Ok, I must admit I was less than pleased (ok, I was f---ng pissed) during the Crew-Quakes match because I knew that was winnable. But I moved on. This is my team---I will support it win or lose. But here we are on the what, 7th week of the season? And our points are looking really slim. Right now, we aren't making the playoffs. But is it really too much to ask? Are we being too optimistic? Optimistic that we are good enough to make the playoffs on our first year back? Afterall, The Fire did it, didn't they? Are we being to harsh on our team, setting up very high expectations? Are we still in 2003 and 2005 championship mode? Rome wasn't built in a day. I keep reminding myself. So, really, are we being to harsh? If we are, are we too harsh only because we know we can do more?
I don't think so. Everyone who built the team was extremely confident that we would be competitive right away but it's failed to show so. Our first game against the Galaxy was very disappointing, but the following game against the Fire showed everyone that the team was there to win (even if they didn't). Since then, I can't say i've seen such an effort. The Colorado game was nice yeah, but from what I recall, we capitalized on the few chances that we had while looking mediocre at best. Fans are never "harsh" when a team has a record of 1-5-1, especially when it could easily be 2-3-2 (considering we should have left with a draw against the Fire and a win against the Crew). I think the fans have every right to be upset, and I believe that we being upset will help the team by giving them an extra kick is the ass to get them going. As for the playoffs, while its not looking good so far, anything can happen. The Galaxy proved that last year by coming within a game of a playoff berth. IIRC, their run started a little after halfway through the season.
Short answer: F*** no! Long answer is: no, with an explanation. As season ticket holders it is our sacred duty to complain about the product on the pitch, would you happily eat a steak that fell on the floor and was covered in dust bunnies? Would you smile as the 20 dollar carwash you just paid for failed to clean your car? Paying the exorbitant price for tickets that we did entitles us to complain until we're blue in the face. My expectations weren't too high for this season, I just wanted entertaining/attractive football and I'm not even getting that. Yes, it's fantastic that we have a team back, the playoffs are unrealistic at this point.
We are bitching on an internet forum. Big deal. Being harsh is when we stop going to games and supporting the team. And Beerking is right. As season ticket holders we should never be satisfied with an inferior product, we should always be in the FO's ear, shouting for them to take steps to improve the team.
No. This team is horrible. Understood that it is an expansion team but even the basics are lacking tremendously. That being said I'm still happy we have a team back
Is it harsh to have high expectations for the team? No. A standard of excellence is part of the Quakes legacy beginning in the Yallop era of 2001. The players and the coaches have the same high expectations. Is it harsh to expect the standard of excellence to be reached after 7 games as an expansion side? Yes. We need high expectations but patience as well. If they panic, the team will start to thrash about and fall into the cellar as a consistently bad team. If they're patient and continually try to find ways to get better, they will be OK this year. Maybe not a playoff team, but they will start to make some noise and show improvement as the season goes on.
....to tie this in with the other thread.... Are you talking about after we won the very first MLS game?!?!?! ------------------ Are we too harsh? It depends on what your expectations are. If you think we should be winning every game, blowing the other teams away, and playing like Zenit St. Petersburg, then you're not being too harsh, you're just an idiotic moron who has completely lost touch with reality. Don't worry, I'm told that there are lots of people like that in California, just sitting around all day in front of their computer screens.... If you just thought we should be at least as good as Chicago in their first year..... well, heck, they set a precedent, but if you really believe that means we should do be able to do the same thing, you just haven't been paying attention to how the league (and expansion rules/situation) has changed. If you just wanted us to be competitive. Well, pick your poison. We have been competitive in most of our games, but we've been punished for our mistakes, and have made more mistakes than we should. No, we don't pass it like the Arsenal and play pretty, entertaining soccer in the final third (if you expect us to, please go back to the Zenit paragraph), but we have had moments where our passing has been quick, our movement good -- just not right in front of goal (where it is hardest to do). But people can criticize all they want, because in the end it all boils down to: should we have done better (with the team we have)? I think the answer is yes (but not much better). .... a lot of stuff just sucks right now. You can choose to focus on the crap (like Cochrane's goal being disallowed against LA), or you can look for something positive (like Johnson's play against NER). Translation of this post into normal language: ....blah blah blah blah blabitty blah.
