Mark, it’s like some god awful deja vu, every year we’re in here railing against our small team and it’s dreadful owner, every year there’s a handful of folks who agree and a handful who don’t, and every year we’ve been right , the Quakes weren’t ready, we came up short, same script, every single year. sucks. Fisher out!
Here's where I have to confess that I have been taken in by our team's happy talk more than once. You'll recall the season where we drafted Pablo Campost and Cam Weaver? That was the right idea, and several teams were high on Compos, really. And it's OK to take a flier on a player like that from time to time, or even one every off-season, BUT, you have to make some moves that have a much higher degree of certainty that will improve your team. For years, nearly all of our draft picks and trialists were high risk choices. It was like always betting single numbers at roulette, instead of betting on black or red, or at least going for corners. Once in a while, your number hits, but mostly, you lose your bet. I'm done with buying the happy talk. There are positions on our squad where we clearly need upgrades, and we didn't make those moves. Could Fiero step in for Vako? Play Espinoza on the right and Fiero on the left? Would that work? Maybe lineup Rios in Vako's spot? Because we need to replace Vako. Yes, he has moments where he's amazing, but mostly, he's invisible. Kashia isn't good enough, and he's getting older and slower. We need a real live left back. (Lima doesn't really cut it over there, and somehow, he just doesn't fit Almeyda's style very well.) We need an upgrade at Magnus' spot. So we're supposed to buy that the crew who missed the playoffs last season will make the playoffs this season? And so what if we do? Won't we get trashed in the first round? That's not competing, that's playing the cannon fodder role for the other "big" teams. It's not good enough for me. Compete, damnit! Go Quakes!! Fisher OUT!!! - Mark
Meanwhile Columbus and New England have just signed to top tier players, especially Columbus forking out 7M for theirs. And we've done what exactly? NOTHING!!!
As usual, you don't know what the f*ck you are talking about. Vako has 23 goals in 78 appearances for the Quakes, not a bad return at all for a left midfielder. Compare that to Shea Salinas, with an MLS career total of 19 goals in 312 appearances. Granted, he has had many starts at left back for the Quakes, still his productivity isn't anywhere near Vako. I bet Vako is near the top for goals per minutes for players at his position. And last year he did much better at performing his defensive responsibilities. And he brings a very unique skill set to the Quakes, someone who can beat players on the dribble. Vako is not a weak link on the team. I still would rather see a CAM in the likes of Lodeiro or Carlos Gil in Eriksson's position, albeit Magnus was much improved last year.
Salinas has filled a very different role as a midfielder for most of his time with the Quakes, one that very rarely saw him trying to score goals himself. He also was never considered a DP caliber player, so expectations were considerably lower. I wouldn't say Vako's production has been bad for the Quakes, but the irregularity of his scoring is troubling, especially when it coincides with the end of the season when the pressure is mounting and the team gets more desperate. When he joined the league, he got 5 goals and 2 assists in just 784 minutes of play. The next year, he managed to double his goal total and more than double his assist total, but it took him more than three times the minutes to do it. He was pretty close to the same in 2019 as 2018. It's pretty good, but the team needs to be better. Of course, other players need to contribute more, too, so it doesn't all fall on Vako. But a DP player who shoots a lot should not struggle to get double-digit goals in a season, which Vako has so far only done once.
Hilarious quote from article [bold] "That was great for the Quakes on the field, who improved from a league-worst campaign in 2018 to only missing the playoffs after a late-season slump. But it also made the negotiations a bit more tricky. Villarreal spent £6.5 million ($8.5m) to pry the highly rated youngster, then aged 21, from Huracan. His impressive performances in the Bay Area increased his value. " SJ bought him for $2.5M. So his value INCREASED from $8.5M all the way up to $2.5M !! Quite an impressive performance, no doubt! I know this is propaganda from MLS website...but still there needs to be some sort of connection to reality, doesn't there?
