We all have our emotional favorites, but which was the best Quake team? 2001 Postseason roadwarriors outscored opponents 13-3 without home-field advantage in any series. Including playoffs, had the second best per-game goal differential in MLS history. Youthful Lagos, Ekelund, and Comeback POTY Dayak. 2002 15 game home unbeaten run despite US absences of Donovan and Agoos. Best front pairing of Graziani/Donovan and best back-line of Barrett-Agoos-Dayak-Conrad (plus Robinson), with Cannon in goal. Ekelund voted to MLS best XI. Roger Itaya runs away with Supporter's Shield. 2003 Won division title in a romp, yet cardiac season laced with cliffhangers as team ends up with zero goal differential in non-Dallas games. Put themselves in underdog role in each stage of postseason. But rookies, castoffs and A-leaguers excel beyond wildest imagination and Mulrooney and Donovan have MVP seasons. Onstad voted goalie of the year. 2004... Best is yet to come. Youth movement will bear fruit as Mullan, Ching, Robinson, Walker, De Rosario, Alvarez and Roner(?) will continue their rapid rise. Injury woes can hardly be worse than in 2003. Other Frank Yallop sucks, and besides, he's Canadian. The Dario Brose era was prematurely ended. This Donovan guy is all hype. Danes are smelly. Agoos is a curse. Bring back John Doyle, Krazy George and the Krafts.
Whish season was the one where we got Yves? I pick that one. What? Oh. Okay. I say 2001. Ain't no time like the first time.
I personally think that the line-up that won MLS Cup (sans Waibel, with the addition of Dunivant) would beat both last year's squad and the 2001 championship winner. I say this because our midfield was dominant, even without a consistent left winger. This playing style was perfect for Mulrooney and Ekelund and was the reason why we won the cup. It wasn't Donovan, it wasn't Onstad (although they all helped), it was the high-pressure midfield and the outstanding play of Mulrooney that led me to the conclusion that this year's team is our best team.
      How would Frank Yallop's 2003 San Jose Earthquakes (14-7-9 in the regular season)...       ... have matched up against Dragan Popovic's 1983 Golden Bay Earthquakes (20-10-0 in the regular season)?       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G P.S. = Is that Dwayne DeRosario in both pictures?
Not to bump on your nostalgia, Goodsie. But, I'd bet on the 2003 Earthquakes to kick the 1983 version. The picture of the boys in red, shows Dwayne's father, Upper-Pwamme.
      Near the end of their intense lightsaber duel: Upper-Pwamme: "Has anyone ever told you what happened to your father?" Dwayne: "I was told that he was eaten by the Sigi." Upper-Pwamme: "No, mon... I am your father!" Dwayne: "NOOOOO!!!"             GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
      Is the quality of play in MLS better now than it was in the NASL back then (I've heard opinions go both ways on this)?       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Who goes both ways? Goodsie, I base my estimate on the vast improvement I've seen in this league over the past eight seasons. I think it has been tremendous. For the team 20 years ago to have been better than the 2003 team would mean that the base from which MLS started in 1996 was very bad indeed.
      I agree with you that the 2003 team is better than the 1983 team. However, it seems that there are still some old-timers out there (even older than me, if that's possible ) that still swear by how much better the NASL was than MLS.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Remember that the NASL was only required to play 3 Americans, so 8 imports could be on the field at one time! This meant a different talent pool was in use so it is apples and oranges to compare to MLS. A former NASK Quakes player recently told me that he thought the 1983 team was slightly better talent wise than the 2001 Quakes but that Franks coaching was vastly superior to "Pops". The talent level was high up front on the old team (Goosens, Zungel, Terlecki, Ingram) but seemed weaker at the back, and I believe "Big" Bill Irwin's goals against avg. was about 1.65 in 1983. Goodsie, Spartacus?
2002 without a doubt probably was the best team in terms of talent, and had there not been the wc to deal with, then i think graz and donovan would have gelled better and really look dangerous.
Great point, T_R. And it's exactly why talk of who's "better" hardly matters, as in, who's better, the Quakes or the Fire? I'll take Cup victories over accolades.
2003 Well, here are my thoughts: - 2001 Team played the best overall from the middle to the end of the season. - 2002 Team had the most talent. - 2003 Team wins the division and has the best regular season record. All players on the roster contribute to the sucess of the team. - Other. It's very hard to compare the NASL Quakes to the MLS Quakes. Different era's. However, the pressure the MLS Quakes bring on the defensive end could not have been handled by most NASL teams (except maybe soe of the Cosmos teams). Ok, I just voted for the 2003 team in the pol, but now, I would have to say the 2002 Team. Doh! With the WC and the injuries to Agoos, Dayak, amd Mulrooney, it just wasn't meant to be...
2003. I vaguely remember the old school Quakes so I can't comment. But the difference is Landon. He's much more dangerous now than last year or the year before. 2002 was talented, but Graziani was a jerk and detractd from the team atmosphere. And the team disappeared after Mulrooney broke his ankle; 2003 the players kept marching on despite all the injuries. 2001 was magic, but offensively not as good as 2003.
I gotta go with 2003. The question is what was the best _team_. Some of the teamwork and coordination this year, particularly in the playoff games was just too scary good. Little strings of quick one touch passes slicing through the defenses. Chills. 2002 was too fragmented by WC and all. 2001 was pure fun, but a lot of time Landon was playing about two pages ahead of his teammates and it didn't mesh as well. //Mary
      I think you're right, although my old age could be playing tricks on me.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
IMHO all time Quash/Clakes team : Cannon Martin Dayak Doyle Agoos Bravo Ekelund Mullrooney Espinoza Donovan Wynalda IMHO all crap Quash/Clakes team Kramer Draguicevich Emenalo Yanni Wright Ziko Urbanyi Lazzizi Onalfo Guzman Uribe Cheerio.
Your probably going with the best players, but I prefer to play them in their position. Bravo was a forward, not a right midfielder and I believe Espinoza played forward. Lewis should be on the left and Mullan on the right. Here would be my picks for the best: Cannon Conrad Dayak Doyle Agoos Mullan Ekelund Mullrooney Lewis Donovan Cerritos For the crap team (and you did a good job), I try not to remember a lot of those players, but here goes: "Goal Post" Kiner Martin Draguicevich Clark Yanni Ziko Urbanyi Lazzizi Tinsley Karapetyan Uribe
      No George Best, Paul Child or Steve Zungul?       You probably mean Liner.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
You italicized "best".....you should have italicized "team". I think everyone agrees, that 2002 was the most individually talented "roster". They didn't play like a team. 2001 was the "best" team. 2003 was the "hardest working" team 2004 won't even make the playoffs. (hey, my negative attitude this season is what won the MLS Cup 2003, i'm stickin with what got us there)
Growing up watching the old school Quakes, I idolized them. But, the majority of them (and every other NASL player not on the Cosmos) couldn't even get a try-out with this league. IMHO. The biggest thing is the depth of talent, across the board. Where the NASL was exciting, and had some talented players, there were some huge holes in the talent pool. MLS plays at a much higher level, as evidenced by the number of our players who are making an impact at the international level.