Post-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Real Salt Lake (Saturday, 5/30) post-game thread [R]

I watched the game live but didn't notice what happened at 2:20 in that highlight video until I saw it just now. Looks like Johnson is setting a good example for the ball kids.

 

I was surprised at how much of Convey's play came right up the middle. We'll seem him as c-mid v FCD.

Zaher's assist was awsome. A dart to Glen's head. He has to continue to start.

Johnson looked his best so far this season. Too bad he didn't score.

While I thought he played well, Hernandez got beat again. Is that 3 goals in 2 games?

Crowd was small, probably less than 9K.

 

Best game of the year, although at first it looked like another "skip the midfield & kick it long" night.
I know the MLS is noted as physical soccer, but is hitting players on the head "physical soccer"? RSL did this several times to the Quakes. I don't see the Quakes get much home field advantage when it comes to the refs.
I was told that Brian Hall helps to evaluate the "play" of the refs after each game, but it doesn't seem to do any good. Next year will be really bad with new teams in the league & more games. Where will they get good refs?

 

Yeah, I especially liked it that time in the 2nd half when he passed it backwards into heavy traffic, rather than turn and go forward with no one in front of him. The backwards pass is like an instinct that he just can't overcome.

 

that's why i don't sit in 103 any more.

it was good how the crowd got behind the quakes as soon as the team started getting some chances - score in a minute, we indeed did.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8_-yyy5WJ8"]YouTube - Post-Game Yallop on Win, Performance, and Glen Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes 05.31.09[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJiNkvWFVhA&feature=channel"]YouTube - Post-Game Alvarez on Team Performance and His Shot Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes 05.30.09[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkyceP-7I8&feature=channel"]YouTube - Post Game Glen on MLS and Chemistry Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes 05.30.09[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlqcbAKtOoc&feature=channel"]YouTube - Post-Game Convey on Midfield and Nice Touch Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes 05.31.09[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl0onnSDrUc&feature=channel"]YouTube - 20090530 221027[/ame]

 

I especially liked "all his liabilities..."

 

Interesting to see the interviews. Convey essentially says that he's been playing well but people just haven't noticed because they've been losing.

And can he be in that much of a hurry after a game that he can't wait until the interview's over to put on his deodorant and his earrings?

Anyway, as for AA and the right foot / left foot thing, I think he is not that inept at using his right foot, it's just that he wants so badly to take his shot with his left foot. But he will probably get more looks with his left foot on his cut in move if he can establish a repertoire going right. But going left is like a drug for him. It's hard for him to stop it.

Not sure what Frank's going to do with the trio Zaher, Hucks, and Convey when Hucks comes back (which could be next week?). I'm afraid he would put Hucks at left mid, Zaher left back, and Convey in the middle. I think Convey would work better with Zaher on the left because Convey can provide better defensive cover on Zaher's overlapping runs than Hucks would. And the team loses some bite in the middle with Convey there. We've seen it many times this season. I suppose Hucks could play forward, which might not be a bad idea at least while Glen is out on nats duty. But when he comes back, I think he should start alongside RJ.

 

This is the San Jose Earthquakes we've all been waiting for! Or, really, the team we've known all these years: lots of heart, hustle, conviction and a performance that's a full-90! Too bad there is a no shutout for The Joe and the rest of the defense but hey, it is a win! And it came at a very crucial moment.

The officiating by Kevin Stott was its usual: BAD! I always cringe whenever I hear he is officiating because the man just either hates our collective guts or just plain.....you can fill in the rest! Argh!!!! I mean, c'mon! #3 and #4 for RSL??? Those guys were literally clobbering every Quake they could find! And I mean, clobbering: arms, elbows---everything!!!!

 

Ok, this I gotta see

 

Re: Official San Jose-Real Salt Lake post match

DOH! Apologies, I thought Amerikawa(?) had that goal. Only when I saw the highlights today did I realize it was Alvarez.

 

Hey, what are you talking about? I always put my earrings and deodorant on while I'm being interviewed in front of the TV cameras.

 

It's a legitimate question that no one seems to want to answer.

Let me spell out his liabilities:
1) No right foot, only goes one way - left.
2) Can't deliver a cross from the wing - not a good thing for a winger.
3) Often doesn't track back on defense
4) Can't strike a decent ball on a set play, floats his corner kick attempts
5) Can't head the ball on goal
6) Doesn't go up to win balls in the midfield, meaning challenge for a ball in the air
7) Doesn't tackle often or with conviction
8) Can't go hard for 90 minutes


He's got several strong assets:
1) He can take people on the dribble
2) He can unleash a bomb with his left when cutting across the top of the box
3) decent speed (kinda goes along with #1)

So...back to the original question.... I will say his points to date (7) put him at the higher end of the stack of MLS outside mids. Not as productive as say Brad Davis (2 G, 7 A) or Colin Clarke (2 G, 5 A) but pretty decent compared to most including guys like Freddy Ljundberg and Dave Van Den Bergh.

 

Yeah!! Convey had a very nice game.
Check 78:15 2nd ... Convey makes a nice
Run down the middle, draws 2-3 defenders,
Slips a very nice through ball to RyanJ
But RyanJ stops his run & the ball goes
To the keeper.

