It remains to me a bit of a mystery as to how Dom could coach a team that played such attractive soccer (2005 Quakes) and then coach teams with a relatively dreadful style of play (2015-17 Quakes). It must be that he didn't think he had the players for it in 2015-17. But Almeyda has managed to get essentially the same team to play entertaining soccer with the same overall player level. This difference is that Matias is willing to take chances. He's willing to absorb 5-0, 6-0 blowouts to stay true to his style of play. Leitch was that also, and even said it explicitly. Dom got very, very conservative with the team so we were in a lot of close losses, 0-0 games, 1-0 games, etc. We did OK but it was no fun to watch. Kaval was actually right about the "boring" thing IMO.
The league was smaller at the time (at least comparted to now) and it seemed talent was easier to obtain. Looking at the rosters from 04 & 05 , you see that Ronnie Ekelund was gone and LAndy's move to LA proved fatal in the playoffs but during the regular season, they obtained 8 newer players. Wade Barrett at the time told me that getting rid of LAndy actually helped Ching and DeRo step up their game. Other additions like Moreno , Cerritos , Clark , Davis , Chung and himself gave them more firepower and made them play better. Not sure if it was Dom & John who obtained those players or if it was the league who gave San Jose a break because of the LAndy deal....
I think Doyle was assistant coach at that time, so he had probably little to do with those acquisitions. It was Dom and Alexi Lalas (yes, Alexi Lalas).
I agree with this list. I would add to it one more: He is brave. I _love_ his lack of fear. He goes for the win and trusts it can work and is worth the try. I remember the feeling the first time he made the brave attacking substitutions (though I don't remember which game) and it was exhilarating and so different from the previous couple years. I think this taps into 1) and 3), but I feel it stands alone.
Yeah, and later I contrasted Dom and Almeyda. They both have it in them to try to play attractive soccer (Dom in 2005, Almeyda the whole time he's been there). The difference is that Almeyda is willing to take it on the chin big time from time to time - 5-0, 6-0 defeats, in order to stick with his plan. Leitch was more like Almeyda in this way, and was actually explicit about it. And yes, we also took it on the chin quite a bit under Leitch, on the road anyway. But we were generally very good at home.
Matias is an excellent coach. it always amused me when folks around here criticized him for the Quakes struggles. Wondo's celebrations after his last two goals tell us all anyone needs to know about coach Matias Almeyda and what he means to these players, young and old.
Doyle probably got Ronald Cerritos to come back and he ended up playing 30 games and had 5 goals. LALAs & Dom probably signed Danny Califf and Alejandro Moreno from he GALS.....
Yes, I think I remember Lalas saying something like "when I think of SJ Earthquakes I think of Ronald Cerritos. Let's get him back". And yeah Califf and Moreno were Gal connections. The irony is that I think Lalas was just thinking yeah, let's at least get them competitive - so at least the games with the Gals aren't ridiculously one-sided. Heh... I know the Gals beat the Quakes in the playoffs. But the Quakes were way better than the Gals that year.
Almeyda is going through an emotional rough patch right now. This past year has been hard with not only losing his father, but also Gallindo nearly dying and not by his side right now. I'm getting concerned he might return to the melt down mode he displayed his first season when he got suspended twice. Hopefully the team will rally together and get on the same page with his tactics.
I like Almeyda. He is a nice guy. When I met and got a chance to speak to him (in both Italian and Spanish), he seemed very knowledgeable about the game. He was very up on European and MLS teams. He was also a great player back in the day. I'm sure his not being able to speak English after 3 years is still a huge factor but that isn't the only problem. He is used to playing with and against players with better tactical training and techniques at a much higher level where every game at the beginning and at the end of the season mean so much more. You have the domestic cups, the international and national team games as well as the league. Players come in prepared and already know how to adapt when stepping on the field and the pressure to win or survive is immense. I'm sure he is frustrated but MLS and especially Quakes players just do not possess this style of play and no matter how much you teach them , it’s just not in them. You need to incorporate players who know how to play a man to man marking system and guys who were raised with it. You won't do this however, either with the Quakes payroll and/or second rate Latin-Americans on the roster.
