Could have had Hoppe and Ebobisse together. That would have been quite fun to see. To add: San Jose Earthquakes have Matthew Hoppe's discovery rights in MLS. They had an offer rejected by Mallorca a while ago.Atlanta United were very interested as well in May and pushed for a deal, but they don't have a U22 Initiative slot open now so can't. https://t.co/qxbMROOPoH— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) July 27, 2022
More #VamosSJ news: San Jose turned down transfer bids for 18-year-old #USYNT winger Cade Cowell from French side Stade de Reims, per source.Reims finished 12th in Ligue 1 in 21/22. Cowell has 1 goal, 4 assists in 18 games (10 starts). Had 2G, 2A for U.S. U20s at CONCACAFs. pic.twitter.com/90GjOC1YmY— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 29, 2022
I think he would have moved this window if his form wasn’t so ice cold. Last year’s form was red hot to start the season.
I'll add that La Liga newcomers Cadiz also took at look at Cowell. Real Sociedad also tracking the 18 year old. https://t.co/7pkiwmz40N— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) July 29, 2022
Come on Quakes, be the next Dallas/Philly, that's why you have a thread here... One more bit of #Quakes74 news.Feyenoord has made a 7-figure offer for San Jose's Marcos López, per source. The 22-year-old Peruvian left back can leave on a free at the end of the season. #VamosSJ currently 13th in West. @1908nl first reported Feyenoord interest. pic.twitter.com/teqY6SClBz— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 29, 2022 Reported lots of #Quakes74 news today:* Charlotte trade offer for Yueill* Reims bids for Cowell turned down* Feyenoord offer for López.SJ in crucial spot. Could start to sell players, pile up resources to rebuild, play HGs like Tsakiris and Cruz Medina. What is the plan?— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 29, 2022 Wouldn't be bad thing if SJ shows it can play, develop and sell homegrowns like Cowell and internationals like López. We've seen pipelines open in Dallas and Philly. Have heard SJ wants to follow that model. With Cowell and likes of Medina, Ochoa, they could have legit path.— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 29, 2022 Lopez: yes, now Cowell: yes, now or winter Yuiell: maybe, depends on $$
Niko Tsakiris finds the equalizer! 💪@EarthquakesII 1-1 pic.twitter.com/8MvieJe5xX— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) August 1, 2022
Seems like a strangely incompetent thing to say, though. If your homegrowns are good enough to win MLS cup, they probably don't want to stick around for another 5 years. Putting your eggs in that basket doesn't make much sense.
⭐️ WATCH THE GAME HERE ⭐️https://t.co/bQMDrlheA1— MLS NEXT (@MLSNEXT) August 10, 2022 #Quakes74 are the most represented team at the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, with all four players starting for the West.Homegrown Cruz Medina scored ~5 minutes into the match. https://t.co/RQJlL4TuUn— Jake Pisani (@JPisani28) August 10, 2022 15 is the new 10.Captain Medina with the first goal of the night for the West. pic.twitter.com/KjMRA5hFZt— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) August 10, 2022
Brian McBride (#USMNT GM) on Cruz Medina,”“One that is here, Cruz Medina is certainly one of those players that we really see a pathway for him. It’s of course down to the player himself, but very motivated…” (1/2) #Quakes74 #MLS (📸 @mimtclaughlin) pic.twitter.com/EFaFM2G3uG— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 10, 2022 Video: Brian McBride praises San Jose's Cruz Medina, MLS NEXT evolution
I’m pretty sure Medina is one of these Mexican-Americans that is a third generation Mexican-American. I would not be that worried.
Great news for the academy kids in the first team. San Jose Earthquakes are finalizing a deal that will see USMNT assistant coach, Luchi Gonzalez, take over as San Jose’s new coach in the offseason after the 2022 World Cup. [🌕: @tombogert] pic.twitter.com/dodMEnn1Ei— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) August 16, 2022
Indeed. That's really a sign of intent with regards to their academy and youth in the first team. HOWEVER...................I'm still not convinced about Luchi's ability as a first team coach. Getting Nico Estevez was a huge upgrade for FCD. All of a sudden FCD went from one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the best. Lots of other points to make about that. Couldn't seem to figure out what to do with Jesus Ferreira. Anyway, we could talk about that all day. But hell, he deserves a second shot. San Jose is as good of a place as any. He'll have learned from his experience in Dallas. [I will say that the San Jose job seems a lot like the Dallas job 3 or 4 years ago. Lots of good youth to work with, but what about the difference-making senior talent in the first team?]
I imagine Luchi is a lot more prepared now in his second gig and after being a US assistant. He just wasn't ready at FCD and should have spent a few years as an assistant first. Pareja was offered the FCD job before Morrow took it and became an assistant. He did take the Rapids job because by then he was ready. If Pareja wasn't ready after being Academy Director and also having many more club games and also international team experience then Luchi wasn't either. I'm sure it's hard to say no when asked though and it seems to have worked out as he's getting another chance.
If there's any good news here on Luchi, it's that it was his first real head coaching job, he had a couple of reasonably tough situations, and he made the same mistakes that a lot of new head coaches make. The Jara situation was a tough one for an unestablished head coach in a locker room where he had coached all the youth but he still had a ton of vets. Jara was a pain in the ass about being benched, from all accounts, so Luchi took far too long to stop catering to him. There may have been ownership interference as well. That's a tough one. I don't see a similar issue at San Jose right now. He's going to want to play most of the vets. He got caught making tactical adjustments piece by piece instead of having confidence in the whole. They kept giving up goals, so he would change an element here or there, keep plugging the dyke, so to speak, and another would crop up. The result at one point was a five man backup with two defensive fullbacks (Hollingshead at winger) and two CDMs in the midfield. Seven guys incapable of progressing, controlling or attacking, and it's not a shock they still shipped goals because they were under constant pressure. This has to be a real concern if you are a SJ fan, because it could easily happen again if Luchi hasn't learned his lesson. There's a lack of tactical creativity in not finding a way to get Ferreira on the field in an effective manner last year. He still got good time and racked up some stats ... but it's clear that he was too good to not have experimented more. Nico has it easier with Pepi gone and Jara already benched, but I think this is a concern for a player like Cowell, who, used right, is going to bring a lot, and used wrong, is going to look terrible. If the Quakes add some fullbacks, they actually aren't a bad team at all, talent wise. I'd like to upgrade a few positions, but they could be mid-table. I will give this to Covelo -- the lack of fullbacks is absolutely killing them -- Marie and Thompson at FB is not a good state right now.
I don't think he's good at coaching. I don't think it was it being his first job as an MLS coach either. I thought he was mediocre with his coaching at the academy level also, but he was getting credit because he had players like Pepi and Gomez come along in his teams. I'm not a fan of San Jose though, so to me it doesn't matter. If I was a fan of theirs, I probably wouldn't be too happy. As a USMNT fan, I'm thrilled because I want to see Cowell, Tsakiris, Walls, Medina, Ochoa, and any future signings play.
Doesn’t Luchi have some good connections for off season youth training? Love to see some of the academy players getting a few weeks at a European academy. I recall Dallas players doing that in the past but very few times has San Jose done that.
Yeah, its mostly been that. In terms of training, its mostly been to Bayern. They've loaned kids out elsewhere. By the way, there has been scuttlebutt about that FCD-Bayern partnership being discontinued. At one point San Jose had a partnership with Spurs. Almost nothing came out of that. San Jose Earthquakes Establish Strategic Partnership with Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur Football Club | MLSSoccer.com