Quake announce Heritage Nights. German Heritage Night? Don't remember seeing that one before. Can't imagine why we'd have it now!
OK, so Doyle is going with this theory that our defensive problems last year, were due mainly to...(checks notes) the forwards, Chicho and Josef? I think maybe our midfield and back line had something to do with it? Just a guess. I think it's a bit of a stretch to think that forward Timo Werner is gonna single-handedly fix our defense. :facepalm Seems like Doyle looked out our problems last year, and our additions and subtractions in the offseasn, and then concocted a narrative based on those 2 things for why everything will be fixed. :facepalm BTW, Preston Judd played a pretty good chunk of minutes last year, and he is a very good pressing forward.
Even assuming that Judd is a good two-way striker, we still need more bodies. We haven’t replaced either Wilson or Rodrigues. That’s a glaring weakness! And I still think we need new GK’s. I think we’re screwed, absent some quality signing in the next few days. Go Quakesfans!!
Yeah, we need more forwards for one. Timo and Judd are the only forwards right now on the team, other than Bouda I guess, who has been playing more as a winger. What happens when those guys get injured? Tomo time? Actually it can't even be Tomo, other than a game or two. He's on a Next/Pro contract this year.
I'm really curious to know if Bruce will continue to play a three back. I hope he does. I can't imagine him rolling with only two central mids. Because he won't sit Harkes and Vierra is the best out of the 4 options defensively. That combo would be marginal...imo, Beau needs to be the more attacking mid...so it really has to be three central mids...in a 3-5-2. Maybe we get 1-2 more players, but the existing roster sets up better with wingbacks. If it is a 3-5-2, i think Benj has a legit shot of beating out Jones for RWB. Before Benj got hurt he was really getting stuff done...unfortunately, Jones' form took a major dip...his decision making and execution were pretty poor. I think Benji, Bouda and Hopefully Roberts will step up their games. Minority opinion on the board but, i think we'll be better than last season. And for the permanent record losing Rodrigues and Wilson is absolutely addition by subtraction,...and Hopefully Romney isn't far behind, because all three caused us to drop major critical points last season.
I think there's a good chance we go to 4 in the back. We've lost 2 CB's and have not replaced them. That means we really don't have the depth to go with 3. Right now it sets up nicely with Munie and Romney starting, Floriani and Roberts are their backups. Wilson and Rodgrigues may be "addition by subtraction" but no one can convince me that we're better off w/o Espinoza, Chicho, and Josef, unless you replace them with someone as good or better. Werner may be one, but then there are 2 more. And that's not "addition by subtraction". That's addition by subtraction and then adding a greater number. I wouldn't mind Benji starting at RB / RW but then we should put Jones on the left, where he's played a lot, and he's better than either Costa or Ricketts.
that's assuming roberts and floriani aren't ready to give us starter quality minutes yet. I'm hoping they're pretty darn close...i'd take Roberts over Romney any day...and my gut tells me Bruce the CB whisperer is getting Roberts and Floriani dialed in. I'm only bummed we lost Espinoza...we might not score as much, but i think a better defense will give us a better chance for more points.
The problem is we have only 4 CB's. We could start Floriani on the right, Munie in the middle, and Roberts on the left, but then we have only Romney on the bench. We either acquire another CB or two, or it'll be 4 in the back. We have a lot of outside backs.
yeah, but a four back more than likely forces us into only two central mids or if three, then only one forward if it's a 4-2-3-1...i don't see us with Timo as the sole forward.
4-3-3, Timo plays on the left but drifts centrally a lot and contributes to the buildup. That’s basically the role Chicho played last year. Midfield could be Viera, Harkes, and Beau.
maybe, but it puts a lot of pressure on Viera, Harkes and Beau to cover defensively...more moving parts and rotations. Definitely not one of Bruce's favored formations. Honestly, I'm wondering if he has ever played it for any length of time. But he always says it's more about the players than the formation, so we'll see what he comes up with.
Three in the back is something that Bruce hadn't played much before last year, and I think one of the reasons he did it is that we had a lot of depth at CB. We don't have that anymore.I don't see how a 4-3-3 necessarily puts more pressure on the midfield defensively than a 3-4-3. As always, devil is in the details.
