Beasley, Razov, Wolff, Stoichkov, CJ, Gray, Big Zach... Jeez, we beat a good team last night. There were a few quick exchanges in tight spaces, where the Fire knocked the ball around so fast it made my head spin. And yet, the Quakes dictated play for the most part. Sometimes what the Quakes do isn't that spectacular -- being organized in defense, making good decisions in midfield, even having the discipline to not lose the ball in the defending third. Stuff that doesn't always show up in the stats. It all seems to come together, doesn't it? Credit has to go to Coach Frank and the established players who really have the entire team playing all for one, one for all. This was the first time I've seen the Quakes dominate the Fire. It really makes me feel good about our chances of repeating. Comments?
I will feel much better about all this Quakes are dominant and MLS Cup 2002 talk once we actually win a game on the road.
I agree with your assessment. For most of the last 10-12 minutes, anyone watching the game who did not know the score would have guessed that the Quakes were the team a goal down. The Fire were just incapable bringing anyone forward, for the most part.
True. This is why Claudio Reyna is held in high regard--no flash, just solid fundamentals that get results. The Quakes are sound on all fronts. Especially defense. Consider that we have SIX All-Stars on the pitch for us...SIX!!!! How lucky are we?? Our back line includes a legend (Agoos), two All-Stars (Barrett in '02 and Dayak in '01) and the tandem of Conrad and Robinson. Jimmy plays hard and is a steady contributer. Robinson, IMO, is on his way to being an All-Star. He is aggressive and is under the wing of Yallop, who is a world-class defender himself. Once Robinson eliminates some of the "adventures" with the ball, he'll be in the back line regularly. As much as I like Jimmy, I don't know that Robinson shouldn't be in at right back all the time when Dayak returns. And then there's Joe Cannon. Hard to heap enough praise on Joe. He is #1 among all keepers in MLS...again! Team record for shutouts. Community-minded guy and a great personality. Loaded with spirit (clapping hands over head during introductions) and has a chanpionship ring on his finger. It's remarkable to me how the Quakes can play so fundamentally solid, yet make it so exciting to watch. Their execution is the beauty of the game. They create! Even the novice fan can see the spaces open up and the opportunities develop. Our guys really DO play at a high level. Glad to see by the attendence that folks are slowly starting to figure that out.
While anything can happen, it's hard to imagine the Quakes not at least reaching the Cup this year. They are absolutely DOMINANT at home, and if they end up the #1 seed (a likely scenario) they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This would simply seem like too much to overcome for any opponent. What will happen at a neutral venue (CMGI) is more open to question, but I still think they'd win. They have all the pieces to the puzzle. In fact, if everyone gets healthy, they may have too many pieces of the puzzle. But Yallop seems to know how to maintain great team chemistry and the boys should get a lot of credit for maintaining that as well. These are the golden years for the Quakes. Too bad there aren't a few more of them to enjoy it.
Oh, I don't know. Look what Frank has managed to do with a team that many thought would be in trouble when several of its lead players went off to the World Cup and several others got injured. I don't have any qualms with Yallop at the helm.
Yeah, FlashMan, I'm not exactly sure what you meant by this. Sonofapitch -- I like your Claudio reference. Although I wish we had one or two more guys with Claudio's ability to hold the ball under intense pressure. One of the things I like about Lucci is that he seems so comfortable with the ball at his feet in traffic. The best discussions on BigSoccer come from threads with some element of controversy... and this one isn't very controversial. I just hope that people start to show more appreciation for the subtle things that allow the Earthquakes to compete and win, even when the spectacular guys (LD, AG, DD) aren't so spectacular. Maybe we'd get more response on this thread if the title had been "WHY DON'T MORE OF YOU PEOPLE APPRECIATE WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE???"
Called Depth! The Elusive Holy Grail ... ... and great coaching from the entire staff. Depth is what makes (and make repeat) champions! Obviously combined with skill, talent, enthusiasm, camraderie, enjoyment and support from great fans! Go Quakes!