Pre-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Los Angeles FC (Saturday, 3/30) pregame thread

I haven't been a fan for nearly as long as many on BS but I've been following since the middle of 2014 and on my 3rd year as a STH. On the one hand I'm not invested as many of you, but on the other hand I've never seen a good Quakes year. I've only heard stories of 2012 and the golden years before they went to Houston. So I'm not sure why i do this - I just fell in love with soccer and I hope some day the Bay Area can have a world class team (some day).

But yeah, to some extent I feel your pain. The Quakes organization is stumbling to say the least.

I do think we caught a break by getting a 'CONCACAF' class coach and I hope it works out. I think we should go all in on this and hope for the best - He needs the players though...

Turning around now and starting over with yet another coach I just fear we could end up in an even worse spot.

 

It’s not the coach, I tend to agree that getting Almeyda was a good move and I’m pretty sure he could be a great coach for us too, with the right players. I never thought a coaching move coupled with a few minor tweaks would make much improvement over last year. And it’s true, 2012 was a lot of fun but before that you have to go back to 2005 for a really good year, and of course 2001 and 2005 were brilliant. That history and losing our team in such a way does factor into the emotion around wanting to be better and hating just how bad we’ve become. I hope we can celebrate a great season again before too many years roll by, for everyone’s sake!

 

You're right. Our guys suffered too many losses last season. No matter what Matias has done, some of our guys still have fragile egos. Losing is habit-forming. As the losses pile up our guys aren't going to have any confidence at all, and you need that to play well.

We are falling into a black hole. There is no way out of this mess without signing better players and ditching some of the guys on our roster. And in a new environment, some of our guys will do much better, but here? We're just so screwed!

I'm so pissed! It's not like this wasn't predictable.

Go Quakes!!
We don't care if we suck!!

- Mark

 

How much longer before KNBR drops the Quakes from its programming?...

 

Gulp...I'll be there. Drakes Hefe will make the result less painful..

 

BOYCOTT THIS GAME, IT'S BEING SHOWN ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!

 

On this forum there are about 10-15 participants. Out of these, only half probably go to games. Would it make a difference if they boycott?

 

Sales for the game have been brisk. The game is going to sell out, or come close, and there will be a large contingent of traveling LA fans. I would not be surprised if Quakes fans are outnumbered, even without a boycott.

 

Count on it, it's going to look like LA lite.

 

You repeat yourself.

 

Well...that would reflect very poorly on our fanbase if we let that happen. I agree that empty seats will send a message, but a game against a team from LA is not a good time for that.

 

I don't really think that a boycott is going to make a difference in this case, certainly not in the short run.

But, if fans contact the front office, either fan relations or Jesse directly and express their extreme displeasure, it might make a dent. Actual protests in the stands, Jesse OUT signs, Fisher OUT signs, I don't think those would either get Jesse fired, or cause Fisher to sell, but it might cause Fisher to spend more money on the team.

The problem is that we need re-enforcements right now, but we won't get any until the summer transfer window when it will be too late.

2019 is just one more in a series of seasons that ownership is willing to flush down the toilet. That attitude more than anything else really pisses me off. It's clear that ownership and the FO in general are willing to tank a whole season. "We tried some stuff in the pre-season, but it didn't pan out and now we're willing to wait for next pre-season to try again." That's just shit.

In any case, LaF#*ck are going to stomp on us.

Go Quakes!!
We suck!!!

- Mark

 

Boy are they going to be surprised when they find out we aren't happy!

 

I'm sure they know that we are pissed, but it looks like we need to rub their noses in it. It's has to be intolerable for them that we are pissed. Flood their email inboxes, jam their voice mail, complain from the stands, boo! If we don't make a change right away this season is lost. Just like last season and so many seasons before. We need a sense of urgency, but I'm not seeing it.

Go Quakes!!
f@#$ing terrible!!

- Mark

 

How did that work last season? The breakfast with Fioranelli? The Stahre Out banners? The season ticket non-renewals?

 

When I renewed my tickets I had a long talk with my ticket rep about how 2018 was torture and how I hoped and expected to see great signings in the off season. He agreed with me and hoped for the same thing (why wouldn’t he, it would just make it easier for him to sell tickets).

The feeling I got is the whole organization wants the team to do better. Everybody’s life would just be easier that way.

I heard the mercury news is no longer covering the Quakes and I don’t think the local tv news covers the Quakes either (I remember they did have the home opener in the news though)

Check any recent post from the Quakes Twitter account and look at the replies. It’s 100% negative. You know how negative BS is, same with reddit and I would guess Facebook as well. It’s not difficult for me to monitor all of this so I’m sure at least somebody employed by the quakes is doing the same (they do have a media team).

I noticed they don’t do those Quakes axis videos anymore and they aren’t doing the tactical analysis videos. My guess is they don’t want to dwell on the horrible start to the season. But who knows.

I know that the MLS media gives absolutely bare minimum coverage to the Quakes and it’s almost always negative.

So my assessment is things are really bad for the quakes right now and everybody has to know it.

 

Somehow, we need to make it worse. As @Scott Rohde says, I'm sure that they know. BUT, they sure as hell don't appear to be doing anything about it. I mean, maybe they are pursing a couple of players quietly, so we might not see that. But we keep running out the same starting eleven. We keep pursing the same tactics. We still have Eriksson and Afolter on the roster. We still aren't seeing the kids get more playing time.

Right now, I think the best way to watch a Quakes game is with a morphine drip line, or a really large glass of whiskey.

Go ... or forget it

- Mark

 

Maybe the big drum was a good idea if they let us take our aggression out banging on it. A giant punching bag might have been smarter though.

Or even better: a dunk tank and each ticket holder gets to choose which player, coach, or executive gets in the tank.

 

Eventually, we’re going to catch one of these teams in a trap game, where they aren’t prepared, and we’re up for the game/get a fortuitous goal. It started to happen for a half on Saturday. I’m gonna go against the grain, and call 2-1 quakes, goals from vako and Espinoza

 

Okay so 2-1 Quakes, but then what about the second half?

 

I’m going to petition to the league to have the game stopped after 45 minutes lol