Post-match: Real Salt Lake - San Jose Earthquakes (Saturday, 6/23) postgame thread [R]

Wasn't able to watch last night's game, but have thought all of those things in most of the previous ones. Seems like someone could do something about the first and the third if they wanted to.

 

The only real positive was that we did come out and play better in the second half, (or perhaps RSL just played worse). We almost won the game at the death, (Hoesen just needed to put the ball into the back of the net, not through it!) and then nearly lost it on RSL's last second corner, (Tarbell totally misjudged the flight of the ball).

How poorly do they rate Qwiberg if Partida is first choice at left back? Partida is no Lima. I can't believe I am actually eager to see Salinas back there again.

Yueill was terrible in the first half, came out better in the second half, and then gets subbed out.

Vako started slow as well, and then started getting more involved in the game. His shot led to the goal, and then put one off the post. He also slotted a nice ball on the break to Eriksson that he couldn't latch onto where he need to. Dangerfield kind of blamed Vako for putting it just out of Eriksson's reach, but, any player not named Eriksson or Wondo would have caught up to it.

Eriksson. What more can be said? Perhaps we can put him in a longship and send him off to find a new world.

Wondo was pretty much invisible, again. In the past he was able to appear at the right spot at the right time to snag a goal, now he is a ghost that no longer haunts the opposition.

 

Wow, when you are called out by RSL press and fans as a "very bad team" you truly are very bad. I mean what's very bad when measured against mediocre? Very, very, very bad? It's like being called a "very bad actor" by David Hasselhoff.

 

I wonder if espnplus's blackout algorithm is confused about which is the home team. I've been able to see home games that I did not expect to, but having trouble watching road homes. Bad, bad online service.

 

This needs repeating.

I'm sick of being told to be patient. I've been patient since 2013. I'm tired of sucking. We were OK at the end of last year, and this year we have regressed, even while we upgraded a few positions.

How is that possible?! Oh wait, our coach blows chunks. That's how that's possible.

I haven't seen the game yet, but I watched the highlights, which is pretty much all RSL and some good saves by Tarbs. (Though I agree that Tarbs is NOT the answer in goal. His distribution blows, he doesn't command the box. He's poor coming off his line. He's not good enough for a quality team.)

And Stahre can't figure out how to get his best players on the pitch together, and he's wed to four in the back, but then wants his outside defenders to attack, effectively leaving only two or three defenders back should the other team get a counterattack.

We continue to make the same mistakes we've made since '09. (In '08 it at least looked like we were making progress.) I tired of this crap. I demand better, right now.

Go Quakes!!
Fire Stahre!!

- Mark

 

Wondo put in the sweet pass that released Vako for the shot that lead to the Hoesen goal. He also had half of the four shots on goal the Quakes had last night. This is not high praise, but he did make a contribution.

 

The blackouts on ESPN+ and MLS Live before that have never had anything to do with home/away--they have to do with the TV contracts with the local sports channels. The teams that were blacked out were because those contracts required it--the channels want people to subscribe to their channels and not be able to skip that by purchasing the league's streaming package. The Quakes have always been not blacked out because their contracts haven't carried that requirement. Whether the recent blackouts have occurred because of a change in the contract with the local NBC Sports channels or because somebody is making a technical mistake is probably impossible to know, since nobody is competent in customer service in these matters.

 

I know that blackouts have not been tied directly to home vs. away but in the past, at least with mls live, the tv broadcasts for home and away were such that you'd usually get all the away matches but sometimes not the home matches. Suddenly it seems like the reverse is true.

Regarding the home vs. away "algorithm" I was being mostly facetious (though one customer support rep did tell another poster that it was a "mistake"). Obviously it's not that they are relying on the team listing order (home first away second, etc.) or something in a data list. The implied "joke" was that there is some neophyte programmer naively assuming away team first like other sports typically do it.

 

OTOH, we ARE a very bad team. So if a mediocre team calls us a bad team, that doesn't change how bad we are.

I remember some study about 15 years ago that concluded that people who are incompetent are the least likely to realize they are incompetent.

I guess it's a protective defense mechanism. Quakes got it in spades!

 

It only makes us seem more bad (see David Hasselhoff analogy).

 

The Glass Half Full Report, June 24, 2018 edition:

Quakes are on a two game unbeaten streak heading into the California Clasico. They managed an away draw against an RSL side that had won its last six home matches, and which defeated the Quakes, 4-0, last year in Utah. Not only that, but the Quakes managed to claw back from a 1-0 deficit, the second straight game the team showed grit in fighting back in the second half to earn a result, after several games earlier in the season when the team lost early leads. And the Quakes held RSL to a single goal, matching their best defensive efforts of the season.

By the way, assuming the accuracy of the pregame report on the NBCSN Bay Area telecast, the all-time record between the Quakes and RSL is still exactly even following last night's draw. So, if you're wallowing in misery, you have company.

 

If anyone is interested, the replay of this game is on NBSCA chnl 41 Comcast right now.....

 

We had no interest in playing in he first half...really bad body language. Danny was well below his normal level. I groaned when I saw we went back to the atrocious double pivot...don't like Yueill in that role at all...he's way to thin defensively to cover the middle when Flo is in the channels. Puts Vako in a two way position which as we all know is a deal breaker...huge D stressor.