Well said! Anyone who expected more than we are getting from this expansion team, playing in a temporary stadium, playing as a team for less time than it takes me to eat a sandwhich, while re-settling their families and lives in a new part of the world to most of them, has their head in the clouds. Be patient this year. Enjoy the fact that the Quakes are back. Enjoy watching individual players progress. Enjoy our dreams for the future. Be realistic. Complain next year if we still have an inferior product on the pitch. Support the team and their plans to build a SSS. Three years from now, after we have a SSS if the team is still delivering an inferior product then start getting in peoples faces. But dear God, please don't muck this all up because you are spoiled and unrealistic about who and what the Quakes should be at this point in their new existence.
Short answer No. Yes you can blame our high expectations on one thing or another, be it the fact we were the best team in the league last season (2005) and the expectation that it would continue, or the fact that the current squad was talked up by the FO and coaching staff, or just blind hope we'd be the next Fire. None of these were outlandish hopes mind you, just hopes that have proved unrealistic. Coupled with that distinct lack of scoring by this squad and it's clear we really do have something to complain about. I admit that after 7 games I'm to the point where I wish we'd have sacrified a defender or two and give up a few more goals if it meant we'd be scoring more as well. Watching defensive ball that's still resulting in losses is not only disheartening, it even lacks the momentary euphoria that follows a goal being scored by our side. I'm still with them to the bitter end this season and I'm glad to have the team back, but hopefully they pick it up. Because it is rather bitter right now. That said at least certain players are making progress and showing signs they can be good. It's sadly going to take time, more time than anyone even Frank and the FO thought, but that unfortunately fits with expansion sides other than Chicago.
Winning the MLS Cup as Chicago did in 1998 is something which will not happen for expansion teams anymore. At that time the league was still only 2 seasons old and many players were coming and going in and out of clubs. Having a cohesive unit in today's MLS means quite a lot. In most clubs across the world, you may have 5 different players in a starting lineup from season to season in regards to the previous year thru trades , injuries or out of form players but there will always be the same core group of maybe 4-5 players per club , per season who were their previously. This is a big difference in the levelof play on the pitch. We really just came together in Feb/March and to ask these players to play at the level of most 12 year old MLS established clubs, is asking too much. Having said this, in order to compensate for this is we need to get quality players and/or talented offensive midfielders and forwards who can create plays and score goals. Until this happens , this team will struggle.
Clap. Clap. Here. Here... I agree with your comments and want to focus on the entertaining/attractive football comment. My biggest fear prior to the season was that we had a defensive team that would play "Bora ball" and be less than exciting. To my surprise, while we have been defensive, the Quakes have been more exciting than expected for me in general. However, the final third has been extremely poor and is beginning to effect the rest of the play. Are we being too harsh? As a season ticket holder, I expect an entertaining product and effort put forth by my team. Since the team has been inconsistant, I expect more. Plus, I have watched and played enough soccer to realize that the team is not going in the right direction and there is no one can "save" this team on the current roster. Hence, we are not being too harsh in saying that changes need to be made in the next month or so. I'm still patient enough to wait another month or so. However, if at the end of June we have the same roster and have the same results, I will be extremely displeased...
I dunno, looks to me that the lame ass zounders have serious managment looking to make a splash. If they get Henry and shell out the $$$ for other quality players they will own and have a run at the cup their first year. Being 13th I can accept, being 14th I cannot even for an expansion team. We arn't even really competing in this league. We are playing for the 0-0 draw and if that doesn't work out its a 2 nil loss.
