Goal.com SJ Earthquakes preview

"Inconsistency plagued the Earthquakes throughout the season and the attack found itself relying on Chris Wondolowski's goals far too often, especially towards the end of the season."

Yup, our season would have been dire beyond belief if not for Wondo.

 

A 300% raise is probably not reward enough. I personally think Wondo will have another good- if not a great year, but we're going to have to perform better as a team especially at home just to stay in the playoff hunt. Some teams are better, and some are likely worse but the league as a whole is getting better- better players and coaches.

Winning big games depends on veteran leadership and we have that; what we'll need is some breakout seasons from others to get through the whole season. I'm looking to the likes of Gjertsen, Opara, Lenhart, and Khari to do just that, but maybe we'll have the elusive X factor in Baca, Dawkins, or even Mcloughlin.

 

He didn't say much that we have not already discussed here, but it's nice to see an informed opinion in the press.

I expect Wondo to have another good year. Perhaps not 18 goals, but 10 to 15 is reasonable.

I expect Convey to play well also. Maybe not a lot of goals, but a fair number of assists.

Gjoey should be better than last season, which should open up defenses a bit more. The enemy won't be able to concentrate on Wondo and Bobby. Should Gjoey falter, we'll have Ampai, Baca, and maybe Dawkins behind him to take up the slack. So I expect that we will get more production out of our right wing this season.

Lenhart will be an improvement over RJ. It's possible that RJ will have a better season than last year, but Lenhart should be an upgrade.

Khari has the ability to be a solid presence in center mid. He won't be a DeRo like player, but he'll help with possession, and he'll deliver some nice assists, and maybe a goal or two.

Dawkins, Ampai, and an outside possibility of Andre Luiz to back him up.

Cronin will be better than last season, and he was good last season.

I'm optimistic.

I do worry about who will backup Convey should he need a backup. I am very worried about who will backup Corrales should he need a backup. I would be very comfortable with Ward at right back, and Beta behind him. I think that Leitch has lost a step or two and is fouling to make up for his abject lack of pace.

I am very confident of our center defenders. Ike, BB, BMac, and Jason are all solid. I like Ike paired with BB or BMac more than Ike paired with Jason, but not enough to argue about it.

Bushy between the pipes is great, and TheAndrew as a backup gives me a lot of confidence.

I expect our team to finish in the top five or six this season. Anything less will piss me off.

GO QUAKES!!!

- Mark

 

My baseline optimistic expectation:

Wondo keeps the scoring boots on: The way that Wondo scored last year - lots of quick release one-touch goals - says to me that his one basic skill is putting the ball in the net. He's not particularly fast, not a virtuoso passer, not a physical beast - but all he does is score. As long as he gets chances, he should be able put them away.

We develop a secondary threat: If it's Lenhart, then Johnson, and if not Johnson, then we pick up another forward in the transfer window with our room under the cap. There is no earthly way that we shouldn't have two forwards who can score.

We have a central midfield pair who plays 80% of minutes together: Cronin and Stephenson, presumably, should start and end the season, and if it's not Stephenson, then hopefully it's because Dawkins or Ampai is better. But we have the personnel now, fingers crossed, to have some continuity there. It really is a keystone, and if there's stability there then there will be more space for Convey, Wondo, and Gjertson to operate in.

Right wing gets nailed down: Just like central midfield, I think that indications are that there's an option who can play the bulk of the minutes.

If we finish the season with much the same lineup that we started with, it means that Yallop and Doyle have finally built up the strong core that's necessary for sustained competence and potential excellence.