Post-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Minnesota United FC "Quarterfinal" (Saturday, 8/1) postgame thread [R]

I have no explanation why this is, especially after you beat us like a drum those first two years.

Maybe all you need is to convince The Don to move us to the Eastern Conference?

 

We should put JT in goal. Either he’s good enough, or he isn’t. Some of our guys are OK and would do better if:

• We had faster center backs.
• If we had a real ACM rather than Magnus. (To his lasting credit, he’s been much better since Almeyda took over.)
• If we had a serious goal scoring threat in place of Rios.

Absent these changes, we’re going to continue to suck. Oh, and Vako has to go.

I think that Jesse gets at least three or four more years as GM. Almeyda will be here until his contract runs out, of a national team comes calling.

Also, as our guys contracts wind down, players like Jackson and maybe Judson will look to bail out. I’m surprised that TT has tried to leave yet, and I expect that he will eventually.

On the upside, Vako, Kashia, and Magnus will all leave. Maybe Flo too. I really like Flo, but how can be behind Kashia and Alanis at CB when he is clearly head and shoulders better than both of them and much better suited to Almeyda’s system?

Nah, our team is going to suck as long as John Fisher is calling the shots.

Go Quakes!!
FU Fisher!!

- Mark

 

Alanis was the worse I have seen, his head was not in this game. Actually, I believe he holds the record for most balls through legs at any level of soccer.

Plus, once again, no one is able to take a shot on target, do they not practice these things like everyday.

 

Alanis blows. He’s slow, his positioning isn’t great, his anticipation is weak, his heading sucks. He might do well in USL.

 

And our "Free Kick" Specialist sent his one try way over the goal like Mr. Corrales used to do. Dump him.

 

Other than that one well-taken free kick, I have yet to see anything that makes me think he's anything other than a warm body taking up a roster space. Don't know what he's being paid, but if it's more than the MLS minimum, it's too much.

As has been stated so many times here - our central defenders are individually terrible, and as a combination their suckitude is exponentially worse. Even during our worst times, we were always known as a team that had a great defense, but those days are gone. We need at least three new defenders (including GK).

 

I promise that I will not attend any viewing party from now on. Looks like I always jinx the team. We never won any game that I joined the viewing party dating back to the Metrostars vs SJ (5:5) in 2004.

 

The scary thing is that Minnesota whipped us with a weakened squad.

 

Alanis is better than Kashia, so there is that.

 

Yeah - I'm not sure what happened, but (in addition to facing strong pressure on our defensive third) our guys just plain looked pooped and out of sync. I don't know if the wear and tear of playing five games in the Florida weather caught up with them, or if Matias simply didn't have the guys psyched, but we started out uncoordinated and stayed that way.

 

I would argue that Kashia is a better 1v1 defender. Alanis has better positional awareness but both are just dreadful overall when it comes to defending due to the lack of athleticism.

On Amarilla's goal. Alanis' "defense" was just laughable because it was way too amateurish. You cannot be back paddling 20 yards from your goal while leaving a 6 yard cushion! Get closer and align your body so that the only option you provide the attacker is to dribble to the outside which cuts down the shooting angle and makes it easier on the goalkeeper.

Vega has also terrible rebound control which has resulted in two goals. His biggest trait is his passing ability but even his distribution has been terrible.

 

Alanis was playing scared on that goal and, like you said, gave up way too much space. What he did do, however, is force the play to the outside and a near post shot. The far post, a cut inside, and a pass were taken away. Vega should have recognized this and adjusted accordingly. Still too much space.

I used to overplay the inside option leaving the attacker only one option similar to this, but I was slow and not playing at the professional level. My keeper was a couple classes above me as well so I could depend on him to read me and cover properly.

 

actually, that's (to me) one of the biggest issues with our defense right now - we give opponents WAY too much space. So many times during this tournament I saw defenders backpedaling three to five yards away from their marks. Makes me crazy. I was always taught to "get in his ********ing shorts" when I was defending. Apparently, that's no longer the way they do it...

 

I feel kinda weird now — we don’t have any more games coming up, and it feels like the season is over. I’m actually looking forward to watching the Championship playoff final between Brentwood & Fulham tomorrow...

On the upside, I’m cleaning and organizing the garage...

 

The most valuable game in world soccer! And a west London derby to boot, their stadiums are only 4 1/2 miles apart. I am rooting for Brentford, who haven't been in the top flight for 73 years. (Fulham were relegated from the Premier League in 2019). Brentford scored the most goals in the Championship this past campaign and play attractive attacking soccer. They also have a new stadium opening this coming season. And who can't get behind a team with a nickname of the Bees!

 

So a sprained ankle is better than a broken one, got it.

 

What I don’t get is Flo started one game in the tournament and the Quakes had a shutout. One. Game.

Why???

My honest guess is Matias feels he needs him as backup for Judson/Yueill.

 

I'm still waiting to see that Almeyda magic we all were all told to expect. I mean, his teams have been better than Stahre's but only marginally...

 

They have played much better and more entertaining soccer. They’ve also gone on winning streak runs we never saw from Stahre’s team.

I still feel like the roster construction is out of balance. I use to believe the Quakes had too many center mids and maybe center backs. Now they have over compensated and look too thin. Also, it’s time to get Tommy into a more attacking role. The Quakes have Ridiculous depth at right back.

1.TT
2.Paul Marie
3.Nick Lima
4.Shea Salinas
5.Jacob Akanyinge
6.Flo

 

You can only do so much with the available "talent" at your disposal and Almeyda has been able to get the most out of them in spurts. Problem is that hustle can only take you to a certain distance until the other team can match you and then it's individual talent that needs to make the difference and the Quakes are towards the bottom of the league in that department.

 

The suckiness of the organization is terrible. We are average in spending so not really an issue but our value is terrible. Hopefully the young kids will step it up and prove their worth but there just is not the mentality to win today and field a winning team each season.

 

I knew 5 minutes in we we're going to have a brutal game. Minn is extremely athletic and physical...big guys that can really move. They utilized our man to man marking to their benefit by spreading us out. They welcomed the 1 v1 battles on a spread field. It was to their advantage all game. They simply took space that was offered or routinely glided by the primary defender into tons of space...causing us so much trouble trying to sort out which of our players would pick up the mark. After they broke through our first defender and got behind our mids, they had a field day running at our CBs with acres of space...total nightmare for any CB. we could have been down 2 goals in the first 5 min...we were getting shredded losing 1v1 battles. Almeyda's system is based on winning a disproportionate number of 1v1s...we got clobbered in that regard...game over. Heath did a fantastic job tactically...spreading us out.

I liked the Skahan sub. I think he will be a solid player for us going forward. He had mediocre spazzy first game, but there are positives to develop...good vision, good decision making...he couldn't execute too many passes, but his vision and passing tempo are good...needs to clean up the accuracy. Fights and competes hard and has a bit of step to him. I'd like to see him a few more times....rough start but he looks like a gamer.

I agree with others, Rios and Fierro don't move the needle...simply stop gap.

I won't shed any tears when Vako moves on. He's a square peg in a round whole.