The Official 2023 San Jose Earthquakes related Blogs/Press thread

Well, we seemed to like them when we were 8th .

 

Who's "we"?

 

More than one of us here .

 

You think Cincinnati is better than St. Louis? They got spanked, 5-1, head-to-head.

 

I thought we didn't care about Power Rankings? I didn't say that I agree with them anyway. In fact I called into question Miami being #2.

 

I'm bored.

 

We have the 2 hardest working forwards in show business... You can see the incredible amount of distance covered and the amount of runs at speed Espinoza makes every game. But Jebo continually tracks back well into midfield to help with buildup and doesn't get the credit he deserves for that IMO.

Total distance covered among forwards in MLS this season:

1️⃣ Cristian Espinoza, @SJEarthquakes - 282.8km
2️⃣ Jeremy Ebobisse, @SJEarthquakes - 262.0km
3️⃣ Hany Mukhtar, @NashvilleSC - 253.6km
4️⃣ Ryan Gauld, @WhitecapsFC - 241.7km
5️⃣ Christian Benteke, @dcunited - 234.3km

🏃‍♂️💨 pic.twitter.com/5leqxgLVrc

— PFF FC (@PFF_FC) September 15, 2023

 

I would hate to think of what this season would have looked like if Espinoza weren't on the team!

 

It's like thinking about how bad we would have been all those years, like 2009-2018 w/o Wondo. In 2010 we scored 34 goals. Wondo scored 18 of them!

 

I think Jebo gets some of his mileage tracking back to defend when we go into park the bus mode.

 

These are our playoff probabilities as it stands today according to this site. I think the methodology is to weigh probability of each game according to the current record of each team. I don't think they take home / away into account, which is a significant weakness. So while it appears that we have only a 36% chance of not making the playoffs, I think it's higher than that given that we have 2 road games out of 3. I'm gonna say we have at least a 50% chance of not making it if not more like 60%, taking into account home / road form.

The site also shows that if we only win one of our last 3, we have a 65% chance of not making it. If we win 2 of the next 3, we're are all but in (1% chance of missing). They don't include "tie" scenarios. A win and a tie (and a loss), which is probably what we'll do, would probably put us around 50%. It's going to come down to the wire. Pretty sure that Decision Day for us will be "Win and hope for some results to go your away and you're in!"

 

Would it be so terrible if we could have one year in which we DIDN’T need a “playoff push” in October? Unless I’m mistaken, that has happened exactly ONE time (2012) since the shitty Fisher Quakes replaced the awesome Quakes.

 

There have been a few other years without a playoff push.

 

Okay, I'll play Devil's Advocate.... what is the benefit of Jebo's dropping deeper into midfield....essentially playing a false 9...we already have a three man central midfield...imo, he isn't that great at it...and he's always a step slow to the place he needs to be up field in the box. When he drops into midfield and Espinoza is wide...who exactly are we trying to play to...Cade over the top against the entire back line.... It sounds harsh, but Jebo isn't an over the top threat, so most of that back tracking running is pulling him away from more threatening positions...and he isn't tidy with the ball...One could argue he's actually a turnover waiting to happen in midfield.... I just don't buy the benefit of all that work rate...drives me crazy seeing him drop off the high line...just creates a void to play to up top.

 

Well, the thing is he's covering all that distance because he's going into deeper positions in the midfield and he's coming back. I don't see the void. He's generally there, and if he isn't it's a thru ball and Espinoza's doing his 1v1 magic. Also, I think he's really good at back to goal, turn, and make a good pass. One of the best in the league IMO. That's why we have so much success in our buildup. The problem with him isn't that he's not tracking back. It's that he's not all that great when he gets the ball in the box. He tries too hard to get the ball onto his left foot. But that's a different problem altogether - a striker skill problem, not a positioning problem.

 

He's just okay at most of the attributes you want to see in a 9...and just okay doesn't get you to where you need to be if you have aspirations of competing with the better teams in the league for hardware. He was a splash signing along with Montiero for CL...I get the need to do that after some really bad whiffs on players in the Almeyda years, Jebo had a career year, but I think most were a bit skeptical he could repeat the success....and he hasn't, even with Espinoza having a stellar year serving the ball and tucked in a little more to combo....it's just always looks a bit wonky, same with Montiero...add the two of them together up the spine and you get something that doesn't really scare anybody. I'm ready to see someone new in both positions.

 

He may be just OK in the attributes you want from a 9 but his hold up play in midfield is not one of those IMO. That part of his game is really good. The not so great part is his execution in the box with the ball at his feet. Hoppe looks like he might be significantly better at that. Problem is Jebo's contract runs for at least another year so we'll have to figure out what to do about it. Don't think he wants to go back to playing on the outside and I'm not sure he'd be all that good at it.

But I think our biggest problem has been left side attacker - I called it out at the beginning of the season, and as I've been saying, if we had at least a 3/4 Espinoza there we'd be much better. I don't think Jebo is our biggest problem, and nor is Monteiro. It's left side attacker. But we can move on from Monteiro as well next year and hopefully get someone better if we're going to spend DP money on that spot. Left side attacker and CAM - those are the biggest bangs for the buck for improvement.

 

I think the whole thing at left attacker was more about internal politics...pumping the Cade hype train to potentially increase his value, but it backfired and dragged the competitiveness of the team down. Also, the sour Benji vibe, hindered things... We could have played Skahan or Marie there, eliminating the massive amount of Cade turnovers, have better combo play and deeper possession... probably would have a handful more points.... nestled into a nice playoff spot instead of scrapping for points to get in...but that's all water under the bridge now....time to bring it together, get the intensity level up and fight like bastards.

 

I agree. I think continuing to start Cade for essentially the whole season at left side attacker - and I haven't given up on him, but man...it's dragged us down. Some people may not want to hear that or may not agree but I think it's true.

As for Benji, some of it could have been his own attitude, but also I think we mismanaged him. We can't expect him to play like Cade. Like Hoppe, he's not going to do great isolated on the wing and expected to go one on one. So you have to play a little differently with him in there. Allow him to drift more centrally; if he's out on the wing, have guys there to provide outlets and combine, etc. But to expect him to be Cade2, it's just not going to work. They are different kinds of players, different strengths and weaknesses.

And yes Marie and Skahan are both decent options there as well. But the best thing would be if we got the "at least 3/4 Espinoza" left-side attacker guy that I had hoped we'd get before Nathan got injured. But again, you're right. The politics may have stipulated that we leave that spot open for Cade. And it wasn't an unreasonable gamble - if he does well he helps your team and increases his value at the same time. But it hasn't paid off. He hasn't been a net + for the club and any potential suitor who watches our games or looks at the numbers is not going to impressed. So instead of win-win, it's been lose-lose.

 

Yean, but for the wrong reason.

 

I think that was the implication, or part of it .

 

I wasn't sure.