That's what I want to believe. I specifically remember yelling at the TV where we had a counter where JY had the ball in the center and had to play a simple flat diaginal through ball to Espinoza (I believe) running down the left flank but he instead hits a hard long ball that ends up out of play. It was just so out of character to see him make these types of mistakes and, even worse, it has been like that across both of the first two games.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings-inter-miami-surge-minnesota-united-sink-after-week-2 16 San Jose Earthquakes +10 The Quakes, in the span of three Power Rankings, have gone from 16th to 26th back to 16th. That about sums it up. And by “it” I mean every single thing about Matias Almeyda’s team over the last few years. Anyway, let’s watch that Cade Cowell pass again.
It does exactly sum up Almeyda's Quakes. We are at times horrible and at times pretty good. We will likely bounce up and down between those two some number of times this season. I don't see any reason why this season will be different, and in fact I brought that up after the Houston game when everyone was convinced we were just a straight up horrible team.
We're off to a better start from previous MA years, so that's a good sign. I'm hoping we can win DC and RSL. Following that we have 3 home games in a row against Seattle, Portland, SKC - that stretch will be most insightful as the quality of the opponents is much higher.
Of course, knowing the Quakes, we'll lose to DC and RSL and then crush Seattle, Portland, and SKC. That sounds more like it.
Jackson is fine. He is adjusting to not having Judson's coverage, adapting to Remedi's game, and also having to share more of the ball with Chofis... giving up the ball quite a bit actually to Chofis. Maybe a little more than I'd like, but their chemistry is a work in progress. I'm expecting some really good stuff when they get comfortable with each others style. Yueill is also getting way more attention than he previous had to deal with...he's going to take a lot of hard knocks this season. Hopefully the crap MLS refs will figure it out and give him some degree of protection.
Yeah, winning that first home game was really important. Now the pressure's off a little and hopefully we have a few more good home games early. We just couldn't afford to start the season sucking at home again this year, with what 5 of the first 7 at home?