I agree that CL did poorly as a GM but he was only a GM for a few years, and let's face it, last year he was Bruce's water boy. But before that he was successful in building out the academy and leaves as the most successful Quakes coach in post-relocation history - and it's not even close. Coach-----Win%-----Postseason Make % Yallop--------35----------------40 Watson------33-----------------0 Kinnear------32-----------------0 Stahre------14.3----------------0 Leitch-----41.2---------100 Almeyda----32-----------------33 Covelo-------30-----------------0 Luchi---------25-----------------50 Russell------12------------------0 Arena--------35------------------0 If we want to complain about the other years, we should be looking to John Doyle (2008-2016, and Jesse Fioranelli (2017-2021).
I know his brief coaching stint impressed you but his road record was atrocious. He was with this organization since ‘09, so he was there for all the failure, in one role or another. As GM he was the corporate yes man I expected him to be. He almost never talked to fans. He hid out basically. On the academy front, it’s hard to give him better marks when our academy has underproduced, we haven’t made money selling players or had academy players who’ve helped lift our first team, and…the whole academy facility/fairgrounds proposal fell through (as I predicted) and we’re right back to square one (because we can just as easily get a training facility built over by PPP )… …to be fair, all of our GMs and coaches have failed, going back to 2008, and it’s not even a mystery as to why. You and I have argued about this for years but hopefully by now it’s clear to you that all the Quakes failure is mostly attributable to one guy, the guy who hires the GMs and finances the team. Yes, I’m talking about the worst owner in all of pro sports imo, John not-a-competitive-bone-in-my-body Fisher.
I'm fine with the "buck stops here" pointing of failure to Fish, but I never understood blaming CL for all the years when he wasn't calling the shots - the years that Doyle or Jesse were GM. That makes no sense to me. As for his coaching record, as far as I know, you don't get extra points for winning on the road or at home. You sum up the points and that's how you did. And he was changing our style of play while the engine was running, and we were dominant at home. He said *explicitly* - I don't care by how many goals we lose by on the road, we're still gonna play the way we way - we're going to keep attacking. This is the more dogmatic approach that coaches like Wilfried Nancy use. It takes time to really dial it in, and I'll always be disappointed he didn't have a chance to try to build on the success of 2017. As for the academy, we've produced a lot of talent. It wasn't his job to integrate those players into the first team. That was on Doyle and Jesse, Kinnear, Almeyda, etc.
Yes! Finally…I’m glad we can agree after all these years, Fisher has been a curse. I hope for every Quakes fan that this team ends up in the hands of a decent owner who is interested in competing in this league, in San Jose. It’s been a slog.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-official-cristian-espinoza-thread.2092353/page-27 Landon says someone in the San Jose front office forgot to "trigger the option to trigger the option" in Cristian Espinoza's contract, leading him to sign with Nashville. Landon says someone in the San Jose front office forgot to "trigger the option to trigger the option" in Cristian Espinoza's contract, leading him to sign with Nashville. pic.twitter.com/DM7ZMRdVh3— Unfiltered Soccer (@UnfilteredSoccr) January 13, 2026 Ben Wright: Can confirm this, btw. Espinoza was never supposed to hit free agency. Massive mistake. Can confirm this, btw. Espinoza was never supposed to hit free agency. Massive mistake. https://t.co/oSa8Iddrnt— Ben Wright (@benwright) January 13, 2026
Forgetting to trigger the option or not, Cristian Espinoza chose to leave the team when he had multiple opportunities to stay, and even a superior offer from San Jose. Someone might want to think what that might say about Bruce Arena.
I said this in another post... I doubt Leitch forgot. I'm guessing Espinoza asked and had the relationship/good will to see it granted.
Wow, a co-conspiracy to escape BruceWorld? It’s possible. If Leitch winds up getting hired by Nashville that’d be an interesting bit of supportive evidence.