Second half was really interesting. We moved Vako more centrally and took a calculated risk to get Yueill and Flo further up field. For the first time it was a watchable open game...very open game...we rarely see that..a breath of fresh air. With more time and space, Yueill was free to to get up field and do what he does best, hit probing passes entering the attacking third...looked great for a good 10-15 minutes...then Stahre fearing our vulnerability on the counter, subs Yueill instead of Erickson to bring on Alashe to give better protection against the counter.

Hyka was a breath of fresh air...so much better than Erickson. His game and decision making are so much faster.

I don't like the double pivot much, but if Stahre has to play it, at least play it with Alashe and Flo....and Hyka or Tommy instead of Erickson. Just those two changes would be a noticeable improvement.

I thought Ockford, especially in the second Half was reading the defensive situations very well...stepping way up out of the back line to make a ton of plays.

I'd rather see Stahre take more risk and push more players forward like we saw in the second half. If we give up goals, I'd rather see them come from a counter situation, than hanging back and leaking groaner crap goals in a deep defensive set.

Give the boys a chance to play an open game.

 

That was Leitch last yr. Only if the back line would be faster and better. It sure was more fun to watch though.

 

Yeah, Eriksson probably needs to take a seat on the bench before the team can start to improve. He plays too much low-percentage long ball, can't really attack with the ball at his feet (and futzing around for 5-10 seconds and then falling down does not qualify as "attacking"), and he doesn't contribute much to the defense.

Problem is, this is likely the blind spot of blind spots for Stahre, He's not going to be able to accept the possibility that Hyka or TT in place of his man Eriksson could possibly help the team. And it might be for Jesse as well - would be tough to admit that they need to bench their $1.4 transfer fee / prized offseason acquisition?

 

MPG was more effective for less money.

 

Yeah, I agree. There is no way Erickson takes a seat...makes our enlightened talent evaluating brain trust look dim.

I'd even throw Vako into the same conversation, although he has a greater impact than Erickson, he clearly only chooses to play when he wants to...and the team has to be built to prioritize him in a floaty free role for him to have any chance to be successful, and even then, it is still marginal... otherwise he's a complete detriment to the effort. We could have gotten a better player for far less money. That one is also on our talent evaluating brain trust. The fact that Fioranelli had openly stated he perceived building the team around Vako is telling... two very expensive whiffs...along with some less expensive poor whiffs.

The FO needs to nail the next three acquisitions. I'm not overly optimistic given the track record, but Kashia looks legit...still need to see what he actually looks like in Stahre's little fun house.

 

i like Tarbell personality wise, but he needs to sit.

 

The really painful thing about these acquisitions is that you are usually stuck with them for 2 or 3 years except in rare cases where the player is so bad that the team eats the contract (Dawkins). And then being slow to admit the guys should maybe not be starting just exacerbates the problem. You are not only stuck with a player that is eating away at your payroll but he is actively making your team worse while possibly also retarding the development of younger players. It is a triple whammy really.

 

Silverware !!

 

I just got off the phone with NBC Sports Bay Area/California after discussing the blackout issue. I now see that my confusion arose from a misunderstanding of the term "out-of-market" which I took to be synonymous with "away games". The rep told me that is a common misunderstanding.

The leagues determine which viewers are in market and which are out of market and give that information to broadcasters. For example, I live near San Jose, therefore I am "in-market" for the San Jose team, no matter where San Jose plays its games. I am "out-of market" for other MLS teams, whether they play in their home cities or if they play an "away" game in San Jose.

She said the MLS Live and ESPN+ outlets are intended to allow a viewer to watch out-of-market games. So If I want to watch Atlanta play its games at home or anywhere else in the league, I would want the MLS Live/ESPN+ product. If I were an Earthquake "displaced" fan who lived in New York, the Earthquakes broadcasts would be 'out-of-market" for me, so it would make sense for me to subscribe to ESPN+ to see my favorite team play all of its games, whether they were home games in San Jose or away games in other cities.

I was told that since NBC Sports Bay Area and California is the Quakes in-market broadcasting partner, they would broadcast home and away EQ games for me, an in-market viewer. The exceptions would be two upcoming games this year which will be on Spanish stations (I think UniMas) since the Spanish broadcaster has the national rights for those games, NBC BayArea/California broadcasters would be blacked out for those games. (I didn't ask, but I assume ESPN+ would also be blacked out).

Since I am a Direct TV subscriber, I would need to find the prices from them to add some kind of sports package through them if I want to see Quakes games. NBC Sports Bay Are would be channel 696 and NBC Sports California would be channel 698.

So I expect I will be cancelling my ESPN+.

 

I seem to survive by going to the stadium when the Quakes are at home and (usually) to a local pub to watch them when they're away. It immunizes me from these 21st century problems.

 

Local blackouts for ESPN+ and for MLS Live before it are discretionary. San Jose has never had local blackouts, even earlier this year when MLS Live became part of ESPN+. The RSL match was the first away match blacked out, although the English language stream for the Chicago match was also blacked out with the Spanish language one not blacked out. I don't know about home matches because I have never tried to watch one online live.

Maybe the policy changed mid-season? That seems unlikely. However, there is no specific local blackout information available on the MLS website nor a blackout tool on ESPN+, both available pre-ESPN+.

On Saturday, the ESPN+ customer service rep definitely told me that San Jose matches are not blacked out locally. I followed up by email and if I get any information, I will share it. In response to my email, they asked me for my zip code and IP address, so maybe they are doing some research and hopefully fixing the problem.