"This was all part of Bruce's master plan to 'change the whole inept regime' and bring in 'guys he feels are 100% locked in to his approach'" lol lay off the insane levels of copium this is the same guy who prefers Nick Lima to Oscar Verhoeven and couldn't win with Espinoza/Josef/Arango/Lopez, he's not some football genius, at least not anymore, if he ever was one.
Not saying that this is all about Espinoza "cooling on Bruce" but it is not "speculation based on 0 evidence", it is fact, that Espinoza chose not to return to the Quakes despite they're having the highest offer*. So why did Espinoza no longer want to play with the Quakes? Certainly not being happy with Bruce is a possibility. After all, Bruce dumped Espinoza's buddy, Hernán. Espinoza has re-signed with the Quakes twice (as recent as 2023), so if it's just frustration with the lack of success with the team, that hasn't stopped him from re-signing in the past. * The Quakes having the highest offer appears to be built into the Tier 3 free agency process and based on a league negotiation with Espinoza as I've previously noted. So it's not necessarily due to some spectacular hail mary by the Quakes. They were simply given the opportunity to offer the league's negotiated offer. I know Doyle's posted something to this effect but I asked him on BlueSky if he has evidence after he'd just posted something similar in a direct response to me, and he declined to respond. And it's not like he didn't notice my question. We are like the only 2 people on BlueSky discussing soccer. The bottom line is that we know that the Quakes didn't pick up Espinoza's option but we don't know for sure why, and we don't know for sure why Leitch was fired. Until we have information from reliable sources (no, I don't consider Doyle reliable) it's all speculation.
Matt Doyle as someone who works for MLS and has covered the league for two decades is at least slightly more reliable than bass players stating Arena "wasn't exactly crushed to see him go" with no evidence to back that up.
Regardless, I don't consider Doyle to be a reliable source on this. For one, he declined to respond when I asked if he has evidence or it's just speculation. Two, he is just sometimes "off" on a variety of things, as we've seen many times over the years. I'll wait until I hear from someone who has evidence and is willing to present it before I claim that I know for sure what happened. But that's just me.
Essentially giving away Espinoza and getting nothing in return has to be the biggest cluster******** that the front office has ever pulled off.
I listened to Ted Ramey's latest Soccer Hour posted a few days ago, hoping to get some scoop on the Espinoza situation. Instead, I got "well he rejected the Quakes offer, which was the highest. He'll get no free lunch when he comes to play the Quakes!!" (or something to that effect). And then - interview with Romney - hey Dave, do you think you might be captain now that Espinoza is gone? :facepalm No analysis of why Espinoza is gone - i.e. how Espinoza felt about the club and why, or why we didn't take his option. Of course this pod is probably subsidized by the Quakes, and Ted is also employed by the Quakes as a radio PBP guy, so there you have it.
I think Matias Almeyda from 2019 to 2021 wanted to trade Wondo. He was at that point however, already way past his expiration date...
We suck and I expect will suck well into 2026, if not into perpetuity. That is all... That guy carried the team on his back and worked his ass off for an owner and management who couldn't have possibly cared less or done less to work on giving him the help he needed.
Please. Nashville were way better than us last year. They are adding good players. We are disassembling our team. We need to replace our leading scorer and leading assists guy (and captain). Also, we need at least two new starting defenders (I approve cutting Wilson and Rodrigues) and we could use a new GK or two. We’re going backwards. Go Quakesfans!!
Let’s see how it plays out. As I have said in the past, one thing about MLS that’s predictable is that unpredictable things will happen during the season. Nashville thought they were the shyte in 2023 when they finished 7th. Then the next year they finished 13th. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Will they likely be better than us? Sure but this is MLS - the league of parity and they are like a good mid-table team and we are like a bad mid-table team. It's not like he's going from Rotherham United to Man City.
What were the 2 finals? Open Cup and what else? Nashville Pub League? We would been in the USOC semifinals if it were not for some questionable calls in our quarterfinal game. And how did they do the year before. Better than us, sure, but you never what happens year to year and we're talking lower mid-table to upper mid-table in super parity league MLS
No they were not in the finals of Leagues Cup. That was Seattle and Miami. They weren't invited to Leauges Cup because they sucked so bad the previous year (3rd to last), and so no, they haven't had 2 good seasons back to back.
My bad. Leagues Cup final was 2023. And us open cup winners last season. 2024 being the only dud in their history since joining MLS. Nashville SC concluded its historic season as the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Champions, and became the fifth expansion team in MLS history to reach the postseason in five of its first six years of existence. I'd say they're much better than us. One bad season in 6? Mmmh. I'd say that's way more successful than us. And also they've had 2 good seasons back to back. Unfortunate for 2024.
Didn’t Nashville beat Austin for the Open Cup crown? Quakes were robbed of beating Austin by the officiating. Perhaps Quakes would have defeated Nashville in the final. Not impressed by the Music City tarnished crown or the crooked tournament.
I never said that they aren’t more successful than us, just that they’re an upper mid-table team in a good year and a we’re a lower mid-table team and that MLS is an uber-parity league. So it doesn’t make all that much of a difference. If he went to Miami I would concede the point.
Nashville and the Quakes have four draws in four league meetings, and they play in a different conference against a different array of opponents, meaning there is no evidence Nashville is actually a better team than the Quakes.
Jejeje Jazzy - Don You guys crack me up. Nashville has a trophy from last yr. Made it to leagues cup final 2 seasons ago. Has had 5 out 6 seasons making the playoffs. But yea...those damn refs And our crap FO. And crap owners. And making the playoffs through the backdoor once in 12 yrs. Nashville has a cupcake conference. Yadda yadda yadda... Let's just make the playoffs 5 out of 6 seasons and then come back to me with these trivial takes.
Yeah Nashville is so much better than us but also has been unable to beat us in 4 tries. Clearly they outmatch is!! You crack me up bostero! Also, USOC is now like the "loser's championship" - it's generally for the teams that sucked so bad the previous year that they didn't qualify for League's Cup. And in MLS Cup playoffs I believe they've won 2 rounds in their 8 year history. A real juggarnaut!
One game is one thing. 4 is another. If Team A is way better than Team B you'd expect that they could beat them in 4 tries? Just a thought.