Thanks for the feedback. The problem with Vako is that he's our DP, and while he has moments of brilliance, they are too few and far between. He had a stretch or two of killer play last year, but he also had stretches where didn't contribute as much. The thing is, he's our highest paid player, or one of. So we need more from him. Look at it this way, who would you rather have two of, Vako? Or Espinoza? I want two of Espinoza. Your mileage may vary, and that's perfectly OK. I'm not convinced that Almeyda can lead us to glory. I sure as hell hope that he can, but I'm not sure that we can find enough players to execute his plan, at least not at prices that Fisher is willing to pay. I hope like hell that I am wrong. We need to be better than we are, that's for sure. So ... what improvements do you want to our team? Who would you replace, and who would you keep? And what sort of budget do you imagine you'd have to work with? I have said consistently, that I want to replace Kashia and Vako. I don't think they bring enough to the team, and certainly not for what we pay for them. And we need a new left back. And we need to upgrade the Magnus' position, ACM as it were. I think we need another forward too. More of a substitute than a starter, but really, we have only Wondo, Hoesen, and Rios at forward, and Cade Cowell, but I don't think we'll see Cade much if at all this year. Siad Haji maybe? I'm reaching here because Jesse said we're not signing anyone else. Go Quakes!! - Mark
I agree wholeheartedly with most of you that the Quakes haven't done nearly enough...ever. We've been a small team in major market for to long. As long as Fisher is our owner, things will never change. I used to be a sth from the Spartan stadium days up to Stanford stadium. I've moved to S. America back in 2013 but still follow my Quakes (and MLS overall) every chance I get and catch them in ESPN down here whenever they're on. As far as Vako, I personally like him. Agree with Earthshaker, that he's put up decent numbers. If you look at his goals/assist in his time with Vitesse, he's actually had better numbers with us. So that means that he has improved a bit. Do we need more? Absolutely. I don't know how much the transfer fee was, but I do think he needs to be more consistent, especially because of his salary more than anything. NOW...compared to other DPs (purchase fee + salary) where does he rank? Sorry I don't have the info. My point is, we didn't, nor are we going to go after major players. In other words, in today's market we have what we payed for. Espinoza, we ended up paying roughly 3mil for I believe 75% of his rights and that was a record! for us. We have so many areas to cover that I don't think that Vako is the main issue. We barely have any depth. Fierro is avg at best and Rios is not much more than him..... I'm frustrated with the rest of you, unfortunatel ownership just don't give a d@mn. Rant Over
8/10ths of the other teams are making roster moves while we remain silent. Unless we start making some noise in the market i predict a very dour season ahead of us.
I'm trying not to be a negative Nelly but the more I see headlines like the following the more depressed I get when thinking about next season....I know we have Espinoza for next season but to me that's equivalent to staying pat. Not saying all the signings below are great, but at least it shows other teams are trying to upgrade rather than stand pat. Lucas Zelarayan We'll start with the most recent arrival in Zelarayan, who is officially headed to Columbus Crew SC following Friday's announcement that the club has acquired the Argentine attacker from Tigres UANL of Liga MX for a club-record transfer fee that will reportedly exceed $7 million. Alan Pulido The need for a ruthless No. 9 has followed Sporting Kansas City for what seems like forever now, and coming off a disappointing 2019 campaign, the clamoring for that elusive, carry-the-load goal-scorer only increased. In Pulido, who signed with SKC for another club-record transfer fee earlier this month, the hope for club brass is that the search is finally over. Adam Buksa Bruce Arena's overhaul continued on Friday with the announcement that the New England Revolution were bringing in Polish striker Adam Buksa on a Designated Player contract. The Philadelphia Union have acquired defensive midfielder José Andrés Martínez from Zulia FC for an undisclosed transfer fee, the club announced Monday. According to Jonathan Tannenwald of The Inquirer, the Union paid a $325,000 transfer fee. Martinez is the club's first signing of the offseason. Martinez, 25, had two goals and four assists across 65 appearances for Zulia over the last two seasons, guiding the club to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Copa Sudamericana, the furthest a Venezuelan team has progressed in the history of the competition. TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Loan Orlando City SC have acquired Argentine center back Rodrigo Schlegel on loan from Racing Club, the club announced Monday. The deal includes an option to purchase after the loan. South American media outlets are linking D.C. United to transfer moves for two attacking players, Ecuadorian playmaker Christian Aleman and well-traveled Venezuelan striker Gelmin Rivas. First spotted and documented in English by Black & Red United, who also posted highlight videos of the players, the rumor is that Aleman, 23, will join D.C. on loan for 2020 from Guayaquil-based side Barcelona SC. His track record includes Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana action and three Ecuadorian Serie A titles.
