San Jose - Los Angeles (Saturday, 4/26) pregame thread

This shall be a game for the ages. Bring on the noise, bring on the funk.

The truth is here:

http://www.lariotsquad.net/roadtrip.htm


Now you are wise.

Tommy Mack

PS: Prepare to witness the Passing Of The Sock.

 

My preseason prediction for this game was LA 3, SJ 1. However, I made that prediction before knowing that this game will in fact occur on SCHEDULE MAGNET DAY. Schedule magnets are well known by local fans to be the Quakes' secret WMD (Weapon of Magnetic Destruction). In light of this new information and our outstanding win record on Schedule Magnet Day I must revise my prediction to: SJ 2, LA 1.

 

This is true We have never lost a game on "magnetic schedule give away" day and tradition must be upheld. Seeing as the galaxatives haven't scored more than one goal per game this year I will go out on a limb and predict a 2-1 Quakes victory over the vermin from the ass end of California.

 

If I were an MLS referee, I would give Ruiz (or "Diaz" if you're a Mercury News reader) a yellow the second he set foot on the field. I don't care if the guy did score 24 goals last year - he is the biggest cheater that has ever set foot in Spartan. There is nothing wrong with letting a referee know when you've been fouled, but his incessent flopping everytime he steps in the box regardless of whether or not he makes contact with a defender is cheating plain and simple, and I think it's high time that the game officials treat it as such. It is not 'tactics' it is not 'gamesmanship' it is cheating, unsportsmanlike and has no place in the MLS.


<Rant Mode Off>



This game should be a real gut-check for the depleted Quakes. If they can step off the field with three against the defending MLS champs (gad - that feels terrible to say) under these conditions, I would say that it augurs very favorably for another great season! There are going to be at least as many fans as there were yesterday, so the joint should be jumpin'. Just pray that we aren't saddled with: Roger Itoya, Gus St. Silva, Richard Herron, Jair Murafolo.........

 

another draw out of this one....

Quakes 1 (Ching 72)
Smellay 1 (Ruiz 14)

Ruiz will get his one chance and with a sieve in goal, it won't be too hard to score.....

i will keep my eye out for a short bus with LA plates

 

So the $64,000 question: who gets to mark Ruiz?

Agoos: too slow.
Dayak: too slow.
Dunivant: probably could match speed with Flopador, but is he mature enough to stick to him and not get outwitted by fancy footwork?
Waibel: Red card waiting to happen. Only good for serving up a season-ending fracture.*
Robinson: Will he even be back?

*I do not endorse this tactic, but I will not lose sleep if it happens...

I am not a superstitious person, but I am crossing my fingers that the Schedule Magnet Night thing is, indeed, true.

 

Save it for later. We dont need a miraculous comeback before the playoffs.

 

My ideal situation would be Eddie. He told me on Thursday that they were trying to get him back by the LA game. But now I hear it may be the NE game. He would be our best bet, but we also don't want to bring him back if he's not ready and risk even worse injury.

Dunivant, I believe is indeed mature enough and I think has the wits. But, I don't know that he's ready. However, at this point, he may be our best option. Why not let him at the Fish and see what happens?

Should be interesting to see how this plays out. I too am hoping that the blessing of the magnetic schedule will be upon us.

 

question about Graziani

Question/clarification. Graziani was loaned to Deportivo Emelec. This mean that he could come back to MLS too in any given day. With so many of Earthquake gone, having Graziani back is more than perfect.

 

Dayak/Agoos will be fine. Ruiz is above average but he doesn't have neck breaking speed like Donovan or Beasley.

Here is the lineup I want to see

Saunders

Robinson Dayak Agoos Dunivant

Mullah Mulrooney Corrales Lagos

Alvarez Donovan

 

I think Ruiz v Dayak would be a great matchup. Defending Ruiz mostly requires good positional sense and toughness handling the crap he throws at defenders (pushing prior to the ball arriving, shirt tugging and all that). I don't see him beating defenders with speed as much as tenacity and great postioning. Dayak can match up to that very well.