I agree with most of this. I really want for Bruce to play with three in the back, and either go 3-4-3 (like last year) or 3-5-2. But it looks like he's setting us up for a 4-4-2 or (please no!!) a 4-5-1. We don't have a lot of CB's on the roster, so that suggests four in the back. But also, we don't have a lot of forwards on the roster, which suggests a formation with only two, or maybe even just one forward. Of course, he might sign more forwards or more center backs and fix that. I want Harkes on the bench, or better yet, selling tickets. I think that Viera is OK, as a backup. Not as a starter. But Bruce digs them both. ?! Beau got benched late last season, and I expect him to stay on the bench. We could see a five man midfield with Benji and Bouda outside, and Harkes, Viera, and Buck (or Niko) in the center. I'm not optimistic about this season, but that could change with four or five new signings. Go Quakesfans!!
I think that Roberts is close to being able to be a regular starter, but I don't think that Floriani is there, unless it's as one of the center backs in a four back line. But I really, really think that we need to sign at least one or two more defenders, I'm thinking CB's in this case. Go Quakesfans!!
If our players are crap (many of them are) then there will be pressure everywhere. We lost Chicho, Josef, and Espinosa, all guys known for not playing a lot of defense. Timo is supposed to be a good defensive forward. So maybe that's what he wants. More two way attackers. So Judd can fit that form. So can Skahan. Bouda plays defense and so does Benji. BUT, we still need more defenders and many of our mids: Harkes, Viera, Niko, Buck, are not starting quality, but he seems to like all four of them. I conclude that Bruce has lost it and we're going to have a crappy season, until we get new owners, who will then sack most of the front office, and the whole coaching staff, and a few players, and bring on their new team who will magically, in the middle of the season, starting playing great futbol and bring us all joy and pride. Damn! If only. And I want a unicorn too!! Go Quakesfans!!
Honestly I don't know what Bruce is doing. We've lost 2 starter level CB's and 3 starter level (all-star or near all-star level) forwards. So far we're replaced just one forward, and the season starts in 2 weeks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess he's thinking that he wants to sort of build a "foundation" with the players we have, even if it's not that good, but sort of a predictable base foundation. And then add pieces as we go to build out on it. I'm being as charitable as I can here. I know he has this opinion that nothing really matters at the start of the season and the season doesn't really start until July or so, but man, you can dig yourself into a nice hole and then you're screwed. I don't mind 3 in the back but we need at least one more CB, preferably 2 to do it comfortably and not get caught out because we have a few injuries. A 4-man CB roster for 3 positions is not going to cut it.
I agree. With three in the back, your defenders mostly stay home. With four in the back, one or the other or both outside backs get forward, exposing you in the back. I’d like to see us play a 3-4-3 like last season. But we need more CB’s (and fewer outside backs) and a better d-mid than Viera. So I fully expect four on the backline, and I hope to be wrong. Up front, we could play Judd as the #9 and Timo as a withdrawn striker. Or we play with a #10? Who would be … Niko? Buck? Skahan?! I’d rather have three guys up front. We played best last season with Beau and Harkes in midfield. But Harkes is obviously not good enough. I don’t know what Bruce is doing. We need three or four more starters at a minimum. I have to hope that Fisher is restraining him, because otherwise he’s terrible coach. I’m bummed. Go Quakesfans!!
We could play Judd up top with Timo, but who are their backups / subs? We should be 2-deep at every position.
It doesn’t matter whether we play a 3-5-2, 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1, or 0-0-10. We have added one player who may or may not move the dial and lost most of a full team. We are going to be the game fans of every other team will circle on the schedule as a sure-fire win. We may set some new records for sucking - breaking some of the all-time suckage records we already own. It will be embarrassing, infuriating, and heartbreaking. I wonder if I will ever again feel proud to represent my team by wearing Quakes gear in public.
📰 we made a trade.We have acquired $50,000 in 2026 General Allocation Money (GAM) from @LAFC in exchange for the Discovery Priority of Stephen Eustáquio.— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) February 6, 2026 we made a trade. We have acquired $50,000 in 2026 General Allocation Money (GAM) from @LAFC in exchange for the Discovery Priority of Stephen Eustáquio.