San Jose Earthquakes - Sporting Kansas City (Saturday, 2/21) pre/in/postgame thread [R]

I can actually buy the “addition by subtraction” thing in regard to the back line, specifically Wilson and Rodrigues. But my focus tends to be me more on the midfield and attack. And I don’t see how losing Espinoza, Chicho, and Josef is addition by subtraction. And notice he doesn’t bother to qualify his statement or walk it back in any way in regard to the attacking guys, which is really surprising in the case of Espinoza. And I wonder what Espinoza would think about that statement.

 

Yeah that’s pretty much what I’ve been saying. We need 2 more impact attacking players to get kind of level to last season. If we’re just “level” can we be better, even in the context of other teams getting better? Yes, possibly, if the young guys step up and improve and / or Bruce has coached the team up.

 

I agree with most of this.

Last year, we started off well through the end of June. Then we went to crap.

We had issues with injuries and some players just losing their form. It is possible (I’m guessing here) that the locker room was an unhappy place.

In any case, the youngsters started getting more minutes later in the season. Roberts looked pretty good last year. Floriani, not so much. But, if those guys can play well this year, and they both looked good in preseason, we might be OK. Going to four in the back might help. That should help Floriani for sure.

But I’m concerned about our outside defenders. Jones and Benji? Those two like to get forward, which could leave us exposed at the back.

Our outside mids concern me also. I like Bouda, I’m confident he will do well. But Ricketts? He has promise, but he’s not there yet.

I don’t like Judd as a starter. (Prove me wrong Judd!) Niko at attacking mid? I’m underwhelmed.

I worry about Daniel staying healthy, because Earl Jr. sucks. And Bruce’s continued faith in Earl, Vieira, Romney and others makes me think that Bruce has lost his mojo.

I’m expecting a terrible season.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

All players do that. It gives you better balance. And any ball that might get mis-kicked and hit your arm/hand would be seen as ball to hand, not hand to ball.

 

Sure no one has their arms ratcheted down by their side at all times, but it's a matter of degree. I really notice it with Roberts and Floriani, while other players have quieter arms when they play the ball. You should be relying more on core strength and not your arms for balance.

No, the only criterion that is used these days is "is the arm in an unnatural position". Winged out perpendicular to your body is not a "natural position", and that's not gonna cut it. You'll be called for a hand ball. So the danger is that you go to clear the ball and it ricochets off of someone and back into your arm. Handball. PK if it's in the box.

 

It's extremely rare that a ricochet off of your own body, or even an opponent in close proximity onto your arm, even outstretched, results in a handball. And the whole "unnatural/natural position" concept seems to have an evolving interpretation. Anyone who has played the game knows it is very natural to have your arms away from your body in many circumstances. I know the EPL for one has toughened the criteria for handball calls against defenders, taking proximity and circumstance into consideration much more, and giving them more leeway.
Offensive players handling in the box will get called for any hand/arm contact regardless of arm/hand position, proximity or intent, if a goal is involved.

 

I'm talking about ricochets off of opponents' bodies, not their own bodies. It happens. Balls pinging around the box - happens all the time. And if it does happen in the box you may have cost your team the game. And again, if you watch the games, in MLS, over and over, the only consideration these days is hand / arm position - "natural" or not. I haven't heard the "ball to hand" argument used recently at all. Not saying that's how it should be necessarily, but that's how they're calling it.

I think minimization of unecessary movement is a good guideline in general, not just in sports but also in other things like playing a musical instrument. Economy of motion means more efficient, less mistake prone execution (less moving parts), etc. As another example, one of the reasons Cade Cowell struggles with his final ball is that he has too much up and down motion in his stride. When you watch Messi run, it's like he's gliding.

 

In your initial post you commented on not liking Roberts and Floriani's arm position when handling and passing the ball, now it's evolved into ricochets off of opponents bodies. If they are trying to blast the ball out of the box and it ricochets off an opponent two yards away and back onto an arm that may be away from the body before they can react I still highly doubt it will be called.

 

There's no evolution in my argument. Here's my initial post:

A little nit: I notice that both Roberts and Floriani flail their arms a bit with they handle the ball. That's a habit they should try to break. They are gonna be some handballs...

I'm talking about passing with your arms up like you're reaching out to serve tea (pinky out!) and the chance that the pass ricochets off another player and back into your outstretched arm. It's not complicated. I didn't even think about the chance that the ball ricochets off the player's own body as they're passing. Anyway, things happen fast in soccer. No guarantee that they're gonna bring their arm back in. If it was that easy, we'd see very few handballs because players would see the incoming ball and think "Uh-oh, I'd better bring my arms back in!" and it's fixed!

 

SHIT!

 

Update:

Robert Jonas: San Jose Earthquakes still waiting for Timo Werner s paperwork to be completed. Unlikely he'll be available for the season opener.

 

I’m not shocked, but I’m also unhappy that we have put so much on one player. We signed only one new guy, maybe we sign JoGo (I hope so). Maybe we sign Jasinski, I hope so. But of those three, only Timo is a highly rated guy, and that might be optimistic.

We’re going to get ripped.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Very interesting choice to fire the season opener siren...no obvious club/bay area connection...unless of course, FSG is the new primary owner...hahahaha

 

John Barnes, will he rap...

New Order should release a song for the 2026 World Cup