but is one aspect of his performance which was measureable.
I’m going to lower my criteria for a successful season. Although I’m not interested in positions 5-7 in terms of playoffs I am interested in qualifying for Leagues Cup. I’ll consider this a successful season if we qualify for Leagues Cup. That seems like a realistic goal given what we have.
There’s going to be another signing, if for no other reason as we do not have enough CBs and we do have an available senior roster spot.
Jesse said he was targeting a CB but it’s not clear if that was our super draft pick or if we should be expecting another CB.
My expectations are very low, but my goals remain the same. 1. Make the playoffs, any position. (This is the minimum requirement for a successful season.) 2. Make the playoffs, win at least one playoff match. 3. Make the playoffs in spots 1 through 4. 4. Win the Supporter's Shield. 5. Win US Open Cup. (Start by winning some US Open Cup games against other MLS clubs.) 6. Win MLS Cup. (These last three can come in any order.) How do we "qualify" for the League's Cup? MLS just picked four teams last season. Will they do that again? Is there some qualification process? What the hell? It's pretty close to meaningless if the leagues just pick the teams that play. That's dumb. Go Quakes!! Fisher OUT!! - Mark
Leagues Cup qualifiers are the top 4 teams in each conference who did not qualify for Champions league. Champions League qualifiers is: * MLS conference champs (east and west) * MLS Cup winner * US Open Cup winner * Canadian Champion winner Easy way to think of it is: * seeds 1-5 are guaranteed a spot in either CCL or LC. * seeds 6-8 *might* qualify for LC (depending on who wins the other cups) This year it worked out that seeds 3-6 of each conference qualified for LC. Last years Leagues Cup was a trial run and the random 4 team selection was lame and probably a mistake. However the final between Tigres and Cruz Azul in Vegas was a really fun game to watch. Both teams were all in and the crowd was into it. I vaguely remember that an MX coach or two lost jobs based on their results in the tournament. Basically the MLS teams didn't take this seriously at all but the Mexican sides took it very seriously. I hope that MLS sides take this more seriously. It's better than friendlies, there's a bit of prize money, and a trophy. Wouldn't it be exciting if we qualified and Matias coaches the Quakes against Chivas in Earthquakes Stadium? That could be the game of the year for me.
I was surprised, as well. I thought more contracts were expiring this year, but it turned out that those will end next year instead.
40 days and 40 nights (give or take) until opening day. Home Opener only six weeks away! Email us at membership@1906ultras.com to buy your terrace tickets pic.twitter.com/ZyorrIwPYr— San Jose Ultras (@SanJoseUltras) January 16, 2020
Well if undergoing Almeyda's preseason conditioning is critical to success shouldn't that CB be here already? Getting trained up with the rest of the guys? Learning the system?
As seen by who exactly? My take is different regarding the end of the season slump. Two larger factors and one smaller one. 1) Players getting worn down over the course of the season due to the high work rate necessary in the Almeyda system (with little roster rotation), and 2) Other teams having 20 games of film to figure out how to play against his system. The third and smaller one was the abysmal refereeing (which I tend to generally discount - but couldn't this time). #1 will repeat next year. No added depth to the roster demands it will be so. #2 will be worse this year. Teams have us figured out from the get-go. #3 *should* get better, i.e. regression to the mean. But this is MLS we are talking here, so can't guarantee this one.
To me there were 2 other factors that lead to the late season collapse. 1. Almeyda losing his mind and getting ejected from 2 games, plus the additional suspension. I get his frustration and I know he’s a passionate guy, but his actions directly lead to the team falling apart after he was gone. It even affected Wondo’s lack of emotional control and his suspension in a critical game where the Quakes could have really used a Wondo goal. 2. Both of Espinoza’s red cards. He was such a key player to not only Wondo’s goals, but also Vako’s. Espinoza’s cards were from really dumb decisions that he made, and his absence in the following games cost the team dearly. I’m convinced that the Quakes would have been in the playoffs if Espinoza doesn’t get himself ejected. Almeyda and Espinoza need to learn from last year’s mistakes.