This much is true, but it sure doesn't imply that we should get rid of the salary cap. A bunch of MLS clubs would die, and the league would go under. MLS is single entity, whether you like it or not. The league is only as strong as the weakest team. Perhaps MLS could survive a few teams going under, but every owner would take a hit on that, and it would become much harder to attract new investors. The league has persued an incremental path of increasing the salary cap, then allowing for DP's (budget busting players), and I expect that to continue. But to move to a full-on Laize Faire model would doom the league, because we don't have nearly enough owners who could commit to such a model. More importantly, even if we did switch to such a model and league didn't go under, the Earthquakes most assuredly would. That is completely unacceptable to me. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Zlatan with 21 goals, second most in the league, Rooney with both goals in DC United's comeback win today, I wonder if we should ever expect a big time signing with Fisher? that unwillingness alone keeps us at a huge disadvantage and contributes significantly to our status as a small, rudderless team.
draft, better scouting, trades with other teams, homegrown through academy, affiliate transfer...are there other ways? shop in less expensive countries (not sure I really buy this but maybe)...trouble is, we don't have the FO people or systems in place to see much benefit from any of these resources anytime soon. maybe as a long term strategy, with the right level of cultivation and investment, we could expect to pick up some good players these ways but the only way we're any better next year is to make the kind of player moves that get folks back in those seats, a bold signing or two, a player(s) people have actually heard of, with a winning track record...that's really our best bet if we hope to be any better in 2019, a serious roster build-up starting with a big time soccer player that grabs everyone's attention and screams "oh hell yes, Quakes have finally decided it's time to play ball!!" otherwise its more snooze ball and decline.
I agree that you don't need to break the bank to be successful. From a financial perspective, I'm not convinced that spending all that money on Zlatan was a sound investment (LAG is still outside looking in in terms of the playoffs). For the other LA team, what got my attention was when they made a trade with Dallas for Walker Zimmerman. I guess there's a risk of losing Zimmerman to Europe after one season, but I would have killed for Zimmerman in our defense even if it was for this season only.
I guess these guys are going to have to ask themselves if they can afford another year like this one. If not, there aren't many good options for potentially turning things around quickly in San Jose, other than signing some big time players. I'm not saying you've got to spend ridiculous Steven Gerrard money, at $1.5 million (the same price Quakes are paying for Vako) I'd say Zlatan is exactly what the Quakes need...a big time player willing to take a huge pay cut to play in MLS...yes please.
The trouble is, from the Quakes perspective, salaries are only one part of the equation. I believe that we also skimp on scouting, analytics, and other dimensions of player acquisition. When you set a salary cap, the teams willing to spend to acquire players will reallocate resources to those other dimensions. Either way, we fall behind.
Right you are. So, if the league were to go full Laize Faire, what would happen to our club? Alas, fair Quakes, - Mark
Yes, but Quakes05 makes a fair point that fan patience is entirely evaporated. The blueprint requires winning immediately and with some panache. They need to break the bank for a star. I'm going to guess (and it's total speculation) a significant signing from Mexico.
If that’s the case, then that’s another fine example of our awesome FO’s decision making. I hope they were able to make good use of the $’s they saved....
Great news, with Colorado’s (27 points) win today only Orlando (25 points) can catch us (20) for the Wooden Spoon! Orlando play two more games than us so that seems unlikely even if we do have a home game against the Rapids...
We already can't be caught for lowest number of wins... we have 4 wins with only two games left, whereas both Orlando and Colorado have 7 wins.