Also, in the first couple games, the refs seemed to be very well aware of little fishy's shenanigans and weren't giving him any calls. Maybe the word is out.

Sure would be nice to have Robinson back though.

 

don't bring back robinson too soon. make sure he's fully healthy before he's used.

tough matchup. galaxy played their best game so far v. the metros. THE QUAKES NEED DEPTH. but it's still early in the season so it should be okay.

donovan, of course, needs to come through, either setting someone up or scoring one of his own.

 

LA doesn't look that good this year. If Ruiz is shut down, they got nothin.

 

They do have the Gorgon, who got one yesterday. But, basically, I agree, they don't look as strong as they were last year.

 

LA SUCKS!

 

Unfortunately that was true last year also, and they won the cup.

If Ruiz gets hurt, LA is a mid table team at best. And I agree, so far, at least their first two games that I saw on TV, they don't look all that great.

But to give them credit they are a team able to grind out results.

I can't wait for Saturday. I'm hoping for a crowd at least as big as the double header. Any advance news on ticket sales? Their mini-plans all had the first two games, so I assume the crowd should be decent, and the fact that LA always draws well.

 

Fixed your post. However, I do agree with your predictions that we'll come away with yet another 1-1 draw.

 

I totally agree with you. Dayak is tough and intimidating. He can handle Ruiz's dirty play. He has the speed too. I am not sure why people always sell him short of that. He certainly can turn it on when needed to. Dayak knows how to position himself and does not take crap from anyone so I am looking forward to watching him shut down Ruiz.

 

The biggest question surrounding this upcoming match is who will have more supporters at Spartan? I am aware of at least 100 people coming up from LA on Charter Buses so I wonder if the Quakes can outdo that?
Should be fun with the upstart Ultras getting taught a few lessons by the Riot Squad.

 

I'm sure we will have at least 100 there.

 

It's California Derby time, babeeeee!!! The Game of the Week, clash of the top two teams from last year.

Remember the last time these teams met? Before 26,000, battling for the Supporters Shield (the result of which ultimately may have decided who went on to grab the Cup), a game played at a very high level and pace, with Ekelund's botched PK ultimately the difference. Graziani also just couldn't get one past Hartman that night.

Game probably won't have quite the same buzz to it, but it should still be a good one. The Ruiz-Dayak/Agoos matchup should be worth the price of admission and it'll be fun to see Donovan taking on either Lalas or Bo in the back. Also, Jones will be probing both wings, so Dunivant and/or Waibel may be getting their first true test.

Hoping for at least 15,000, though that's probably wishful thinking. Would be nice if the Quakes decided to market the Derby a little bit in the days leading up to the game but I might as well wait for manna from heaven while wandering in the SoCal desert for 40 days and 40 nights.

 

Oh please
We've heard this crap from the galaxative supporters before and they never do any better than 40 or 50 people at best and the only way you can tell they're in the stadium at all is by their piss-yellow colored shirts. Let's hope their chartered bus plunges off a bridge, killing topper and wounding Dan Loney.

 

Yeah but you have to remember that this is the closest thing to a home game they get until July. We've got to be sure and get every quake fan out there for this one.

 

Couldn't of said it better!

I think we will see the same lineup as the past two matches. I am really nervous with having Waibel on the pitch. Expect a yellow, possible red card with the fish flopping around at Waibel's feet. Of course after he has had his kidney extracted he will be fine and play on.

It will be interesting to see who will match up with ole' floppy fish. I expect it will be Dayak because of his aggresive D and experience, but Goos and Dayak may trade or double team. Of course having Cobi running down the flanks may prove an interesting dilema.

I like the thought of big-Ching matching up with their backs and LD feeding him and an overlapping Mullan. Look for LD to have a career game. I think his time has come.

We will miss Ekelund yet again, but with the same squad playing the last couple of games together I think Corrales will step up and Manny will high step through the box.

2-1, Quakes with goals from Ching and LD

This is the game we have been waiting for. Remember....LA Sucks! Oh yeah, and...Anyone but LA!

Go Quakes!