A new era in the Bay.NEWS: Earthquakes hire @USMNT's Luchi Gonzalez as the club's next head coach.— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) August 17, 2022 San Jose.You ready? pic.twitter.com/RgUMVJEUoW— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) August 17, 2022 SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that the club has hired Luchi Gonzalez as head coach. Gonzalez, currently an assistant coach with the United States Men’s National Team, will take over at the conclusion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The interim coaching staff, led by Alex Covelo, will remain in their current roles through the end of the 2022 season. Peep the resume.Luchi the real deal. pic.twitter.com/YAsSDffg5m— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) August 17, 2022
Looking at the initial pages of the Matias Almeyda thread and when he was hired, there was a lot more enthusiasm towards his appointment. I am not sensing the same thunder about Luchi!
The nagging question for me in regard to Luchi is - why did FCD let him go with a pretty short leash? He had 2 pretty good seasons and then a poor 3-4 months and he’s gone, midseason. Did they feel like he wasn’t motivating the team, lost the locker room, taking the blame for the poor intl acquisitions?? Maybe they were a little spoiled with Pareja, who I think is a good coach, and expect every coach to get similar results. Other somewhat troubling thing: FCD finished 4th before he came on, then with him, 7th, 6th, and 11th (though he didn’t finish that last season). This year they’re back to 3rd I think. <thinking emoji>
We will see if it will be the same level of enthusiasm to fire MA in the last few dozens of pages on that thread.
Why do we wait until next season? Other clubs hire mid year, but not our dumpster fire. if we don’t get some players we’ll be in a similar situation a year from now.
Luchi Gonzalez,”We looked at the club spending historically, what the other clubs are doing, we went through a debate…we have a lot of flexibility to spend…the club is ready to invest more than it ever has.” #Quakes74 #MLS— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022 Technically they could spend one extra penny to honor that agreement. Or they could just not honor it like they've done in the past. Remember when we were going to be in the top third in spending?
The Fish actually popped his head out of the hole to make a public statement! NEWS: Earthquakes Hire Luchi Gonzalez as Head Coach | San Jose Earthquakes (sjearthquakes.com) “We are excited to welcome Luchi to the Quakes,” said Earthquakes Managing Partner John Fisher. “He has led his teams to the MLS Cup Playoffs and helped develop many of the best young American players around the world. We will be rooting on Luchi as assistant coach of the U.S. National Team and eagerly watching as they head to the World Cup later this year. We are proud to have Luchi lead our team into 2023 and beyond.”
It's a little troubling that he thinks we're going to start spending on players because if/when he finds out we're not it could get ugly all over again.
Luchi Gonzalez,“I have taken my steps and I have learned the balance between development and competition…everything I learned from past experiences in Dallas has led me here.” #Quakes74 #MLS pic.twitter.com/olVf6WCeZP— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022 Luchi Gonzalez,“If I’m sitting here in 4 years and we haven’t won a supporters shield or championship, I’m going to be really disappointed.” #Quakes74 #MLS pic.twitter.com/ttuC8x4aGV— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022 Luchi Gonzalez,”You can’t put all the pressure of the history (of San Jose) on your shoulders…we have to achieve it in a new way, not like the ways of the past…look at Austin, Colorado, New England. Why can’t we do the same?” #Quakes74 #MLS— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022 Chris Leitch,”I want to make it crystal clear that our intention is to win, that is why we hired Luchi Gonzalez.” #Quakes74 #MLS pic.twitter.com/oczxx962Yq— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022
I said it in the other thread, but I'll say it again here. If their intention is to win why haven't they tried to take better advantage of the DP rule - the most obvious low hanging fruit. Instead we try again with the 7th coach in a row and expect better results this time?
Too bad we can't give questions for the reporters to ask, this is a good one. Also specifics from Leitch would be nice.
Luchi is fine as a coaching hire. Will he get more out of our guys than the other candidates? Maybe. I'm not sure it matters that much unless we recruit better players. Toronto brings in Insigne and Bernardeschi, LAFC brings in Bale and Chiellini, Miami gets Pozuelo, Cinci gets Miazga, Dallas gets Lleget (a Bay Area guy!). We got...Akapo. We are not in the same universe in our player signings, so it should not be a surprise that we are not competitive in this league. Until that changes, hiring a new coach is just rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, the ship is still sinking.
LAFC without Bale and Chiellini were already leading the league. I think it takes more than only a few players. We need 8-10 good players to turn this team around. Can Luchi bring in these guys whomever they are? Let's hope so but I have my doubts.
Akapo and Rodrigues, but also those clubs are making a push this year. We were pretty well out of it and w/o a permanent coach, so I think CL is holding onto some cards for next year. We’re not going to get those big pony signings but there’s going to be lots of roster space and cap space to add some talent to the roster in the offseason.
Luchi Gonzalez,“If I’m sitting here in 4 years and we haven’t won a supporters shield or championship, I’m going to be really disappointed.” #Quakes74 #MLS pic.twitter.com/ttuC8x4aGV— Favian Renkel (@FavianRenkel) August 17, 2022 This is the obligatory new coach “we’re going to win championships”. Almeyda promised it, Luchi leaves himself some wiggle room here.