Post-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Seattle Sounders FC (Saturday, 4/23) postgame thread [R]

Once Espinoza got his 2nd, I kept thinking they might get lucky and get a point out of this one......but to take all 3 is sweet.

 

Cristian Espinoza hat-trick! Did not see that coming.

 

Feels good to beat an MLS team...

 

He made me eat my words!

I can’t believe the Hat trick, by Espinoza!

Wow this is a great comeback from 3-1 down!

Good job Alex Covelo in getting the first win of the season!

 

Justice

 

Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

 

Guess it was all MA.

On a more serious note, I think Schmetzer (sp?) screwed the pooch on this one by not resting his starters more. They played most of the game and really had to work. I bet they lose Wednesday (though I suppose they aren't planning on winning in Mexico).

 

That was for Frank - goonies, and that playoff game against the Gals at Spartan in 2003. I’m sure he got a kick out of it.

 

Early on, even after they had given up the PK and the set piece goal, I still was more encouraged than I have been in years by the passion, the commitment, and a clear tactical intent to their play. They actually looked like a quality side. Passing and movement was great. And then to actually pull out the win? Icing on the cake.

 

So they are only two wins away from a playoff spot!

Wonder if Almeyda was watching?

 

Totally agree. I was thinking how I would be crucified on BS for saying the Quakes played well after a multi-goal loss. Seattle is legit and our boys battled them even while losing.

 

Yeah I’m usually all about MLS parity but that was a pretty stacked Seattle lineup. We would up with 23 shots to 10 (7 to 7 on target) and more corners and FWIW 55% possession.

And Frei is usually really tough but had a bad game tonight. I don’t know how that 2nd Espinoza shot went in. Deflection? Shielded by his defenders?

Even though we scored 4 offense still had the same problem of being way too slow after winning the ball. There were *multiple people* around me complaining loudly about it. When Seattle scored their 3rd on a counter it was *THAT’S* HOW YOU COUNTERATTACK!!! Our 3rd goal however was a proper counterattack.

 

There is still room for improvement, but overall, even the transitions were much better. I thought Monteiro had his best game in a Quakes jersey and Remedi was all over the field tonight. The best (and quickest) transitions involved those two and Espinoza.

 

Got home a little while ago. I was going to watch Nathan’s foul but my darn DVR was off. Can’t find any replays in my future either. Oh well. In the stadium, they didn’t replay anything, so I didn’t realize Unkel was evaluating a red card situation with Nathan.

By about the 30th min, the stadium looked about 2/3 full. There were about 20-30 Seattle fans in the corner. Covelo wasl constantly yelling towards the players until they went down 0-2. Then he was silent for awhile, folded arms. Then he started yelling instructions again. I only saw Tanner Beason seem to react to whatever Covelo was saying.

After we went down so much, I was surprised people didn’t leave early. They were instead encouraging the Quakes on. And at the end of the game, people seemed very happy to be exiting on the first win of the season. So I don’t think the fans will be abandoning ship right away.

I thought the Quakes’ game and the players changed very little from under Almeyda. The big difference was

• Remedi. Seemed like the workhorse was back.
• Seemed like a big reduction in passing backward. The only ones still doing a lot of it were Yueill and now Cade (the new Yueill).
• Espinoza didn’t bother tracking back. I guess he’s a lot more productive if he only focuses on offense.
• Monteiro seems to be getting less useful every game. Nathan’s PK was Monteiro’s fault, and Monteiro gave up several bad passes in our half of the field.

OTOH, i was mesmerized by watching Seattle play. Their offense is 5 small workhorses plus Jordan Morris. The whole team seems to know where their teammates are all the time, even though everyone was running around a lot. Compare with the Quakes, who have to keep looking up to see where the next pass should go, and by then it’s too late. And Ruidiaz is such a force and you just know he is going to win the ball most of the time (except against Nathan). I really enjoyed watching their soccer a lot more than watching the Quakes.

 

I think you saw a different Monteiro than I did. I thought he was outstanding. I predict he makes the TOW. I watched the game on TV, and for me, Nathan should have seen red with his challenge. His studs were up and he went right into his shin. We got lucky.

 

Not contradicting your observation, but I was told by the Quakes' supporters' liason that Seattle brought 55 away supporters.

Per SJPD directive, they are now busing away supporters from a remote location (San Pedro Square), with a security escort. Told its working well, and the away supporters enjoy the pregame vibe downtown.

SJPD evidently continues to be spooked by the Cruz Azul aftermath last season.

 

To be fair those Seattle guys have been playing together a long time under the same coach. This was our first game under our new interim coach, with some different tactics. Not only that, it really is still kind of new group - Monteiro, Grey Goose, Calvo have only played 8 games with the team and Jebo just a few more than that. That said, I'm not expecting anything like Seattle attacking flow anytime soon .

 

After this game I'm officially off the Grey Goose wagon. Too slow to move the ball, will only play it with his right foot. His dead ball service is great, but it's just not worth keeping him in there for that. Monteiro's been doing OK with it. I'd rather have Remedi / Judson as the 6, Jack as the 8, and Monteiro doing his 8/10 thing. That leaves the outside for Cade / Bouda / Richmond / Benji, heck even Salinas. There are many options there. We don't want to push Monteiro out there.

Grey Goose can come in as a sub, especially when we need a goal, and provide dead ball service.

Heck though I'd rather see Niko in there than Grey Goose in that sub role.

 

Schmetzer's post-game press conference:

 

123 - Prior to tonight's loss to San Jose, the Sounders had won 123 straight @MLS matches in which they led by 2+ goals at any point (including playoffs), dating back to June 2009.

This is Seattle's first loss in an @MLS match in which they led by 2+ goals (W128 D1 L1). Rarity. pic.twitter.com/xqDf2e4pLG

— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) April 24, 2022

 

I had previously stated that outside his dead ball prowess I was underwhelmed by Gregus and nothing he did tonight changed my opinion. Not surprised he was subbed out.

 

I was kind of on the fence on him before tonight but I think I'm on the "bench" side now. He had a good game against MNU - I guess super motivated for that one. But I was really watching him tonight, and besides being slow to move the ball, he got to my pet peeve - one-footedness. It's especially bad for a center mid. Ceren was that way too - almost never used his left foot, and would sometimes go to great lengths to avoid it, like hitting long inside out passes with his right that bend to the right. Hard to get those right vs. just use the left.

 

Having watched a few key moments on the broadcast, a couple more comments:

1) That 3rd goal counter was set up by the high press, which is one clear new Covelo wrinkle. It's a really good tool for us because it allows us to attack against an unprepared defense. If we're not going to try fast counters otherwise in our "regular" defensive setup, this is one time where it's obvious that you do it when you win it well into the opponent's half.

2) Monteiro really made that 3rd goal happen. He stole the ball, give and go, and then assist to Jack. That was his 2nd assist of the game, both after he moved back to the center. He earned his keep today.

3) Looks like the reasons Frei had trouble with that 2nd Espinoza goal are that 1) the ball looks like it had a lot of knuckling movement, and 2) I think Frei was a little distracted by Jebo's run.

4) Calvo got pushed but boy did he sell that one - jajaja. He launched himself into another Seattle player.