In a general sense, yes, soccer fans should have some interest in other leagues around the world as it is a world market of players. Good news is is that there is no short supply of players. I don't think MLS fans, or maybe Quakes fans in particular, need to care that much about the EPL, La Liga, or Bundesliga specifically because the Quakes almost never compete with those teams for players directly. Really, Liga MX is where MLS fans should have an interest as they do directly compete against MLS for players as they are similar in competition levels, stability, compensation, and they share a region filled with good players
Attn: Fisher and Fox Desirable market + New stadium + Well known DP + Winning = D.C. United in talks with Amazon, others for jersey sponsorship United officials have been in talks with United Airlines and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), according to the report. Other potential jersey sponsors reportedly in the running: Qatar Airways, financial advisory Edward Jones, utility company WGL Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WGL) and consultancies Guidehouse LLP (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers' U.S. public sector business) and Deloitte LLP. ESPN+, the video streaming partner of MLS, is also in the mix, according to the report.
With Orlando's win today (they now have 8 wins this season, twice as many as the Quakes' 4), the San Jose Earthquakes have clinched the 2018 Wooden Spoon. Congratulations to Jesse Fioranelli, Tom Fox, Mikael Stahre, Steve Ralston, etc. on bringing home their first trophy for the Quakes organization... Your service to this club will never be forgotten! With many teams having historically bad seasons (8 teams have given up over 60 goals, including Orlando setting the MLS record with 73), the competition was tough but they managed to outdo everyone else with their incompetence. Other teams were bad for long stretches, but no other team maintained such a steady and consistent level of embarrassing performance over the full MLS season. This award is the culmination of many years of bad decisions, taking what was possibly the most exciting team in MLS history in the 2012 Supporters Shield winning Quakes, and turning them into an unwatchable joke just half a decade later, completely blowing all momentum from the team's move into their new soccer stadium and Wondo's pursuit of the all time MLS goal scoring record.
MLS Wooden Spoons won (teams in bold no longer with us) 4 - San Jose Earthquakes (1997, 2000, 2008, 2018) 3 - Chicago Fire (2004, 2015, 2016) 3 - D.C. United (2002, 2010, 2013) 2 - New York Red Bulls (1999, 2009) 2 - Toronto FC (2007, 2012) 1 - C.D. Chivas USA (2005) 1 - Colorado Rapids (1996) 1 - Columbus Crew SC (2006) 1 - FC Dallas (2003) 1 - Los Angeles Galaxy (2017) 1 - Montreal Impact (2014) 1 - New England Revolution (1998) 1 - Tampa Bay Mutiny (2001) 1 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2011) 0 - Atlanta United FC 0 - Houston Dynamo 0 - Los Angeles FC 0 - Miami Fusion F.C. 0 - Minnesota United FC 0 - New York City FC 0 - Orlando City SC 0 - Philadelphia Union 0 - Portland Timbers 0 - Real Salt Lake 0 - Seattle Sounders FC 0 - Sporting Kansas City GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Let's look on the bright side, now we get a Hermann Trophy winner or at least can trade the pic away for 2-3 better players! Ok maybe 1-2? Or how about allocation money, whatever that is?
Four times in 23 seasons... wow. Also, this was the first season with 23 MLS teams, so the Quakes finishing 23rd in 2018 is now the lowest finish of any team in MLS history... at least until Cincy joins next year.
It would be more tolerable to swallow form the wooden spoon if we consistently had local guys like Lima, Marcinkowski, Thompson, Yueill, Fuentes consistently starting. If we are gonna suck, lets suck in that particular way.
I’d like to know what’s really going on with the Quakes supporters groups. The Ultras seem to be down to 30-50 people. They started tweeting more a little while ago, to demonstrate their loyalty, but sometimes the tweets are a truer indicator of how much they are shrinking, like this one with 175 views Until The End pic.twitter.com/hfYjOqVHis— San Jose Ultras (@SanJoseUltras) October 22, 2018 Versus This tweet of LAFC’s supporters with 35K views 👏👏¡Llegaron para QUEDARSE!👏👏Si alguien piensa que en Estados Unidos no hay pasión por el futbol, la afición del @LAFC les demuestra lo contrario🎊🎉https://t.co/A8cwvPzUqX— MedioTiempo (@mediotiempo) October 22, 2018 Looking at these 2 tweets seems to speak to how small we are, and it’s hard to believe things can get better.