Do you have any evidence to support that, is there a single source anywhere refuting the reports? Also: Which is why the Quakes immediately parted ways with Leitch?? Check out the dates on these two tweets: November 12, Tom Bogert: Quakes "didn't pick up his 2026 option before contract's deadline passed." 🇦🇷 Sources: San Jose Earthquakes star Cristian Espinoza is a free agent, as club didn't pick up his 2026 option before contract's deadline passed.Quakes made a new contract offer to Espinoza, who prefers to stay in MLS but is open abroad too. https://t.co/dEkRIqva5O— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) November 12, 2025 November 14, Quakes: "General Manager Chris Leitch Mutually Agree to Part Ways" Thank You, Chris Leitch 🖤💙🗞️ | #Quakes74, General Manager Chris Leitch Mutually Agree to Part Ways— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 15, 2025 If Leitch and the Quakes front office didn't really forget to pick up Espinoza's option, they should come out and publicly refute the reports, because at this point the story is spreading everywhere and being confirmed by other sources and even being reported on the official MLS site, and it makes them look incompetent. Can confirm this, btw. Espinoza was never supposed to hit free agency. Massive mistake. https://t.co/oSa8Iddrnt— Ben Wright (@benwright) January 13, 2026 “Western Conference: Breaking down every team's premium roster slot status” (MLSsoccer.com - Wednesday, 1/14/26) "San Jose failed to exercise their option on Cristian Espinoza in time, which allowed him to sign as a free agent with Nashville. Bad."
If Leitch gets another front office job with any MLS team after such a colossal screwup with the best player the Quakes have had since Wondo, please someone make sure to update this thread and I'll eat my hat lol
OK, but also Bruce is Sporting Director and it happened on his watch. He couldn't also be aware, as Sporting Director, what the contract status is of his best player? He sure seems eager to make Leitch the fall guy, but he shouldn't get to just skate free and point fingers at people who reported to him. If he has any leadership qualities, he should take ownership of the mistake publicly as an organizational failure (that's a "we", not a "he") and not just point fingers at someone using his back channels to his buddies who have a podcast.
I'm not sure how that's a reply to what I wrote in the quoted comment, but yeah sure Bruce should say something about how badly his front office botched Espinoza... but don't hold your breath.
I'm not trying to absolve CL in his role in this, but I don't think Bruce gets to skate free on this even if he'd like to gaslight us into thinking that he should: "Does a Sporting Director handle player contracts"? Yes, a sporting director (or Director of Football) absolutely handles player contracts, including negotiations for new signings, renewals, and sales, working with the manager and chairman to align player agreements with the club's long-term strategy and vision, removing this burden from the coach so they can focus on tactics. Key Responsibilities for Contracts: Negotiation: They lead the complex, drawn-out process of negotiating terms, wages, and clauses for players and staff. Player Recruitment: They manage the entire process of bringing in new talent, from scouting to finalizing deals. Contract Renewals: They handle extensions for existing players, ensuring alignment with squad planning. Strategic Alignment: They ensure all player contracts fit the club's financial plans, cultural values, and strategic goals.
Matt Doyle speaks: "I'm just gonna gently point out that readers of my newsletter (which will be moving to Ghost soon, I promise!) heard about the Chris Leitch story two months ago." https://bsky.app/profile/mattdoyle.bsky.social/post/3mcfaae3axc2h November 17: https://tacticsfreezone.substack.com/p/offseason-guides-year-2-of-bruce
Regarding Bruce So Arena is so incompetent he did not even know when the contract option for a crucial player was due? MLS_Analyst "He delegated to the wrong guy. That is a form of incompetence, yes."
Well that's just great... MLS_Analyst 12 minutes ago Leitch was notoriously the worst communicator among front-office types in MLS history. I've had agents call me begging me to tweet shit about how he's ruining transfer deals b/c he literally wouldn't answer the phone (this is why Cowell went to Chivas instead of Europe), and had CSOs tell me they tried to make trades with the Quakes but just couldn't reach the guy. Most teams don't screw this up b/c they hire people who actually read contracts and talk to players/agents/front office personnel. The Quakes decided to go in a different direction with that.