“On June 9, 2009, the Earthquakes traded Weaver to Houston Dynamo in exchange for forward Chris Wondolowski and a conditional pick in the 2010 MLS draft.“ - Wikipedia
I’m stunned by the lack of offseason player activity. Not sure how many free player slots we have but we could have at least signed another DP not just added a couple kids that may literally never play for us and sign Espinoza. The lack of depth at CB behind guys aged 31 and 32 - the latter of who is mediocre - seems appalling. They must play to move someone back there like Luis Felipe perhaps unless there is a new signing or two. And WTF is up with the climate change denier posts? This shouldn’t really be a forum for conspiracy theories and politics.
By the way, the conditional draft pick was used to draft Steven Beitashour. And we got a draft pick we used for Justin Morrow for that Pablo Compost dude.
The fans need to start making some noise that we won’t stand for another season of, at best, cringing mediocrity. Last year was an improvement and brought moments of promise, but for all of our, in the final analysis, limited progress, while that seemed like a giant step forward, this team and roster have been so long neglected by management, that last years improvements still place us at the bottom third of the league, imho. in life you get treated the way you teach others to treat you. We have allowed management to put together years of futility, each season dangling a carrot and selling us this BS that this year things will be different. Things won’t change until we make them change. Maybe not tarring and feathering but burning a few effigies in front of the team offices would be a good start...
San Jose Earthquakes Who's in ... MF Judson (Avai FC/BRA, permanent transfer), GK Emi Ochoa (Homegrown signing), DF Casey Walls (Homegrown signing), MF Cristian Espinoza (Villarreal/ESP, permanent transfer). Who's out ... DF Harold Cummings (free agent), DF Francois Affolter (free agent), DF Jimmy Ockford (Louisville City, free agent), MF Kevin Partida (free agent). 2020 MLS Roster: Goalkeepers (5): Matt Bersano, JT Marcinkowski, Emi Ochoa, Andrew Tarbell, Daniel Vega Defenders (8): Jacob Akanyirige, Florian Jungwirth, Guram Kashia, Nick Lima, Marcos Lopez, Paul Marie, Tommy Thompson, Casey Walls Midfielders (11): Eric Calvillo, Magnus Eriksson, Cristian Espinoza, Luis Felipe, Carlos Fierro, Gilbert Fuentes, Siad Haji, Judson, Vako, Shea Salinas, Jackson Yueill Forwards (4): Cade Cowell, Danny Hoesen, Andy Rios, Chris Wondolowski.
It's a 28 man squad but there are 6 homegrown kids who I have zero reason to believe we see any meaningful playing time. On balance it's a mediocre MLS roster with zero depth at CB. We just have a 32 and 31 year old and homegrown teens. I suppose Judson and Luis Felipe could play there in a pinch though one is too small and the other too slow to be a CB. My hunch is we must have something in the works to add a CB. The activity besides the loss of Cummings is pretty insignificant in my opinion. We got rid of 3 guys who might just be sub-MLS caliber, added 2 teenagers for the future and made permanent 2 loan deals. Good work on that last part but on gamedays we will be showing up with the same 18 as 2019 less Cummings. Unbelievable.