So you've probably read the stat that the Quakes are an unbelievable 3-1-3 in games where they have given up the first goal. That's unheard of success, and it's the reason the Quakes are in first place. One of the main reasons that the team is so much better at coming back to win, or even winning games when they score first this year is that they have many guys who have come off the bench and really contributed. When you look at the goals scored, one thing that's obvious is how many goals the Quakes are scoring late. They have 10 goals in the final 15 minutes of the match so far this year. That's an amazing stat, but another aspect of the play this year so far is that there are 7 goals scored (in 13 games) by subs for the Quakes. Comparing that to the past two years, the Quakes had a total of 5 goals scored all of last year in 34 games by subs. And in 2010, it was even worse - the Quakes only had 4 goals scored by subs all year, and 3 of those were in Wondo's hat trick coming off the bench against Chivas. So not counting Wondo's hattrick, the Quakes have had 6 goals total sccored by other subs in two full seasons from 2010-2011, compared to the 7 they have already this year. And this is over a period of time when the team has had a lot of guys out, so many of the "normal subs" are already in the starting lineup. There's every reason to expect this trend to continue during the year, as more of the offensive players get healthy and there are even better options off the bench for subs. It seems that the quality players coming off the bench not only contribute directly by scoring goals, but help the rest of the team to score late goals as the entire team has more confidence late in the game to hold possession and control the game. The confidence for the team to be able to come from behind and score goals late is something that builds on itself, and now the team seems like they expect to win the game no matter what the score is late in the match.
Good points, but I think one of the biggest things that have impacted those stats is the fact that Yallop seems to have the confidence this year to sub earlier. In past years, he and Dominic Kinnear of Houston were insistent that the starters be given a chance to go 90. We saw game after game with only 1 or 2 subs, often with less than 10 minutes left. This year, Yallop seems to sense what's needed much earlier and gets guys out there with time to impact the game. Even though Gordon scored late, it was important to the second half performance that he was subbed in at halftime and provide the spark for 45 minutes. Yallop hardly ever did that in past years. I hope he keeps the faith in the subs, because it also forces them to be mentally prepared to come in and contribute (instead of past years, where guys just expected to sit on a cold bench and cheer the starters on for 90)
Excellent point - with the success the subs have had, it should give Yallop even more reason to be confident to pull the strings when things aren't going quite right.
I think Yallop has learned a few lessons over the years, but I have to say that this is the most aggressive I've ever seen him with substitutes. I recall a game early in his coaching career where he made an early sub and it backfired badly. I always wondered if he and Dom had disagreed on that sub and Dom said to him "I told you so". After that early experience, he went to hardly ever subbing players out (worried about screwing up chemistry). Dom also adapted that stubborn philosophy. I see him now trusting himself to "change the game". He's improved the team every game this year with early subs. It's not always about putting better players on, but sometimes about getting poor performers out.
It could have been. I wish I could remember what game it was, but I watched it live and I remember seeing Yallop shake his head after the sub made the mistake that lead to the loss. I clearly remember thinking "oh, oh......now he's never going to sub again". Sure enough, he started a period of almost never subbing and Dom also followed the exact same pattern when he took over, (even to this day in Houston). Yallop said in interviews he didn't want to mess up team chemistry. We were grinding out results with fatigued players back then, so that justified it. Yallop did the same thing when he coached the Galaxy (but it never worked there). That's why it's so strange and refreshing that he seems to believe in this team enough to make changes. He's been rewarded with some stirring comebacks and players that believe they may actually play even if they are not in the starting lineup. I'd have to say he's pulled all the right strings so far this year with his subs. Now the starting lineup, that's a different topic.....
My biggest memory is that of the DeRo subs in the 80th minute or thereabouts. I think Frank and Dom were joined at the hip.