Quit being so negative all the time, have you even made one constructive post that has any positive in it at all? Anyways, from the extremely bad grammatical errors I understand that you can't stand that we are in 14th place and you will not tolerate it. Well In response to it, the Team doesn't play for the 0-0 result, we have some bad luck up top. We're missing 2 links, a center midfielder & a big strong forward. I still think when Peguero gets healthy he'll find the net. Honestly when people thought we were going to be contenders, was ludacris. I even said this when the thread "It's Settled: Were Winning The Cup" That we'd probably finish in the bottom 4 teams. The teams are very good this year, and a few teams that are stacked will miss the playoffs. But thats just the way sports is, and sure fans don't like it, but just gotta stick by the team until they find the promise land again. I've stuck by the Quakes since I was 8 years old, back when the league first started in 1996. I've been here through the good, the bad & the ugly. Infact, 2000 was probably the one time I thought about turning my back on the Quakes and jumping ship to New York. But I didn't i stuck with it, and we ended up winning the cup the very next season. So quit having the doubts. The good will come.
I think a better question would be: Did some of us have unrealistic expectations for Earthquakes 2008? Anyone who expected this team as it was constructed on opening day (and other than Peguero, there have been no changes) to be a playoff contender this season is/was off their rocker. At best we had to hope for a bunch of 0-0 or 1-0 games. I cannot see how anyone thought we could possibly win a game in wich we gave up 2 or more goals. And we'd be lucky to tie games in which we even gave up 1 goal. Face it, Kamara & Glinton are sub type forwards at best (Glinton may not even be that good), and as they continue to play and fail, its only going to put even more pressure on our shaky midfield. In the Columbus game, we saw what happens the second the midfield breaks down. So my answer to the original question (Are we being too harsh?) is yes, because realistically, this team was never going to be better than 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th in MLS anyways. Lee
Actually, the USL championship Sounders will already be light years ahead of us in terms of putting together a front office staff, established coaching structure and most importantly players on the feild. Even if they only have 4-5 players left over from the USL team, they will have more cohesion than we had initially. Adding a Henry or that type of caliber player, for the MLS anyway, will be icing on the cake....
I'm going to cry foul here. This is a classic apples and oranges comparison, and thus not fair. Earthquakes LLC were only granted the concession in July or August of last year, and were unable to even begin thinking about a coach and players after the then-current MLS season ended in November. Therefore, we had, essentially four months with which to: Get a coach, get players, get facilities and staff together, begin practicing, and start the season. The Sounders, OTOH, have an entire season in which to analyze, strategize, and devise a winning formula. I think to compare our situation with that of a team that does not even exist yet (save on paper) is just silly...
no, this team is not good enough to make the playoffs. it is composed mostly of medium level players that other teams were willing to let go, and cobbled together without someone with enough leadership to stand up and show some passion. at least that is where they stand at this stage. are we being too harsh? sure. let's give out little trophies to each player after the next game to show them how proud we are of them for being on the team.
I agree that the Quakes are playing attractive soccer, which is what makes me come back. I won't cease coming to the stadium if the Quakes are losing. That's a fair-weather fan, not a supporter. But like somebody said earlier, the final third is just disgusting. We've had one nice play there the whole year, when Grabavoy laid a perfectly weighted pass to Kamara and he scored (away from home! Argh!).
Getting Frank from the Galaxy was good but it was too late. We complained about this in threads this time last year if I recall. We were still going back and forth in May June on if we would be having a team or not. At that time we should have already had a GM named and a coach in place and should have already started thinking of who we should or shouldn't have signed. John Doyle however, was not named GM until late August or September if I'm not mistaken and Frank coached LA until the end of October/November, I believe. I remember when the MLS started, some teams signed players IE Tab Ramos to NY one year in advance and loaned him out to a Mexican club. The 1996 Clash were at a better point than this team is also as they had many SF BAY Blackhawks left over who had been together and knew each other... This club other than Cannon, Ramiro and Cochran does not have that type of cohesion.