With only seven games left to go in the regular season, the San Jose Earthquakes have nine wins, nine losses, and nine draws—indicative of where they currently sit in the Western Conference table, which is 8th, right on the bubble for a playoff berth.
Even though this season could already be viewed as a step forward from the previous three, there is a feeling in the air that if the Quakes don’t rediscover their early-season form soon, that this will have been an opportunity wasted.
In head coach Luchi Gonzalez’s first year at the helm, his staff have managed to transition the squad from the chaotic smash-and-grab style of his predecessor, Matias Almeyda, to a fluid “protagonist” style of play of possession and breaking lines.
Big wins against the likes of LAFC and Seattle had San Jose fans dreaming of PayPal park hosting its first ever postseason game since opening in 2015. But since crashing out of the Leagues Cup in July, the Quakes’ finishing touch has somewhat sputtered.
Here’s what’s transpired since we last found them at the end of the secondary transfer window, where the Quakes picked up Matthew Hoppe, Ayo Akinola, and held onto star prospect Cade Cowell:
- Big 1-0 win on the road at Vancouver, which saw the team suffer on the back-foot for once.
- Drubbed 3-0 on the road at Kansas City, which itself is trying to reclaim its status as a Western Conference power.
- Pantsed 3-2 at home against their biggest rivals LA Galaxy
- Fortunate to come away with a point in a 1-1 draw against the ascendant Minnesota United, a team that upgraded its attack in a big way.
And that’s the main difference with the good times of the early part of the season and now—everyone else has retooled their team too. Except for say, Colorado, Toronto and the two New York teams, general managers have taken care to balance out their rosters.
“Every team has different levels of talent that can change a game and we do too,” head coach Luchi Gonzalez told Soccer Bay Area before the team’s trip to the nation’s capital to take on Wayne Rooney’s DC United. “But now it’s the pressure moment. Every point is gold. We recently haven’t been playing up to our standards, but it’s up to us now to recognize that and get it done.”
“We have the pieces, schedule and staff to do it,” Gonzalez added.
Fans of Major League Soccer know this is how it goes. Two good wins can get the Quakes as high as the top three again and two bad losses could push them down below as the 12th seed. So it’s not surprising to hear Gonzalez still talk about his team in such a glowing manner.
“We’ve had adversity from preseason until today,” he said. “But this group is always up for a fight and they want to respond. That’s really important. We try to present in each moment.”
And while they still do play attractive soccer, here is what the cold hard stats say: The 8th seed Quakes have conceded more goals than they’ve scored (-4). Their expected goals (xG) has them right about where they are in the standings. If anything, the stat shows that they have not been as clinical as they should, scoring 6 less than expected.
Another team with similar xG is first place St. Louis. The difference between them and San Jose? They don’t concede as much. The expansion side has an astonishing goal differential of +18.
“Having intentions and then executing on them are two different things,” Gonzalez said. “So it’s important we continue to adapt —whether that be to the venue, the weather or injuries— while still trying to maintain our identity.”
What’s left? The Quakes are in control of their destiny. After DC, five out of their last six games are against Western Conference rivals that are in an around where they are in the standings.
“We don’t go into games thinking we want to sit back in a low block,” Gonzalez said, when asked about whether anything needs to change with the tactics. “We want to break lines, make things happen. We are responsible for generating the energy in the stadium.”
About the Author: Kevin V. Nguyen is a business and sports journalist. He has covered soccer for The Guardian, The Sacramento Bee, and The San Francisco Standard. Follow him on Twitter @KevinNguyen_89