Afterwards, you can see Convey roll
His eyes. It must be very hard for
Him since the playing style is so
Different than what he is used to.
I can see that Convey is trying to
Play good soccer but the players
around him are much slower &
Deliberate (if that is the right word).

 

Convey and Johnson have a chemistry problem. There was the one back heel from RJ to Convey that was very nice, but generally speaking, I'd say Q and Convey play better together. And Johnson and Hucks play better together.
Although RJ will at times stop runs he shouldn't stop, but hopefully the instincts will develop if he stays fit and plays consistantly.

But Convey and Zaher worked well together after about the first 20 minutes of the game and I think that's a good sign.

I would suspect if Hucks is ready for next week, it won't be for 90 so there's not as much issue of how do we find a spot for our two highest paid players if they should both play left mid. Convey to left back and Zaher back to the bench?

I hope the solution isn't to try Convey in the middle yet again, ever.

 

Not to mention that they probably don't wear deodorant or earrings, or shirts unbuttoned halfway down their chests, like he does.

Seriously though, there may be times where he anticipates things that the other players don't, but I've also seen many bad giveaways from him that really can't be attributed to anything other than "bad giveaway".

I think the profound part was "I just like to play simple", which he said about 5 times. I also notice that the interview was a lot about "I" and not much "we" in there. Part of that is answering the question, but most players will deflect the "I" stuff and start to talk more in terms of "we". BTW, who passed the ball to Alvarez on his goal, Zaher or Convey? I see people crediting Zaher with 2 assists, but Convey is listed with the assist on that goal. If it was Zaher, that would have been a good time for him to correct the interviewer and mention that Zaher had a very good game. But I think he took it as a good time to grab the deodorant from his locker instead.

 

I think he's pretty arrogant. If he finds a position where he plays well, the fans may accept him. But I don't really think he'll ever be a fan favorite or bond with SJ fans at all. I don't know if it's playing in England so young that he sees himself superior or if that's just his personality generally or if he's just cursed with an inability to give a good interview. But I think he's one of the most un-Quakes-like Quakes I can recall.

 

Nah, last few practices I've sat through BC worked his butt off. When everybody else took a well desereved break. BC kept working. Taking shots on goal with a backup keeper or working on crosses with Weaver an Q.


I want to be a big fan of his and i'm glad he's giving us something to work with.

And give the guy a break. It was a LOCKER ROOM interview. The point is your talking to these guys while they're getting dressed.

 

I want to be a fan too, but to be honest he does come across as a bit arrogant. I think he's probably a good dude, but maybe a bit of an arrogant dude. Yeah, it's a locker room interview, but seems like the other guys usually pause to answer the question rather than rolling on the underarm deodorant as they speak.

But I was more bothered a bit by his claim that he's been playing well all along, it's just that the team's been losing so people haven't noticed. And that he didn't credit any teammates, even when the interviewer wrongly credited him with an Zaher's assist (or did he really assist on Alvarez's goal(?) - heck I'd call that unassisted anyway).

But anyway, very small sample size. I'm not going to try to cut him some slack until I see more.

 

Seriously, duetime. Come on. "That's all he's got"? There are only a handful of players in the league that can do what he did on Saturday. Notwithstanding his reluctance to use his right foot, Arturo rarely loses possession. (I agree he did on Saturday - he had an off night). He passes and combines very well. He is at times and usually our best player on the field if these are the benchmarks - possession and creativity. We have enough "effort" players out there.

There's another thing you should notice is that when Alvarez gets the ball wide right he draws multiple defenders - that is always a good thing because it leaves others unmarked. Watch the game again. In the second half whenever he received the ball on the right at least three or four would go toward him or if there were less - the defender backs off. That's all good, good, good.

And another thing. How good is Shea Salinas' left foot. Does he use it? I know Ian Russell never did.

 

I'll bite, as I didn't see this before I replied to your earlier post.
1) No right foot, only goes one way - left. - Generally I agree.

2) Can't deliver a cross from the wing - not a good thing for a winger. From the right, jury is still out. Disagree regarding the left side.

3) Often doesn't track back on defense. - This is flat not true. Watch the game again and see how often he tracks back, and wins the ball back. Several times.

4) Can't strike a decent ball on a set play, floats his corner kick attempts - I think his goal on Saturday would put to rest notions that he can't strike a ball well. If he's floating corner kicks - it's likely by design.

5) Can't head the ball on goal. Not true - See his goal at Dallas in 2004/5? And last year he buried one with his head at the beer garden end of Buck Shaw.

6) Doesn't go up to win balls in the midfield, meaning challenge for a ball in the air. He doesn't have Amerkiwa's hops, so maybe this is acceptable.

7) Doesn't tackle often or with conviction - If you mean slide tackle, agree. How often do you see Landycakes slide tackle? If not, I disagree. He tracks back.

8) Can't go hard for 90 minutes - Is this directed at his physical or mental abilities. Can't means he is not capable, and obviously, I disagree as he plays the full 90 most games. Mentally, he may choose to pick his spots. That's smart, in my view, as long as you are not dogging it when you should be hustling.