Let's not let the mists of time reduce the clarity of just how bad JD was as a GM. Jesse has yet to prove his competency matches his rhetoric, but at least he does the rhetoric well, treats people with respect, and managed to hire a damn good coach!
In the recent event, Shea commented to me that JD retired his own jersey (during a conversation of retiring jersey's and how players still wear them). Classic.
Do you mean induction into the San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame? Besides the number itself not being retired (unlike when most other leagues' teams retire jerseys/numbers), JD was only the team's assistant coach when he was inducted in 2005 (the first-ever inductee and the only person inducted during The Golden Age). Kate McAllister and Ken Freccero were the (interim) GM's at the time of JD's induction (Alexi Lalas was transferred by AEG to become GM of the then-MetroStars after the first few weeks of that season). GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I was invited to sit in the Quakes' team box at Spartan Stadium for the game in which Doyle was the initial inductee into the Quakes' Hall of Fame. (Only time in a Spartan box). The Quakes beat the Galaxy, 2-1. Among those in the box were Doyle's entire family, as well as Brian Ching, who was nursing an injury, and Taylor Twellman's brother, James, who was on the Quakes roster at the time.
Actually, I was the one who hemmed and hawed and deliberately didn't spell out what Jesse told me, because he asked me not to. At this point, we are beyond what he said. So here it is: Jesse told me that he and the coaching staff had identified four new players that they wanted. (No doubt these players are not the same as the ones that Matias wants.) Jessed told me that they could only sign on of those four during the '18 season, and the other three guys would have to wait until '19. He told me that player was a central defender, and said he thought I'd like the new player. So we signed Kashia, a CD, and no one else. So all of that was true. We couldn't sign the other three guys because they had contracts they could not get out of and we couldn't afford the transfer fees because it would have violated the salary cap rules. All of that appears to be true. Also, Jesse told me that he still had faith in Stahre. I think that was true also. Our conversation was in April. Stahre didn't get fired until 17Sep18. Though we no doubt had engaged in a coaching search before then, because we annouced the new coach on 8Oct18. We discussed several players. I was critical of Eriksson and others for lacking foot speed. I criticized our off the ball movement, our poor throw-ins, our poor free kicks and corners, and our stupid empty bucket formation. Jesse told me that he couldn't really argue with my analysis of the team's short comings. He did appear to be sincere about wanting the team to win, and he appeared distressed that we were so terrible. But he still expected us to turn it around. Go Quakes!! We still stink!! - Mark
Oh, Jesse also said that he and the coaching staff underestimated the quality of play in MLS. To adjust, they tried to create a profile of the sorts of players that are successful in MLS. I told him that footspeed is vital to success in our league. Most players in MLS can't make quality 40 yard passes, whereas in other leagues, they can. So the tendency in MLS is to put defensive pressure on the enemy, force them to pass and hope their pass is bad. So players in our league need to be quick, and be able to evade defenders. Our league does not allow for a lot of time on the ball. Jesse said that he thought that was true, and I thought that it was part of their profile, but I'm not certain. And of couse, Kashia is a bit slow for our league. We talked about Quintana too. I liked that he has some pace, and that he's aggressive. Sure, he made some mistakes, but as a partner for Cummings (who is also slow) I thought he worked reasonably well. We talked for about an hour. Jesse wanted to know how long I'd been a fan, when I got into it and so on. And he asked me what my favorite city in Europe is. I said a toss up between Bratislava and Wien. GO Quakes!! Goddess I hope we're better this year!! - Mark
Listening to the '74 Til Infinity podcast that was posted in another thread, it got me thinking. Jesse really doubled down on himself this offseason. Basically his moves say "I got the players right, I just got the coach wrong". I know there are factors (of his own creation), like contract length, that tied his hands a little. Win big or lose big. This season is important for Jesse's future.
Thanks for the elaboration Mark. So Jesse is at worst a snake oil salesman, and at best is incredibly incompetent. How did he "underestimate" MLS? He had a whole ********ing year in 2017 before the 2018 debacle.
As I said at the time, one of the motivations for the Kashia signing, perhaps the key motivation, was to induce a better performance from Vako, who had not adjusted well. I've also said numerous times last season (and post mortem player interviews this preseason appear to confirm this), there was a significant mental component to the Quakes' problems last season. It was not a happy locker room. I don't know the full dynamic, but Vako was plainly part of that. Anyone focused on Kashia's speed or lack thereof is missing a huge piece of the overall puzzle. Kashia seems like a good guy in the locker room, and he is clearly good for Vako. Esprit de corps is the key to whatever the Quakes may or may not accomplish this season. It will make the Quakes' whole greater, or (as was the case last season) in its absence less, than the sum of the team's parts.
