I .don't share this view because we're not much worse on the road than the typical playoff team. We've had some really impressive road performances.
We definitely can't afford to lose either of our remaining home games, and that's a tough challenge. If we lose to Atlanta, that will be a grand total of zero points in our last six away games - hardly the way you'd want to enter the playoffs, when we're virtually guaranteed to have to play all potential playoff matches on the road...
Please, we have more than twice as many total points as last season. We've done well this year, both in comparison to last season, and in overall improvement. We do many things better this year than last. We may well miss the playoffs, but even if we do, we should be in position to do better next year. We have a style, a strategy, and a cohesiveness that most previous Quakes teams have lacked. As long as we can continue along the path we have established, I see our team getting better. Granted, last year was an unmititgated disaster, and thus there was huge room for improvment. Nevertheless, we are by any measure much better than last season. I want us to make the playoffs of course, but I recognize that's a tall order at this point. GO Quakes!! - Mark
If - and this is a big if - our owners will pay the money required to give Almeyda the players he needs to compete at the highest level of MLS, you are probably right. However, if our owners continue to play the 'small team' card, we're going to have more seasons of believing that barely squeaking into the playoffs is an achievement.
I'm hoping that Almeyda has convinced Fisher that with a bit more investment, we could be a winning competitive team. (I take a lot of drugs too. Just sayin'.) Go Quakes!! - Mark
I assume we will sign Espinoza so I don't think we will be adding any players in the Offensive side. Remember we have already added Rios and Fierro and if Wondo stays, it does not make sense to displace him with a high profile DP. We need for Wondo to retire to have any chance to bring in a high profile attacker.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...alaxy-fivethirtyeights-latest-mls-projections For SPI info: https://fivethirtyeight.com/methodology/how-our-club-soccer-predictions-work/
And I think that is exactly the situation. It's not just the attacking players. Remember we still don't have a proper left back. With the existing players, we do well against teams like Vancouver who are in trouble and we pick up points with multiple goals. We put up good fights against better teams but we still lose in these close games by a goal. Can Almeyda still get more out of the existing players? Or does he see that after a season MLS he needs more quality to compete as a top team? The owner has to see the progress made this season with a good coach and give him more to achieve more. Or are we stuck with good enough?
We are sitting 6th in points and are 6th in GF and 6th in GA so everything is matching. If Wondo retires we need to replace his output but to really move up we need to add quality to either pull up the goals scored or lower the GA.
4 games left. To get a home game we will likely need to win 3 of them. To get an away game we need 5-6 points (70-90% odds respectively). Not making the playoffs is a failure. However It's impossible to consider this season a failure. We were actually competitive this year. We played with style. We went for the win always. We swept the Galaxy. We were #2 for a few brief moments. We never did all of that before (at least since 2014 when I started watching). I'm afraid this might be as good as it gets though. We will increase our spending next year, but next year the with the new CBA the roster budget restrictions are likely to loosen which means the aggressive teams will spend more and gaps will widen. Teams will learn to exploit the new rules whatever they are. I just don't see us in a position to exploit anything. But we got Almeyda and I like watching the team. We will beat teams who spend more than us and we will also lose. As always, we will fight for a playoff spot but now we do it with style.
Does anybody have any word on Lima? We're 4 games from the end of the freaking regular season and apparently, still haven't resolved the Almeyda-Lima thing. It would be an absolute joke if he was third choice behind Lopez and Salinas at LB. Plain and simple, we've dropped points without Lima on the field. After seeing the other options at LB, we absolutely need him on the field for the playoff push. My only gripe with Almeyda as coach is the totally ridiculous situation with Lima.
This is precisely my concern. MLS supremacy is a moving target, and we are going to need to spend significantly more next year than this year to achieve similar results. While past results do not guarantee future performance, I am afraid that our unblemished record of 11 years of under-spending, and browsing the bargain-basements and cutout bins of world football are fairly telling. I have heard nothing from our management or owners that implies (or better yet, comes right out and states) that we are going to spend significantly more on players next season, so my expectations are tempered.
We started the season 0-4 being outscored 14-2 with three of the games at home. Despite playing two extra road games, our +15 GD since then is better than all but LAFC and NYCFC, , and our +5 won/loss differential is bested only by those two and Philly. We're already competitive.
This is true, but I believe we could be even better with Lima on. Scares the hell out of me to think we would roll into critical games with Lopez or Salinas at LB...the rest of the league has had plenty of time to breakdown the Quakes style of play. I would like to see what the our stats look like recently...we're a bit off the boil..the games are too tight now...mistakes like Lopez had against NY will take us right out of the picture.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/09/17/power-rankings-nycfc-bolster-claim-easts-best ........Good thing they have no expectations, because their playoff spot is now under suspicion in a jam-packed Western Conference........ Has it been scripted by the league that SJQ should just roll over and play dead?
Gotta wonder sometimes. But then I remember that MLS is entirely on the up-and-up, and they would never ask their lawyers to lie to a judge in Ohio.
The stats are that we've played 5 of our last 7 on the road. It says a lot that only one of those losses was by more than one goal. In fact only LAFC has beaten us by more than a goal since early May.
Lopez seems quicker and maybe more skilled than Lima. That said, he's more likely to get caught out of position and made a couple of egregious blunders recently.
I will take Lima. I think Lopez is a good player but he makes a lot of bad passes in every game, it seems normal for him, in addition I have not seen Lopez really spark the offense. We call out Lima when he makes bad passes which is not normal for him and Lima definitely adds to the offense.