The Official Jack Skahan thread

A larger sample size? Skahan’s been playing with the Quakes for 6 years.

 

You are the dean of stats, how many minutes is that?

 

It’s not so much about minutes as it is years in the league. At age 28 and 6 years in the league he’s not a mystery player anymore and he’s not gonna suddenly get a lot better.

 

Re:Skahan...just like Judd, the sample size should reset from the time under Bruce. Just me, but everybody who buys in to Bruce's approach is going to look better going forward.

 

Playing time will be spare for him. He's not gonna be a starter like Judd, and we haven't had a tough game yet this year. He had a rough game against SKC, but at least he was in position to score those goals. But those kinds of games - 3-0 late at home, 2-0, that's very downhill stuff. Everyone's gonna look good. The real test comes when you're down 2-0 against Philly in the 75th minute, they're feeling good and they dispossess you, counter, and it's 3.0.

 

I will remind everyone about the trajectory of one Chris Wondolowski, who certainly didn't set the world on fire for his first (what) six years in the league.

 

Skahan's not gonna be the next Wondo.

 

I'm not saying he is, I am only saying that there are players for whom six years is not the entire measuring stick.

 

Fair enough, but I think Wondo was a rare bird. Also, Wondo was a beast in reserve / 2nd team minutes. That can be a sign. I've seen Skahan play with the Quakes 2nd team a number of times, and he looks fairly ordinary. Doesn't really stand out.

 

Completely concede your first point, the second point is more challenging, there are a lot of athlete's who play to the level of competition.

I've seen sparks of creativity from Jack and some WTF moments as well. Let's just hold off and see how he does in Bruce's system before we starting making complete judgements.

 

He played in Bruce's system last year, though very limited minutes. He'll get more this year, but one or two more attacking players signed and he's gonna have a hard time making the game day roster again. IMO, even Bouda to Jack is a pretty significant drop-off at this point.

 

Didn't Skahan score a late goal at Philly once to earn a draw? Or was that somewhere else?

 

I recall a late goal that he scored on the road that maybe earned us a draw but don't remember where. It might have been St. Louis because I had some recollection that he might have some people watching him there. Might have been 2 years ago.

Edit: OK, I looked it up. It was Nashville, in early 2024 - about 2 years ago. He is from that area somewhere I think. That's his last MLS goal. Maybe if Espinoza had remembered that game he wouldn't have thought that he needed to go to Nashville to be on a better team.

 

Toronto

 

Jack!

Man of the Match, 11Apr26, Quakes at KC.

He had some good plays other than the two goals. He made some good passes, he intercepted a pass or two, he worked well with his teammates. I’m not arguing that he’s one of our best players, but I like his aggression. On defense, he mostly gets into passing lanes, rather than trying to take the ball from the enemy. I think that must be what Bruce tells him to do. We’ve seen him get stuck-in in seasons past, so we know that he can do it, but that’s not what Bruce wants from him.

In any case, he had a good game last night.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Having a game like that is huge for Skahan's career. He was a guy who was kind of on the fringes of the roster, and one or two bad games and he could go back to oblivion, and might have to go to USL. But a game like this will get him more minutes and if he continues to play well it can get him a foothold in MLS for another few years at least (he's 28).

 

Absolutely! I had a short conversation with him late last season, but before he got those last few sub appearances, and he wasn’t sure he was going to get anymore chances. This game means he will def see more time.

 

I like Skahan, so I’m pleased for him, and for our team. (I’ve never met the guy, I just like his aggression on the pitch.) Even so, I’m surprised that he’s still with the team, and I’m pleased.

He has 2 goals and 1 assist in only 179 minutes and 2 starts. Cool!

Go Jack!!
Go Quakes!!

 

I like Skahan too, and was super surprised when he was resigned for this year. I feel like he has gotten into a lot of advanced positions, but rarely put away that one-on-one shot. Last night he was great, not just on the two goals, but in his creative play and in the ways he ran into spaces. Here's to hoping he's a late bloomer.

 

I was told perhaps a year or two ago by a little birdie that Skahan is the team's best practice player but that he rarely flashes in games. If so, that would explain why hope springs eternal in the coaching staffs who have kept him employed over the years.

I like to call it the Nathan Peterman effect.

 

Add me to the list of people who like Jack, really pleased he had such an impact in the KC game.

More, please!