One of the hotest topics here on BS over the off season was what positions the Quakes needed to improve. The consensus at the time was: 1) Right Back and 2) Right Mid. Unfortunately, FY did nothing to shore up either of these spots. Just think how much better we'd be feeling right now, if we didn't have to face the fact that Ibsen will likely have to play the entire game Sat. And although Manny on the right and Corrales on the left is not a bad line-up, it'd be nice to have another option to consider when Ian is not up to speed as he currently seems to be. Comparing the '02 Quakes going into the playoffs vs the '01 Quakes, I'd have to say we're not as strong overall. Here's my ratings compared to last year. Offense: + Graziani over Cerritos, no question we're better off there. I have to say though, that I'm going on faith that LD will rise to his playoff level from a year ago, as he really hasn't shown it yet. Is the situation with BL on his mind? Mid: - Last year Lagos was on fire on the left. Ian was performing well on the right. Now we have moved down a notch as Ian and Manny are not the same players as last year. The emergence of Corrales is a positive factor and a favorable development this year. I think Mulrooney and Ekelund have pretty much the same high-level form from last year. Defense: - - Still no reliable right back. Central D hurting with the injuries to Dayak and Agoos. Hopefully, Agoos is approaching 100%, he looked good against LA. Robinson is a talent, but cannot replace the game smarts of Dayak. Wade, I think, has managed to step up his game from last year, if that is possible. Goal: even Joe Cannon is Joe Cannon. While I think he may have lost a bit of focus this year, one more year of experience is a plus. Overall, I think the team is weaker this year, despite being a much higher seed. If they expect to win the cup, several players are really going to have to step up a notch in the playoffs. Fortunately, for us and them, they know they are capable of doing so. Discuss.
You're certainly right about the team being weaker, at least from the standpoint of injuries, the difficulties of building cohesiveness, and the constant changes in lineup. That's also a much stronger league out there this year than last. If they can pull this one out of the fire, they've done a bigger job than what they did last year.
Much to my dismay, i might add. For this reason, a loss in SJ this weekend will seal an early end to the Quake's season. A win this weekend may allow the Quake's to make it to the Cup Final.....notice I said "MAY".
Other than players who weren't realistically or financially available to SanJo in the dispersal draft -- Ralston was gone already -- please list the right backs and right wings: (a) who are better than the guys SJ already has; and (b) whose teams would have made them available to SJ at the right price. I'm not arguing that these players may exist, I just can't think of any in MLS who fit both categories. If you're talking about going outside the league to sign better players at those positions, SJ could have lucked out and gotten better players, sure. Or the Quakes could have gotten burned by signing foreign crap that was worse than what they already had (been there, done that). I totally agree they need improvement on the right side, but I attribute a lot of their poor play and inconsistency to the constantly revolving lineups due to the WC and all the injuries. Because the Quakes build attacks from the outside backs up the wings, those positions are really important for the them to establish control of the flow of a match. When you constantly switch players at those positions, you get varying results. Each player works at a different speed, passes a little differently, etc. Their teammates have to adjust every time to a different style, too. I was optimistic that the team had more of "a system" coming into place after last year. But this year makes it obvious that we primarily benefitted from a bunch of guys playing together all the time and gelling. This year we're seeing that the Quakes "system" isn't so tried-and-true that you can insert any pro quality player into the mix and have the system still work.