Is Paul Holocher still director of player development for the academy? Never hear about him. I know he is a big proponent of the Barca system, having gone there and studied, and came back very energized about what he saw there. As you suggest, it makes sense to instill that system in the youth academy regardless because it develops players who are comfortable with the ball, which is useful in any system. But seems to me there should be some kind of philosophical continuity between that and the more senior clubs - USL and MLS team, and so far I'm not seeing it. I'm sure that's on Jesse's radar.
I think we'll need more than ten games before we can draw any real conclusions. Stahre is still new to our club and MLS. He has a bunch of players who are new to the team and the league, and some veteran players who need to unlearn old habits. We might not be able to make a serious analysis until the last ten or twelve games of the season. So I'm going to be patient. Also, I have lots of good whiskey in my bar at home. So I think I can handle some ups and downs. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Hi Mark, I hope we know before the last third of the season, though you might be right. I think I need to join you and stock more good whiskey. Thinking about heading up to Portland for our away game this year with my buddy (and co-season ticket holder).
https://www.sjearthquakes.com/club/front-office Scroll down. Paul is still directory of the academy. I'm pretty sure, but not positive (Speculation Alert!!) that Paul is a Chris Leitch guy. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Let me know if you come up here. I've got a ton of vacation already scheduled. I'll have to make sure that I'm home for the Quakes visit!! (I will definitely be here in July! Had to get a jury duty summons pushed out to July because I've got vacation getting in the way in April.) And I hope to get down to San José for a couple of games in late August, 25th and 29th. Always happy to drink beer or whiskey with Quakes fans. Go Quakes!! - Mark
It would be hard to see this development from the outside looking in but I'm sure Jesse is on top of it. This is one of the best practices of club football throughout the world.
You might be the only person on this board who cannot see a negative connotation with the word infected. What's wrong with focused?
Bejeezus Christmas, I consider the word "possession" as positive so no it is not a negative connotation, as the term "infected with love", "intelligence-infected", or "infected with energy" wouldn't be, unless you happen to think love, intelligence or energy are bad things.
Um, the context was "possession infected brain". I don't know about anyone else but I would not be pleased to know that I had an "infected brain". If you can somehow spin that into a compliment, then may I suggest that you consider a career as a politician.
OK, Salinas has sucked two games in a row. We don't really have a backup for him either. So, I want to see us play three in the back. We can go with Cummings in the middle, Yefferson to the right and either Ockford, or Affolter, or Alashe even to the left. Then we play two d-mids in front of them: Florian and Jackson. Then in front of those two, some combination of Magnus, Vako, and Lima or TT. At forward, we play Hoesen and Wondo to start, subbing TT or Vako for Wondo about 70, and then put whoever was on the bench into midfield. So: - - - - - - - Hoesen - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wondo Vako - - - - - TT - - - - - Magnus - - - - - Flo - - - - - JY - - - Fatai - Cummings - - Quintana - - - - - - - - Tarbell Then later in the game: - - - - - - - Hoesen - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vako TT - - - - - Magnus - - - Lima And the rest the same. We can argue that TT should start on the bench, with Magnus at ACM and Lima wide right. Then bring TT on later for Wondo and either play TT at withdrawn forward, or move him to left mid and play Vako at withdrawn forward. And if Vako is gassed, bring on Hyka. And I'm suggesting three in the back because we don't have four MLS Starter level defenders. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Ah yes, Qwiberg is the back up. I forgot about him. Maybe it's the Guiness (Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!) or maybe it's that he hasn't played a minute. If he's not good enough to unseat Shea, then he must really suck. But yeah, we could try playing Qwiberg in place of Salinas, but really, I'll take any excuse to shift to a 3-5-2. Maybe Stahre will start Qwiberg next week? Shea was awful tonight. I expected him to be subbed off at the half. Go Quakes!! - Mark
It's only two games, but nothing too impressive from Stahre so far. This take from the game thread seems about right: "Stahre is looking very underprepared yet again. Nothing impressive about him at all so far. He's made a bad coach look pretty good and a decent coach look like a soccer mastermind." But it's only two games, a new league, etc. Do I think he'll turn it around and be acceptable, or out of a job by season's end? No idea. But my way-too-early opinion is that even if he is decent, his ceiling is as a Tier 2 coach in MLS (Tier 1 right now is Marsch, Vanney, Berhalter, Martino, Vieira, Bradley... but these things can change quickly, Pareja was on that list until a few months ago).
I still think that Shea will make the Quakes Hall of Fame. His longevity with the club, his willingness to play any position, his full effort for the whole 90. Yeah, he'll make the Hall of Fame, and I think deservedly so. That said, he's not the player he was in '12. And he's not really a defender, and he has stunk up the pitch the last two games consecutively. Time for Shea to find the bench. I still think he has value as a late game sub on the wing, but he's not a defender. Go Quakes!! - Mark
It's much to early to decide that Stahre is or isn't good. Even if we had won our first two games stylishly, it would still be too early to tell. I see improvement in our play. Our throw-ins are much better. Our off the ball movement is better. Our energy is better, at least at the start of the game. BUT, Shea is awful, Godoy has been poor, as a unit, our defense is a little shakey, I remain unimpressed with Tarbell, we continue to abandon the center of the pitch. I hope to see improvement, and I remain optimistic. But, it's going to take some time for our guys to become a more cohesive unit. GO Quakes!! - Mark
It is too early to tell. My current projection is that he's a pretty good coach, but similar to Kinnear in philosophy and tactics. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It just is. And to the extent that the team looks better (and whether it really does - not sure, too early to tell), it is hard to tell if it's better players or better coaching.
We have improved our tactics on throw-ins, and that is coaching. We have improved our off the ball movement, and that is coaching also. Yes, we have some better players, but I think it's more than that. There is more purpose to what we're doing. It's not just the same old, same old. I do want to lose the "two-holding-mids" thing. That just pisses me off. But it looks like we're evolving, like we're moving in the right direction. Of course, we did look a bit disjointed against the Sporks. We suffered a loss of composure and cohesion. Still, it's early days. More whiskey now. I'm good. Go Quakes!! - Mark
I think that might be true, and I have said similar things ("more purposeful", etc.). Dom didn't try too many new things, and if he did, it all seemed to kind of get jumbled into the mix. I know that they bunkered at times and pressed at times, just like under Stahre, but it seemed like there were a lot of amorphous gradations in-between. It didn't seem as simple / clear as, OK, now we high press, OK, now 2 lines of 4 - we're bunkering! Having that kind of clarity of purpose could be helpful. Still, there is a heck of a lot that is quite similar, from the formation to the tactics to the philosophy. Some new wrinkles, for sure, but fundamentally very similar IMO.