Official Tommy Thompson Thread [R]

Discussion in 'San Jose Earthquakes' started by fadedtoblack, Jan 17, 2014.

  1. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. NedZ

    NedZ Member+

    May 19, 2001
    Los Gatos
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    I don't know what stories are accurate or not. However, after years of my own observations, if a story is about Chris Leitch, I think that SeaJayBee is more likely to know what Chris thinks than any other Quakes fan.
     
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  3. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    This is the story from Alex Morgan that I found the other day.

    http://quakestalk.com/2017/11/24/jesse-fioranelli-why-the-quakes-hired-new-coach-mikael-stahre/

    "He replaces Chris Leitch, who will return to his previous role of Technical Director. Although the former defender had been touted as a “permanent” coach when he took the reigns in the summer, Fioranelli and his staff reevaluated the situation in the week after their 5-0 first-round playoff exit to the Vancouver Whitecaps and opted to search for new options."

    To be fair, when he mentions "Fiornanelli and his staff", it could be that Leitch was one of the ones who recommended that he not be coach. But I also remember seeing a quote from Jesse expressing dissatisfaction with the road blowout losses in the latter half of 2017. So my best guess is that it was a combination of things: Jesse thinking we could do better (and then failing miserably on the "do better" part by hiring Stahre), and possibly Leitch not being all that enamored with the coaching position anyway.
     
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  4. SeaJayBee

    SeaJayBee Member

    Jun 23, 2008
    Saratoga
    This is very likely the case. Chris loves coaching. But he would rather be deeply involved in a long term project, such as the Academy, than take on the political risk of being head coach of an MLS team. Maybe someday he might reconsider. Maybe when his girls are a lot older :).

    But right now, he enjoys living in San Jose (remember he refused to go to LA and retired instead so he could stay here).

    I never asked Jesse directly about the statement that Chris was "permanent" but I never believed it at the time. I took that as a step from Jesse to help out Chris keep the locker room. A temp coach is like a substitute teacher. Nobody takes them seriously. By confirming Chris as the "permanent" coach, he gave Chris some credibility to earn the respect of the players.

    That, of course, is just my inference. But it makes sense.

    I also do not know for sure, but I think that Jesse was looking at Almeyda for 2018 and could not make it work. He knew he wanted an "established" coach for the season and I guess he thought Stahre would cut it in MLS for a couple years at least until he could persuade Matias to come to San Jose. The fact that Stahre did such a poor job remains a testament to how hard the job is and how easy it can be to mess it up.
     
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  5. NedZ

    NedZ Member+

    May 19, 2001
    Los Gatos
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Yes, I remember that story. I am only saying that just as Replikait bases some of her opinions upon her personal interactions or experience with players, SeaJayBee is in a similar position as far as Leitch is concerned.
     
  6. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    I think if Jesse really wanted Chris to coach another year, he could possibly have kept the TD job open and if didn't work out, Chris goes back to TD. That's a conversation they could have had. But I just don't think Jesse was convinced. The bad road losses were indeed bad, but OTOH we were something like 6-1-1 at home and went to the semis or quarters in USOC. And Chris had essentially 0 time to implement his style of play changes.

    I think Stahre's failure was less an indication of how hard the job is and more of an indication of how poor a coach Stahre is. Our PPG went from I think 1.35 under Leitch and Dom down to 0.62 with Stahre, and then back up to 1.29 under Almeyda. That was a massive dip. And I think it's harder for a foreign coach to hit the ground running. So he had 2 things working against him: being a bad coach, and not knowing the league.
     
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  7. SoccerMan94043

    SoccerMan94043 Member+

    May 29, 2003
    San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    More than that... maybe 10 to 15 years ahead. Dallas were the first team to create and spend on the academy. It's taken that long to create a consistent pipeline, but it's pretty darn impressive what they've done.

    What I don't understand is what they are doing with their transfer fees... theoretically they should be able to compete with the high spending teams through that process.
     
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  8. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    I'm sure FC Dallas would have a good youth setup as they have been hosting the Dallas Cup which is a youth tournament that has been around for 40 years.

    You are bound to find at least 1,2, 3 or 4 players out of an organized tournament like that and were already advanced as far as development compared to most other MLS teams....
     
  9. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Using them to continue to fund and expand the youth program?
     
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  10. bsman

    bsman Member+

    May 30, 2001
    MadCity
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    We already know where our transfer fees are going courtesy of Magnus. This is an unretouched photo of John Fisher:

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Earthshaker

    Earthshaker BigSoccer Supporter

    Sep 12, 2005
    The hills above town
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    $100 Magnus transfer fee? Sounds about right.
     
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  12. QuakeAttack

    QuakeAttack Member+

    Apr 10, 2002
    California - Bay Area
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Makes sense. It's always good to have good bench support and someone who can press for starts. While multi-purpose to a certain extend, I disagree with the comment in the article that he can play any position on the field (would not want to see him in center defense or goal :p)
     
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  13. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Come on, now, Earth! Obvioulsy there was a an extra "0" left off the end!!
     
  14. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  15. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    I know, "We need soccer players and not jugglers, yada yada", but this clip has a lot more TT shots with the Globes than that one he hit from the stands.

     
  16. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    #2516 jeff_adams, Mar 17, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2021
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  17. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
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  18. mjlee22

    mjlee22 Quake & Landon fan

    Nov 24, 2003
    near Palo Alto, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Altho Tommy’s hairline is receding a lot faster than Flo’s.
    Instead of looking like a little kid, Tommy now looks older than his age!
     
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  19. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Yeah, at some point you don't normally want to advertise the receding hairline.
     
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  20. markmcf8

    markmcf8 Member+

    Oct 18, 1999
    Vancouver, WA, USA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Any word on Tommy’s injury? Most of us are speculating dislocated shoulder, but the website gives no information on it at all. (Because we’re a very tiny team.) Anyone know?

    Go Quakesfans!!

    - Mark
     
  21. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    There was a Quakes facebook post - a Get Well Tommy kind of thing, and in the comments people were saying dislocated shoulder (and not broken collarbone). I would take with a grain of salt, but that's probably the most likely thing.
     
  22. markmcf8

    markmcf8 Member+

    Oct 18, 1999
    Vancouver, WA, USA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Probably, but no word on that from the team. No official word from Tommy. Nothing on the MLS website. I’m guessing that Tommy misses at least the next two games.

    Go Quakesfans!!

    - Mark
     
  23. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Sounds about right - miss about two more games, and then maybe come in as a sub. You're not supposed to lose your starting job due to injury but may be hard to get it back from Abecasis, depending on how well he does in the next few games.
     
  24. bsman

    bsman Member+

    May 30, 2001
    MadCity
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    If we were an HNL team, it would be "an upper body injury" which covers everything from a hangnail to decapitation...
     
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  25. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    HNL is that the HangNail League?
     
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