Most of us across the boards have been very critical about the bias and favoritism and pointing out what is wrong with the league. I'm sure all of us who follow the Euro leagues living in North America would rather watch those leagues as they are use to them. You have to give Seattle credit for what they've accomplished. They started in 2009 and the Quakes re-started the year before in 2008. I would have never believed back then that they would climb to these heights. Whether its a B, C or D level league, one thing is certain though, MLS has grown immensely and to heights that no one ever dreamed of and I'm happy were the league is at. The league started in 1996 and its still young. I don't think there is a minor or even major sports circuit on earth that can boast the leagues growth in such a short amount of time. You have to give them credit for that. The Quakes on the other hand, are another story....
ahh, in that case, forget about it. success in San Jose is measured by how far we are from the bottom, not how close we are to the top.
Nope THE YOUTH MOVEMENT CONTINUES. BREAKING: #Quakes74 have signed 14-year-old goalkeeper Emi Ochoa as a @SutterHealth Homegrown Player! #VamosSJ https://t.co/88TgnEdQhD— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 11, 2019
“Being 14 and signing a contract, it feels really good.”The youngest goalkeeper in @MLS history is home. #VamosSJ pic.twitter.com/hojkvLaK8B— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 11, 2019
I'm happy for the kid, but... this seems really odd to me. Either this kid is a freakishly good, can't miss GK (if there is such a thing) or this is a waste of a signing. I think you may have an outside chance to identify a 14 year old field player and coaching them up to a MLS pro level player. But a young GK?? I don't think any amount of coaching up a 14 y.o. GK turns him into a pro GK. Either he comes good or he doesn't. You'd be much better off finding a promising 19 y.o. GK than doing this. In fact you could do that every year for 5 years and spend no more than they will on this kid.
This is what you do when you have no plans to sign anybody who will actually improve the first team in the upcoming season. You sign a bunch of may-be locals to hope that helps create interest for a team that will again be barely competitive at best.
As critical as I am of the Quakes management at times, I don't think they're under any illusion that some 14 year old kid who won't play a single first team minute for AT LEAST three years will help them sell a single ticket for the 2020 season...
Wow! He is only 21 years younger than Vega who made his debut last season! Look how logn we have to wait until he is ready!
Trade: @SJEarthquakes get first pick of 2nd round of 2020 @MLS draft from @InterMiamiCF for Homegrown rights to @CalMSoc GK Drake Callender. San Jose could also get up to 150k in General Allocation Money from deal.— Elliott Almond (Original blue check) (@ElliottAlmond) November 12, 2019 NEWS: #Quakes74 acquire a 2020 SuperDraft selection in a trade with @InterMiamiCF.https://t.co/4GVBarCvac— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 12, 2019
It does give a hint at the value of a Quakes roster spot though. 14 year old who won’t play for Reno let alone the Quakes is worthy of one of our 30 roster spots. He could sit on the roster for a decade or more before he shows any real value. It did seem very odd to me that a deal like this would make sense. I’m not exactly sure what it means but it doesn’t seem good.
Don't you remember? The world ended in 2012 (according to the Mayan calendar) when the door to the apocalypse was opened by the Quakes winning the Supporters Shield. If we ever win the MLS cup, that will likely initiate a series of events culminating in a collision with an extinction-level asteroid...
They'll keep him in the academy playing U-16 and U-17 for a while. When he's ready, they'll move him to Reno. Doesn't mean he takes up a roster spot on our 30-man roster. So in that sense, this is OK. It locks in a GK that they are high on. In light of the trade of Drake to InterMiami it looks like we have a backup plan. Also, does our trading Drake to InterMiami mean that they either can't or won't snag anyone from us in the expansion draft? I think that's what it means, which would be pretty clever. (Or we could expose a bunch of guys we want to lose, except that each team has to protect most of their foreign players, which I think is shit.) So signing Ochoa shouldn't hurt the first team at all, and trading Drake may well have helped us. Look for a trade with Nashville? Watch this space, as they say. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Umm, I think the Reno deal won't last much beyond next year. Most of the other teams (it seems to me) are bailing from USL and having their "II" teams in USL One. I will be shocked if our thrifty management doesn't do the same...