Basically, what you're saying is that he's stubbornly wedded to strategies and tactics HE KNOWS aren't going to work with the roster he has. In other words, he's woefully underprepared and ill-suited to be coaching MLS and should quit or be replaced soon, since he apparently cannot adjust to the reality in which he finds himself.
I tho k there is something very big to that, and we as supporters need to treat that with the utmost respect and dignity. There are some extremely strong indicators of a significant and highly concerning mental health event taking up Almeydas mind right now. That’s going to have some implications in the locker room that need to be worked through , and it likely won’t be quick unfortunately
Either way, the team hired and is paying him for what is probably a huge contract. Of course, he took it. He wanted the Chile job but the Quakes wouldn't let him out of his contract or they wanted compensation for him. Therefore, whether the players are capable of playing in his system or not., he won't quit now because he doesn't have to and also probably doesn't want to lose out on guaranteed money unless he has another job lined up. Why would he do that?
Well, I guess this is the problem, since virtually no players in the soccer world have a lot of man to man marking experience. That's probably why he is bringing players in who played for him previously, he is hoping they can play his system. All I see is mostly a bunch of overpaid underachievers.
Players don’t have these issues on other MLS teams. Other MLS teams play much more attractive soccer than we do. So what are you saying? That our players are all USL and sub-USL level and that we need to replace the entire roster? The problem is that our coaching staff blows. They keep doing the same stupid stuff over and over. They make the same mistakes year after year. They hired guys who don’t fit the system, and insist on playing those guys. Starting Rios?! What the hell was that?! Why is Chofis still starting when he’s clearly not up to it? Why move Cade to the wing? Why didn’t Fierro start when he’s been consistently less horrible than most of our players? Whatever the reason, Almeyda has not been successful here. We need a whole new coaching staff and GM. Go Quakesfans!! - Mark
Yes that about covers it. Our players are not that good and Almeyda brought in a bunch of crappy offensive and defensive players. Either because of the budget or whatever, players like Daniel Vega, Javier Eduardo López, Eric Remedi , Andrés Ríos, Luciano Abecasis, Carlos Fierro, Oswaldo Alanís and Marcos López are all outcasts and suck. They may do well for a game or two then revert right back into nothing and are very inconsistent. Judson was ok last year not sure what's up with him now or if he is out of shape or what. Cristian Espinoza is all flash and no finish. I don't see many positives from any of them. This is why Matias is still relying on Salinas and Wondo as subs because those guys can't do the job.
You guys are talking like the Quakes are the worst team in the league. Our attack is very good at producing chances. We're even ok at finishing at this point. Our defense is average. All in all we're in 7th place and that feels about right. Is that bad for a team that is under spending in all areas of the club?
We just lost three games in a row at home, scoring one goal. Now a lot of road games coming up. What is our likelihood of being in 7th (or above) at the end of the road trip?
But what is the likelihood we'll be fighting for that spot at the end of the season? I'd say pretty good.
Some of us are heartily sick of fighting for the last playoff spot and would like to see something closer to 2012 than all those years where we lost out on "decision day". I mean, for gods' sake - finishing seventh out of 13 teams in the conference is hardly an inspiring achievement. It takes a special sort of stupid to think that doing so (particularly when in every case except 2010 we were quickly shown the door in the first round of playoffs) is worthy of excitement and fan support...
Well, who knows - the result against RSL was a huge shock, so we may fair better on the road. Austin seems eminently beatable, although we do have to be concerned about Earthquakes rejects Nick Lima and Danny Hoesen getting some joy out of scoring against us...
After the Gals game, there's a break, then check this out: 6-19 - Austin (away) 6-22 - Orlando (away - a Tuesday game across country, after a Saturday game, really?) 6-26 - Gals (home) That is a brutal stretch. Two days rest between Austin and Orlando?? Matias may just play the B team in Orlando.
...plus it’s their inaugural game in their brand new stadium. The crowd will “will” them to victory... ...alright, alright, alright.