Is anyone else nervous about all of the activity going on back east when squat is happening in SJ? DC U is gonna roll over everyone this year because they were so active in the market. All we did was get rid of three veteran stars & bring in 5 or 6 unknowns. Scary...I hope I'm wrong about this come August or September.
It is gonna be bumpy for us Quakes supporters. However there's nothing fans can do. All we can do is support the team and hope Yallop got the best talent that was available. He brought us the cup in his first year so I'm positive he'll do well for SJ and their fans this year too. ( VERY wishful thinking )
I just hope the owners keep him around if it gets bad becuase he's obviously brought in some talent...they're pretty green though and it may be awhile like you said.
Marginally...yes. The Quakes have still retained some fine, proven players. They will be relying on a defense that is a year older but among the smartest in their positioning. Robinson is a rising star...Dunivant is a highly-rated prospect who will be trained by Agoos (none smarter in the game) and Yallop (Hall of Famer defender who knows a thing or two about cultivating defensive talent.) The Quakes have a big question mark in net but there is some comfort in having Jon Conway, with whom we are familiar. The offense appears as though it will again benefit from the steady midfield of Ekelund/Mulrooney and the forwards will likely be Donovan/DeRosario...the combination that worked pretty well in 2001 (preceding Graziani's arrival.) Gear the offense to run through Donovan again and find another scoring threat to draw some defenders off of him and we will be fine.
Guys, let's not get too whacked out here. The Quakes finished 2nd in the table last year. DCU wasn't even competitive. They have a looonnng way to go. Whether Ray can patch together a competitive team remains to be seen, although his history in Miami should indicate that he can. FY took SJ from the dregs of the league to champions in one season and improved on the standings in the league table the 2nd year. It's not unrealistic to think that somehow, his team is going to find a way to be competitive the 3rd year. It certainly hurts to lose good players like Wade, Joe, and Graz, but FY makes sure his players play team ball. It's much more than a collection of individual players, it's a system, and to a certain extent, players are interchangeable. You could argue that last year the Quakes best stretch was when Donovan and Agoos were gone to WC.
That is true about the fine play in the absence of the Seoul Brothers. I tend to believe that a lot had to do with the rhythm of the team and the players regularly involved. When Donovan left for J/K, Graziani became the "trigger man" in the Quakes' offense. The mids looked for him, the offense ran through him. When Donovan came back, the overwhelming consensus was "you can't NOT get him the ball." So, they started trying to give the ball to Donovan. That coincided with Graz's scoring slump...suddenly, an offense that was forcing things to happen instead of allowing them to flow as they had been so perfectly. This is a new year. Donovan and DeRo worked in 2001. Why not again? I'd give anything just to have the same XI on the pitch the majority of the time this year.
Thanks for the hope...now I'm kinda getting excited for the new season instead of depressed by everyone leaving. The trouble spots will definitely be in defence where it will depend on whether or not the veterans can still perform and YP can get some of the newbies to step up.