On the issue of esprit de corps, I heard something at San Pedro Square the other night from a longtime fan, which reinforced things I had heard previously. The fan mentioned that Troy Dayak told him that back in 2001, when Landon Donovan was a cocky rookie who had been hyped by the soccer media, Dayak and Jeff Agoos placed Donovan's locker immediately between theirs so that they could slap him down, figuratively if not literally, when his head swelled. Hard to quantify (which is why the data geeks will discount it), but doubtless an essential aspect of the Quakes' championship run that season.
Or, equal to the sum of their parts, which will hopefully be good enough for at least a couple more wins this year, but might not register much on the Richter scale.
Okay and "esprit de corps" is great and all... but the Earthquakes signed Guram Kashia on June 14 2018, which means he was part of that "not a happy locker room" for the latter half of the season. After Kashia's arrival, the Quakes record was 2W 5D 12L which was good for a 0.47 PPG (yes that's lower than their full season PPG of 0.62), including an 8 game winless streak to finish the season, and of course winning the wooden spoon... so more like "de corpse"! Maybe Kashia will improve the locker room in 2019 though, maybe the boost he provides to morale moves at the same speed as Kashia does on the field!
Yes. And their idea was two fold at least (remember we're talking about Jesse working with Stahre!!), they thought that Kashia being on the team would help Vako play to the best of his abilities, and they thought that Kashia would provide skill and leadership on the backline that we desperately needed. We can put some of that on Stahre, but we need to put some of that on Jesse as well. And Kashia is not good enough for MLS. Part of the problem is watching someone play in another league and thinking that the player will do just as well in MLS, which is not a sure bet. This also means that some of the players that Matias has identified may not be all that in MLS. I fear that we are making the same mistake as last season of grossly underestimating the quality of MLS and the need for footspeed in this league. EDIT: I see that @don gagliardi has already addressed much of this. Even so, the idea is that Kashia is both good and a team leader and good for Vako. I'm not buying that horse, sorry. Go Quakes!! About to get ripped! - Mark
https://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2019/03/02/news-earthquakes-joel-qwiberg-mutually-agree-part-ways The Earthquakes will exercise their one offseason Buyout of a Guaranteed Contract. Qwiberg, 26, signed ahead of the 2018 season and made five starts for the Quakes that year. $167,999.96 and a precious international roster slot in 2018 plus whatever salary they're buying out in 2019, on a fullback from the Swedish second division, who ended up only starting five games for the Quakes, and not only wasn't good enough at the MLS level, wasn't even good enough at the USL level! But the most worrying thing about this move is it really makes me question whether Jesse is a complete fraud. When I questioned the signing in a conversation with Jesse right after his pre-game Q&A, he spent 10-15 minutes (during the game vs Minnesota!) defending the move, stating that Qwiberg would work out great, and was a key part of the 3-5-2 formation the team was planning to transition to once he was ready for it. So if Jesse is to be taken at his word, the Quakes were planning to build their entire 2018 formation around this joker being some amazing wingback who would take MLS by storm!
Regarding JQ...The Earthquakes will exercise their one offseason Buyout of a Guaranteed Contract. so no way to buy out Eriksson this season
The reality is that Matias has been starting Eriksson in all the pre-season games and I expect to see him tonight. There seems to be thought that he is MLS starting worthy. Quiberg was never going to see the Quakes field and probably not even make the 18 all season. Our only hope is to trade Eriksson before the Swedish window closes, otherwise I predict he will be riding the bench afterwards. Now I wonder if the buyout means we have a little more cap space to play with on a summer DP signing.
We have yet to see what Almeyda does with Hoesen available. Will he pull Eriksson for Hoesen (maybe not position for position)?
OUR shitty team needs a full-on rebuild. This should have been obvious from our appallingly bad season last year. But we didn't do that. We picked up a USL goalkeeper, a Brasilian second division d-mid (who is actually pretty darned good), a Peruvian youth player who might MLS starting quality in another season or two, and one guy on loan from an Argentine premera division team (he appears to be legit too). But none of these guys are game changers. None of them are dominant players. Combine with our existing underperforming bunch of dudes, this spells failure. We are really bad. There is no chance of us improving with the existing roster. We need new players and a new GM. I like Jesse, I really do, but it is painfully clear that he continues to underestimate the quality of player necessary to compete in this league. Accordingly, I want to see the last of Jesse, Bruno Costa, Brett Karleen, and maybe Alex Covelo. Make Leitch GM, give him three years. Give him the budget he needs to bring on better players, and put a Quakes tied coach on Almeyda's staff. We need someone who can continue the project after Almeyda leaves, and he will leave. Probably not this season, but maybe in the off-season, maybe sometime next year, and he will take all of his staff with him. It is grossly irresponsible to try a sea-change in playing philosophy and have NO plan on how to continue it after the coaching staff all bail out. I'm shocked at how terrible and how incompetent we are as a team and organization. I need whiskey. Go Quakes!! Dead dreadful and depressing! - Mark