As I sit in my living room waiting for the hammer to come down on my beloved Quakes to cap what has become a bitterly disappointing season, it appears that the team needs a bit of an overhaul. The backline is too slow, beginning with Conrad and Agoos. The strikers are off - LD and Graz are not in sync. O-mid is beginning to be a weakness - Ekelund has always been a step slow, and I wonder just how much longer he can be in top form. So who's trade bait? I wanna get rid of Graz... yesterday. Sick of his whining. I just don't think you can build a championship team with him, so let's get rid of him now while he still has some value. In return, we can get a real right back. With speedy left and right backs, we can afford to keep Agoos until he retires. Robinson and Dayak aren't slow either, so keep them, too. Let's start LD's o-mid training ASAP. He's not physical enough to play forward in a league that is becoming one of the most physical in the world. Then we can have Barclay and Lucci duke it out for one of the forward positions in addition to whomever we can sign in the draft. Of course, if none of those pan out, then it's back to LD up front, and we still haven't found a solution for o-mid. If we play another year depending on Ekelund as our only legit o-mid, then we cannot continue to win at the same pace as we've come to expect over the last 2 years. We need an o-mid in training to help Ronnie next year. I don't understand why the wings have left so much to be desired this year, especially in comparison to last year, but they do. Russell can be ok, but his dribbling <ahem> "skills" <ahem> are a bit suspect. Manny's definitely losing a step, but he's still good at possession. There's no readily identifiable solution to this unless the front office can work a deal in the offseason. I would like to see Corrales on the left again, because early on it seemed he and Barrett were linking up quite well. I think Pwamme can be fine as the "other" forward - the guy that stretches the defense but is not the person the offense runs through. If LD and Graz have shown nothing else, it's that when you have 2 stud forwards fighting for goal opportunities, it doesn't really work out. Our forwards were much more cohesive when it was understood that Graz was the man. Either stick LD up front and trade Graz, or put him somewhere in mid and let Graz be the designated goal-scorer. That's all for now. I'm just so despondent over the way this is all ending. Oh well, if the Quakes lose, maybe the Hogs will actually beat Bama.
What Landon and Ariel need during the off-season is rugged training. I suggest something like what the knights used to do in jousting. They would strike this board with the lance and if they didn't get out of the way fast enough this big-bad bag would come around and kick 'em in the ass. This could be modified to soccer terms with a little ingenuity. Another training technique would be to have them run the gauntlet like the Indians would do for punishment. This would be very similar to trying to run through Chicago's or the Crew's defense. You could also have them charge, each carrying the ball, through a field of ten karate masters, who would be trying to take them down. This also would not be dissimilar to an MLS team's defense. Anyway that's the kind of crap I think about right before a game as serious as this one. Oh, well.
As much as I'd hate for this to happen I think Dwayne will be dropped or traded. I hope he stays. Can we get Junior back? Please!!!!!!! TRANSFORM MARI
I don't think Lagos will play in blue again. Unless he plays in some other MLS team with blue, which is just about all of them. So maybe he will play in blue again. Just not Quake blue. If there is such a thing. Landon, go to Europe!
If I were FY I would seriously consider anger management classes for the team. We just need a solution to the constant lineup changes that have been going on. FY needs to decide on permanent positions for the players and have them learn that position well in the offseason.
Well, we all know some of those absences could have been prevented (i.e. suspensions). And I know the WC did not have much of an effect on the season, so those absences don't count. Obviously it wasn't like that last year. Things were more consistent. I guess it was just one of those inconsistent seasons. As far as the injuries, things happen and there's not much that you can do about it.
But that's exactly what he did last year... when everyone was healthy. The problem this year has been an enormous number of missed games from key players requiring a great deal of rearrangement. I think the core of the team is just fine. But we may have to seriously consider a "home squad" and an "away squad". More minutes for Ekelund, Lagos, Corrales, Conrad, Agoos and Graziani at home, more minutes for De Rosario, Russell, Robinson, Ibsen, Dayak and Donovan on the road where pace is essential. A platoon system might keep injuries down. (Mulrooney and Barrett still need to be iron men.) As far as Lucci and Barclay (and Roner and Bower), if they make tremendous strides then great, but as it stands I expect little from them next year.
Re: Re: Most likely to be traded...       Or just simply build a new soccer-specific stadium in the South Bay so our boys can be used to playing on a properly-sized field all the time!       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Re: Re: Re: Most likely to be traded... It certainly helped the Crew once they moved out of Ohio Stadium. THAT, was a small field. Compared to that, the field at Spartan Stadium is the size of Manhattan
Re: Re: Re: Re: Most likely to be traded...       If you could convince Lamar Hunt to put in a good word to Philip Anchutz (our "half-father", if you will) to build us a new stadium as well, it would be greatly appreciated.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Where to start? Graz is too much of a whiner who has reverted to being lazy late in the season. Yallop taught him after a couple of games that defense began with the forwards, and he got it for a while. Lately, he'll mope around after losing the ball. I'm not particularly fond of his attitude. DeRo's got a great attitude, but far too often he's the offensive black hole. The ball never returns as Dwayne either falls over it, loses it, or invents some novel way of halting his team's attack. Lagos has lost a step or two this season, and he shows the ball way too much when attacking. Plus, he rarely uses his left and has thus become quite predictable. I'm not sure the outside mid spot is right for him anymore. Agoos and Conrad are good players, but their lack of pace really exposed them way too often this season. Would be nice to replace them with speedier versions. Keepers: Donovan, Mulrooney, Barrett, Robinson, Cannon Probables: Russell, Ekelund, Agoos, Dayak, Corrales Tradeable: Graziani, DeRosario, Conrad, Lagos
It's likely that Agoos could be on the outs, be the trading block or retirement. The latter seems very likely, especially with the rise of Eddie Robinson. Graziani is a keeper. He started off well and then faded in the stretch. Someone he can consistently play with would assure him of being here. DeRosario is a supersub at best. Here's something to think about: Might be time to get another keeper, or let Jon Conway wait another year. He could be ready for prime time with another team but not quite here so as long as there is the Joe. On the reserves if it happens he would be a sure starter. If someone is up for trade (Graziani, DeRosario, Conrad, Lagos), dangle him with one of the prospects (Barclay, Bower, Gonzalez)...