I think it's reasonable to say that even though he delegated it, he could be aware of the contract situation for his most important player, as the "Sporting Director". If I "delegate" my daughter's birthday to my calendar app but it fails to notify me, I don't think that absolves me of any accountability for missing it. I should know the date.
Doyle is going off now lol "suddenly become incompetent" He'd been incompetent for years. Here's what I wrote after the 2024 season: This isn’t all on one guy, and generally speaking, I’m all for giving front office-types enough room to implement a vision. But here’s how the Quakes have fared over nearly the past decade, first with Chris Leitch as technical director before he was named general manager in 2021: 2016: 9th in the Western Conference 2017: 6th in the West (lost in Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, losing record overall) 2018: Wooden Spoon 2019: 8th in the West 2020: 8th in the West (lost in playoffs, losing record overall) 2021: 10th in the West 2022: Last in the West 2023: 9th in the West (lost in playoffs; .500 record) 2024: Wooden Spoon Here’s something that’s hard to believe, but is nonetheless true: PayPal Park opened in 2015. The Quakes are yet to host a playoff game there. You can still be competitive on a budget in MLS, but if you’re going to play that game, you need folks at the top of the org to be sharp in terms of talent ID, and the overall club culture to encourage internal development. Here’s a list of guys from San Jose’s player pathway who have shown significant development this past year: Cade Cowell Max Arfsten Diego Luna Fidel Barajas Know who none of those guys play for in 2024? The San Jose Earthquakes.
Well, now he's being unreasonable. Sure he may have had some job like Technical Director at the time but Doyle and Dom were calling the shots in 2016 and 2017 until Leitch took over the coaching job and led the team to its best winning percentage since it's return in 2008, and a playoff spot. John Wolyniec is our current Technical Director. Should we be blaming him for the last few seasons? I don't even know what he does. And then in 2018 Jesse came in and demoted CL off to the corner again and it was the Jesse and Almeyda show. Let's face it, Almeyda isn't gonna listen to anything Chris Leitch tells him. I would however hold him accountable for 2022-2024 when he was GM. But GM under Bruce is like coffee boy, let's be honest, but sure he should be held accountable for his role in missing the Espinoza option deadline.
Given how off he often is in his an analysis with the Quakes I’m not gonna believe everything Doyle says without hesitation. This story doesn’t make much sense. If Leitch (and the Cowells) wanted to do the Bologna deal it would have happened.
A Quakes fan who goes by MoistRam is actually the one who said it before Matt Doyle confirmed his story. I don't understand what you're saying about "wanted" when the whole point seems to be that apparently no one could get Leitch on the phone to complete the deal... which supports what Doyle said earlier when he called Leitch "notoriously the worst communicator among front-office types in MLS history" and specifically mentioned Cowell, "this is why Cowell went to Chivas instead of Europe"... Also there is a difference between "analysis" why are the Quakes playing the formation they are etc. and knowing some story of what happened in the Quakes organization. Given he's a Quakes fan, MoistRam is probably some local who either knows directly or heard from somebody else. Matt Doyle has been working at MLS headquarters and writing articles for them for like two decades. He also knows not only other people who are well plugged in like Tom Bogert (literally the most plugged in), but people who work for various MLS teams, and bay area soccer locals given he was living in Berkeley the last time the Quakes were good.
Edit: I wrote this post before X posted the comments from MoistRam. I’ve always thought that CL knew what he was doing. I’m re-evaluating that notion. I keep coming back to the idea (completely unsupported by any facts) that CL deliberately missed the option deadline with Cristian. Maybe not. Maybe he’s just an idiot? If all of these comments from Doyle above are true, it would seem more likely than not that CL is just flat incompetent. Didn’t he learn his GM craft under John Doyle? We need to replace a bunch of FO people. Go Quakesfans!!