The Official 2026 San Jose Earthquakes preseason games thread [R]

It's the the same variation we've seen, this preason... some form a 5 man midfield with a 9 up top...Niko was playing ACM/or drop forward...he has free reign to find pockets or high along side the 9...which is what it looked like when the other team was trying to progress the ball from their own box...Judd and Niko side by side... then primarily NIko underneath in the our build. I'm guessing the role Niko played today will be the Timo role...but we need more savvy from our outside mids...so I'd play Niko as a tucked in outside mid...and I think we'd have a much better attack with Bouda up top instead of Judd.

 

Yeah, I call it a 4-3-3 just because it's an easy way to account for 3 CM's and 2 wide attackers. But if we want to isolate Judd as a "1", then it plays like a 4-2-3-1.

 

Overall though Niko is really more involved not passive or deferential like before, that is a good sign. he's not there yet, but he's getting into a ton of great spots, he'll settle down as he gets more comfortable with more experience. The right foot thing is frustrating though.

And Edwyn processes the game quickly...some of his teammates did not anticipate some of his one touch passes...he's ahead of the curve reading the situation.

 

Yeah, I like the aggressiveness Niko is showing this preseason. I'm gonna wait and see and try not to obsess too much about the no right foot thing. Wish me luck . Still would like to see Nick Fernandez in that role to see how it looks.

Edwyn is a guy who I was really wondering about. Would he ever get a chance with the 1st team before we just let his time run out and pass on him (like we did with Eisner). Edwyn's played 3 full years in Next/Pro already. Don't know how much it's gonna benefit him to play another year there. Like Medina, he needs a new challenge. Glad to see that he's getting some 1st team minutes, even if just preseason. He's a really clean technical player with a really good left foot, by my reservation with him has been that as a dmid he doesn't get stuck in very much. So it was good to see him make that tackle and win the ball. That was the game-winning play right there.

 

I think they're just waiting for him to gain some strength to endure the pummeling in MLS...he's a really smart player...needs to be able to hold up physically...I think that's the only limiting factor. Imo, he's already ahead of a lot of our players in terms of soccer IQ...

 

He's had the same frame for the last 3 years - reached full height but still pretty slight of build. He and Beau need to get on the bulk up program. Adam Jahn and TT are a couple of players who noticably added mass to their frames at one point in their careers, and I think it helped both of them a bit.

Anyway I’m excited for Edwyn. Maybe he’s got Bruce’s attention now and he’s got a shot at being a 1st teamer getting minutes within the next few years. He’s a real SJ native - east side, and has spoken in support of the team multiple times at council meetings, etc.

 

totally agree, they both need to add strength...enough to hold their own consistently in 50-50 situations. Imo, Beau dropping out of the starting line up late last season was probably due to Bruce being aware he was physically wearing down in his first full MLS season...

 

Yeah, Bruce even said it. He thought Beau was getting pushed around a bit too much - that's why he stopped getting starts. I saw a photo a week or 2 ago that made it look like Beau had added 15 pounds. But nope, deceptive photo. He looks about the same.

Come to think of it, Niko is another one who bulked up a bit and I think it’s really helped him. And he’s still only 20.

 

Nice to see us basically playing pretty even for three games and scoring a few goals. Also nice to get a few wins.

I'm still waiting for the bell to toll.

 

No. Niko was playing forward, and it was very clearly a 4-4-2. First, Niko and Judd up top, then Niko and Bouda.

And I don’t like the 4-4-2, unless Ian is the coach, and he’s not.

And this is Bruce, so we might be morphing to a 4-5-1 on defense, except that it always looked like a 4-4-2 to me. It would be easier to know for sure if we were actually in the stadium. (I use that word loosely here.)

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Because they are announcers for the other teams. We didn’t send any announcers because we’re saving money for the stadium in LV.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

In Bruce's system, the #10 presses high. So on defense it might have looked like a 4-4-2 at times, but not on the attack and not generally. You'll notice Niko was playing box to box and then some, sometimes helping us break the press in front of the back line. He was not playing as a forward.

 

If only we had an open roster spot for Edwyn.

I really liked his play. I thought he was Beau at first. I was watching on a small tablet. Very clear picture, but small.

I still don’t get one-footed players at this level.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

I think Edwyn's been on the 1st team roster for a few years now as an HG I think.

 

If that’s true, then does Niko sit when Timo gets here?

If Niko plays “tucked in” you’re thinking right mid, where his crosses will be crap. Then we’ll need to depend on Bouda and the CMs to create for the forwards.

I just had a distressing thought. What if Bruce plays Vieira and JoGo at the CM spots, because our defense was so awful last year?

I am not optimistic.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Well I want Bouda up top. He's just way more involved. Judd can be kind of enigmatic and aloof..

But the only way to get Beau, Niko and Timo on at the same time is to play Timo up top or Niko or Timo as a tucked in flank mid. I don't think Timo will be ready for the opener.

So this is what I'd like to see for our mids and forward for the opener. I like Jasinski's game a lot more than some of our regular guys....and Marie is a solid two way player on the left cutting into his shot


.....................Bouda...................
Marie......Beau....Niko........Jasinski
.....................Viera........................

But this is a pipe dream...because Bruce will stick with Judd up top and probably Ricketts on the left...and either Beau or Niko on the bench, probably Beau....and Harkes doing Harkes things.

I watched the last three preseason games and I don't think they tell us much at all, beyond the fact that we'll probably be in a what I think looks more like a 4-1-4-1 with our outside mids getting up into the high flanks. I don't care about the wins in the games, honestly, in each game we could have given up easily a couple more goals, we got an above average amount of breaks in all the games. So I have no idea what it will actually look like for the opener, because the last couple games were so loose...Hopefully, we see numbers back in defensive transition and a tighter defensive effort. i think it's going to take a little longer to gel in the attack until we get Timo on.

 

And our best shooter from distance.

 

He's looking good this year - speedy and strong on the ball.

 

When Timo is available I think Ricketts will be the one to come out of the lineup we've been playing. And probably Timo plays in the spot Ricketts has been playing in, with more license and tendency to drift centrally. We could swap Niko and Timo too, but I don't know how much Niko has played out on the wing. I think we've always played him centrally. Not sure about U20's and the like.

 

Bruce is trying him out at a different position - left side attacker. A year ago I was hoping we'd give Ricketts a shot in that spot. Bruce is a bit late in getting around to read my posts.

Jan 30, 2025:

Anyway, he looks OK there but not great yet. Needs more time. He's one of the few of our players who can take on (and sometimes beat) a defender, and he can cross it with his left. Shooting - maybe not so much, but he could be more of an assist guy there. And his defense is good. He showed some good recovery speed yesterday and in one case ran in from midfield and took the ball away from an attacker in our half.

 

As a winger, he reminds me of Cade Cowell without the size/power.

 

I may be weird, but I have never watched preseason games because historically the preseason seems to have a predictive value wrt the regular season that approaches zero. To me it’s a waste of time.