Matías! Por favor, compra un: guardameta, arquero, portero, meta, guardavalla , guardapalos,, cancerbero o golero!
The question we’d all like to ask: @Extratime how does Almeyda’s hair grow so fast??— Joseph Tanner (@josephtanner) April 17, 2021
So in his after game comments following the Houscum match, Almeyda actually said that the reason we didn’t have more preseason games against MLS clubs was because of covid. This is patently bullshit. Lots of other MLS teams pulled this off, so we had that ability too. This is both an absurd thing to say — unless there is some serious elaboration to the statement, like the other teams were not virus free or some crap —and insulting to the fans intelligence. If other teams managed lots of preseason games against MLS competition, we could have too. We need a completely new regime, new owners, new GM, new head coach, and a bunch of new players. This is freaking pathetic. Go Quakesfans!! - Mark
The team responded beautifully to Almeyda’s tactics yesterday against Dallas. They looked a little slow but also seemed to dominate the flow of the game. Getting two pk’s is usually unheard of but glad they at least converted one. Not sure if it was because the Quakes improved or because FC is an inferior opponent but either way , the game plan worked yesterday. Espinosa blew his pk but then makes up for it with a nice goal.
The fact that FKCD gave up two PK’s is a sign of how bad they are. Also, we’ve gone whole seasons getting only one or two PK’s, so I see this as an improvement. We did not look good in the early going against FCKD, but we did eventually get it together. I’m hoping that’s a sign of things to come. Go Quakesfans!! - Mark
I love how he uses the questions as a chance to teach us his philosophy on soccer/coaching rather than just giving straight forward answers.
Almeyda deserves credit for making the right decisions and subbing Wondo and Judson in against RSL. As much as he and the club try and phase Wondo out, I think he will have trouble in deciding not to start him in the upcoming games. . Wondo proves everyone wrong each season and I can't imagine Chirs (even at 38) being used as a super sub for the remainder of the season.
"Matias Almeyda thanks San Jose Earthquakes for lifting him up amid personal grief" (Center Line Soccer - Sunday, 5/9/21) Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
cautiously optimistic about our season. We just beat a very good team. Im happy we kept him on. He always seemed like the best option. We just gotta give him the weapons to succeed. Starting with a centerback or two
I agree, it’s no necessarily the most popular opinion on here, but he’s doing remarkably well when you consider how talent-deficient the roster is, he’s getting every ounce out of these players
yup, I know our boat is getting pretty small, lord knows I get it, but I just feel like if I jump into the water theres great white sharks surrounding us. Trying to keep the big picture that hes doing the best with what hes got.
I think most people here would agree that Almeyda's doing a good job with the team he has. I don't agree with everything he does or says, and I've been vocal about those things, but on balance I have been pro-Almeyda all the way. And while I don't think our roster is at the bottom of the league (as some people will contend), it is not at the top either. I'm gonna say lower-mid level, and I think it's actually dropped a little this year relative to last in terms of talent level.
Indeed, and thats the biggest reason for me. I actually think as far as roster capital goes, we are bottom of the league, around the Colorado/New England region. Even Cincinnati has gone out and got expensive new toys. But what I disagree with is "most people" think hes doing a good job with what he has, unless I am just paying attention to really loud minority voices. But I am not going to raise a stink about it, I know its a popular position, and its such a blurred line that its not worth getting overly worked up over it.
I think we have a tendency to underrate our own players. We have the league's all-time goals scorer, who is still doing it (isn't that worth something?), we have one of the league's most exciting young players, we have the captain of Olympic qualifying team (who was hardly the reason we didn't qualify), we have two excellent d-mids, we have one of the best outside attacking mids in the league, ... It's not really that bad. As for opinions about Almeyda, off the top of my head, I can think of only a few regular posters here who want him gone. So yeah, I think you are paying too much attention to loud minority voices ;-). On Quakes reddit, which tends to be pretty "group think-y" (and if you're a dissenter, downvote city!), Almeyda is seen as essentially beyond reproach, and everything is the roster / Fish's fault.
The way I rate Almeyda is that the Quakes are so much more entertaining to watch. And since he is now subbing around the 60-65th minute, I don’t have any complaints except for recruiting so many former players of his who don’t seem to be worth their pay.
Honestly , I don’t think there are many above average players on the entire team. The only DP caliber superstar continues to be a 38 year old Wondo and Cade is still too young to carry a team. The rest are ok and good sometimes. Almeyda’s tactics seem to get the most out of a mediocre bunch of players and he has them playing above their heads.
There are several things I like about Almeyda: 1) Style of play is different and entertaining to watch, though sometimes it's entertaining in a bus careening down a sloped road with no driver kind of entertaining. 2) While I'm not quite as down on the roster as a lot of folks, I agree that he generally has the team playing a bit above their level, on balance over the years. [I think we tend to overplay this a bit. The Quakes have about 1.3 PPG under Almeyda, while Dom was at around 1.26 in his 2nd stint with the Quakes. Dom didn't have great players either, 2015-2017. He arguably had worse players. Leitch is still the best in his short stint - 1.35. The big difference between Dom and Matias is #1 - entertainment value of style of play.] 3) He's a very philosophical guy. Ask him a question about some tactical thing and he's liable to turn it into a discussion of some aspect of his philosophy of life. I like that. He transcends soccer. 4) He builds excellent team chemistry out of a team of players with somewhat diverse backgrounds. There are a few things I don't like, but the "like" easily outweighs the "dislike": 1) Sometimes I think he whines a little too much or exaggerates kind of behind the Quakes back (e.g. foreign press) about the club's technical spending. I know, he has reason to gripe but 1) you buy the ticket, you take the ride, and 2) he can take it to the club in private. I don't know what purpose it serves to whine about it publicly - other than to make himself look better by providing an excuse for not getting better results. 2) Sometimes, tactical things - like hardly ever rotating his lineup in his first year, 2019, something that I think caught up to him.
Dave Kaval stated the reason he got rid of Doyle was because the team was boring to watch. John Doyle hired Dom and his style also seemed boring in his latest stint. In 2005, Kinnear employed a great , skillful style of play I had yet seen up until that point in MLS. Having a Pat Onstad a healthy , younger DeRo not to mention players like Ching, Brad Davis , Mark Chung and Ricardo Clark also contributed to a great style of play. The new Kinnear didn't have such a luxury. The reason was either the league grew , improved and became tougher or because he didn't have many funds. Almeyda is more of a players coach. He played at the highest level and probably expects more from the players than Dom did. This isn't saying Dom didn't expect the same but the man marking for example is something I had never seen from Frank , Dom or many other MLS coaches in years past.