Interesting piece in which Dylan Hernandez attempts to lay out reasons why this year's team didn't perform as well as last year's--with essentially the same roster. Basically, he posits three items: coaching change, threat of relocation, injuries. I suspect all three contributed, but I can imagine the threat of relocation and injuries impacted the players the most. (I think the players really believe in Dominic and are committed to him.) Couple of quotes regarding those two stuck out. Forward Landon Donovan said, "It gets old playing for a team where the only people that care are your fans and you." Midway through the season, trainer Bruce Morgan said the run of injuries suffered by the Earthquakes was the worst he had seen in his nine seasons with the club.
I was glad to see that quote because he includes the fans in the group that "cares". He made a comment earlier in the year that was something like "For some reason, no one wants us here". If there is any difference now in how he views the fan support for the team, I'm sure the SSV effort is a big part of that.
On target... There was no doubt that the rumours of the team affected the psyche and focus of the players... when all the uncertainty is unravelling right before them it's very tough to concentrate on getting results on the pitch... Hopefully either way, once the team's status is officially announced for next year they can put this episode behind them... for now... right now, it's the task at hand and that is advancing to meet Colorado or Los Angeles...
Concerning the injuries. While we seemed to have about the same number of games missed due to injuries last year, the guys we did play seemed to be healthy. This year it seems like in addition to the guys sitting out, alot of the players on the field are far less than 100% as well. I'm not even sure we hear about all the little nagging injuries.