The Official 2026 San Jose Earthquakes related Blogs/Press thread

Was Roberts ready to start as a rookie paired with Munie in central defense last year? Because that is a huge part of three consecutive clean sheets.

 

I'd honestly give more credit more the clean sheets to Daniel - he's been lights out in every game so far and has saved more than a couple of sure-thing goals. In most of those instances either Roberts or Munie f'ed up.

 

I think he was. And Judd could have started for Josef, and Benji for Costa (moving Jones to the other side), and even Ricketts for Chicho (more speed, more defense). And Bruce didn't have to bench Beau midseason.

 

If I'm Bruce writing my performance review, I'd say it took me a year to figure out how to get the best out of them.

 

We do have more committed two way players now. That’s good. And Vieira, Roberts, and Ricketts at least are playing better than last year.

But this wasn’t a safe bet. The Bruce took a huge gamble dumping lots of good players and not replacing them.

Judd and Bouda were relatively safe bets, but not Benji. Niko was a big risk, still is.

The team is working well, but this wasn’t a hugely risky strategy.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

I'd say he lacked courage to play the younger guys more often when it could have helped us last year. Too many minutes for semi-washed and mediocre veterans like Costa and Romney.

 

#7, also struggling with CCC blues …

https://tacticsfreezone.ghost.io/fc...run-through-spoting-more-from-mls-matchday-5/

He was big on us pre-season, but this bit is written mostly from Wankouver’s point of view. Still, he credits us as an improved side.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Paywall.

 

Sorry.

- - - -
7. Also struggling with post-CCC blues: A Vancouver side that had themselves a very tough week. First they were eliminated by the Sounders on Wednesday, then, with a partially rotated squad, they hosted a hungry, relentless and frankly very good Quakes team on Saturday night. Once again they came away with nothing as the visitors took all three points thanks to a Beau Leroux thunderbastard just before halftime. That stood up for the 1-0 final.

I’m gonna pass the mic to San Jose boss Bruce Arena, who had thoughts on the cost of CCC duty in games like this, but also revealed a little something about how Vancouver are now considered one of the league’s measuring sticks.

“Vancouver is a very good team, and they’re coming off a tough, congested schedule. We may have had a slight physical edge tonight because of that, but I don’t want to take any credit away from our players,” Arena said. “We played here last year and were embarrassed, so this shows how much progress we’ve made as a team. There are still a lot of games left in 2026, so we’re not celebrating anything yet. Our focus is on continuing to improve and pushing to qualify for the playoffs – that’s our goal this season.

“Vancouver has bigger aspirations, and they’re a very good team, so this is obviously a very good win for us.”

That last line, right? That really does sum it up. And even with the win, there’s clearly a gap between these two teams – Vancouver held San Jose without a shot in the second half, and Daniel had to come up with a superb 45 minutes of soccer to keep the shutout.

He did, though, didn’t he? And the Quakes really have shown, with this start to the season, that they’re not far off of the likes of the ‘Caps and the Sounders. Arena’s correct in his assessment of his team’s improvement.

 

Quakes split the season series with Vancouver last year. They’ve now won two straight. Seems relevant.

 

I think it's possible that the Quakes turn out to be on a comparable level with teams like Vancouver and San Diego this year. I don't think the difference in rosters is much. Heck San Diego is playing 3 of our cast-offs. It's just a matter of good coaching coming together with players who buy into the system. We can do that, and we are doing that - so far.

Maybe we're not quite there yet, maybe we are. We'll see. But I remember the same kinds of thoughts in 2005 and 2012 where I didn't really believe the Quakes could be that good.....until they just kept on winning.

 

Of course I hope that you are right, but I think we’re more like mid-table. At this point, I expect us to finish somewhere between 5th to 7th. Of course, we could always collapse and fall farther than 7th. But right now, I’m pretty optimistic.

Also, I expect Vancouver and San Diego to finish in the top three, maybe top four, in our conference.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Too many chickens being counted for my taste.

 

I only mention it as a *possibility^. If you were to ask me for a prediction I’d say 7-8, but I think it’s *posaible* we could be higher, or lower.

 

Trying to post a joke here, but the forum software sucks.
https://www.craiyon.com/en/image/Cum1_XGARHGOPD_Bg9zH4w

 

https://www.thesportsleader.com/soccerhour/ Ted Ramey 44 minute podcast. Sacha Kljestan has some interesting observations about Preston Judd and yellow cards.

 

I listened to this pod on my hike today. As "pundits" go, Sacha Kljestan is a good one. He's very matter of fact and knowledgeable. Where I think he's wrong with Judd is that he's "learned his lesson" about yellow cards. He still seems to be getting them at a pretty good clip, and on another Ted Ramey interview, Judd said that he goes into games to intentionally create contact and get in the defenders' heads.

 

In response to Ramey and Sacha:

Last season, I thought Vieira was crap. He wasn't on the same page as the other players. I wanted us to ditch him or find an upgrade replacement. I honestly don't know what anyone else saw in him. BUT, this season, he's like a whole new player. That's a big improvement, both for him and for the team.

Beau is starting every game, that's a Huge improvement for our club.

Our offense hasn't been great the last couple of games. We need to get back on track there.

Judd is a pain in the ass for other teams, but we need more goals from him. We need for him to whine at the refs less too. He's going to get in trouble if he keeps that up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - Judd
Timo - - - - - - - - Niko - - - - - - Bouda
- - - - - - - Vieira - - - - - Beau
Ricketts? - Roberts - Munie - Benji
- - - - - - - - - - - Daniel

Where do we need upgrades?

Judd? Probably. I like him as a sub, but not so much as a starter.
Bouda? Maybe. We could do better, but he's decent.
Ricketts? Yeah, I'd bring on another left back because I'm not really excited by any of Costa, Ricketts, or Marie.

Also, I don't want to change the formation. That's a bad call and it disrupts the whole team. Stay with the 4-5-1. It's been working for us, keep it.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

I don’t buy the arguments that Vieira wasn’t good last year. Not great but he was fine. Of course having a little more time to integrate with the team is helpful but seems like a 20% kind of improvement not an epiphany. During preseason Ted had Vieira on the bench, which was never gonna happen. Bruce loves him and he’s our best dmid. He might wind up being our regular captain. So to rationalize his preseason views Ted needed to craft an argument that Vieira suddenly got way better.

 

I think that Vieira got way better. Last season, he wasn't good. This season, he looks like he should be captain. That's a hUge improvement.

Last season, he played with Harkes a lot. That might have been part of it. Last season, it looked like he was trying to cover too much ground. But this season, he's starting next to Beau, who is more mobile and covers more territory in front of Vieira. Also, this season, the whole team is more focused and plays better together, so that might contribute to both Vieira and other players looking better. They are all committed to Bruce's scheme.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. He looks like about the same player to me. Bruce loved him last year, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because he was bad.

 

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong and misguided!