Ian Russell didn’t even have to have a conversation with Carlos Gruezo when the midfielder returned from the Copa America just two days ago. Both men knew he was going to play all 90 minutes in his first game back with the Earthquakes.
Russell said he sensed that Gruezo—who had represented Ecuador in a bitter quarter final defeat to Lionel Messi and Argentina on penalties—was chomping at the bit to turn the page.
So the interim coach called on his player to anchor a new lineup against the visiting Chicago Fire on Sunday and was rewarded handsomely for it in the form of the team’s first clean sheet victory of the season.
“We missed Gruezo,” Russell told reporters after the 1-0 win. “He gives us that bite we need in the midfield. I didn’t even ask. I didn’t even look at him… He just knew I needed him in there.”
Along with the Ecuadorian’s reintroduction into the Quakes’ team, Russell deployed a new 5-4-1 formation in an effort to solidify a defense that had conceded a league-worst 56 goals through 21 matches. “Our objective, first and foremost, was to stop conceding goals,” Russell said.
Here, Gruezo played a critical role, imposing himself in the middle of the park, allowing the Quakes’ wide players the freedom to bomb forward. It’s no coincidence then, his previous exclusion from the lineup (which was never fully explained) also coincided with the team’s disastrous string of losses that cost previous head coach Luchi Gonzalez his job.
Another key personnel decision by Russell that worked: playing Benji Kikanovic at right wing back. The 24-year-old forward, who had called out his team after an embarrassing 6-2 drubbing at LAFC three weeks ago, rewarded his former USL coach by sprinting endlessly up and down the flank—even going over the barrier at one point just to win his team a corner. Later, Kikanovic even had a chance to put the game away for good with a header in the 60th minute that came courtesy of a brilliant move by star playmaker Hernán López inside the box.
His full 90 minute shift in the sweltering summer heat was symbolic in many ways of how hard the home side needed to work in order to grind out this result. Even though San Jose still has the worst record in Major League Soccer by a wide margin, the victory over Chicago ends a nearly two month stretch of nonstop losing.
Another tweak that worked: coming out of halftime, Russell said he told López to start making more runs in behind the defense instead of coming short and asking for the ball at his feet.
Just three minutes later, the tip paid off. In the 48th minute, Cristian Espinoza picked up the ball from behind the halfway line and hit a big switch to a streaking López on the other side of the field. The Argentine, who has been electric since he arrived in San Jose in May, carried the ball past a backpedaling Chicago defense and rifled home a shot with his stronger left foot.
In López, the Quakes have a genuine game-breaking talent and star they’ve been lacking since Chris Wondolowski. For his sake, they needed this result too in order to start justifying his career gamble-of-a-move that is supposed to be a stepping stone to Europe, not an embarrassment.
He will have undoubtedly watched as his countryman, Thiago Almada, accepted a move to Brazilian side Botafogo (with assurances that he will graduate to Lyon, France in the winter) after a lackluster spell in Atlanta United ended earlier in the week.
In hindsight, it’s easy to say Russell’s tweaks worked since the Quakes won on the day, but it’s worth mentioning that Chicago also flubbed multiple chances to steal the game. Most notably, a 70th minute header by record-signing Hugo Cuypers almost rescued a point for the visitors, before it was ruled marginally offside in the buildup by VAR.
“We finally had luck on our side,” said Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough, who also mistimed some crosses in the first half. After the goal reversal, the veteran admitted the home side felt as if they were finally destined to win.
He added that the formation change gave the team more structure in the back. According to Yarbrough, the plan was to have one wingback stay home whenever the other ventured further up the field, ensuring the Quakes had at least four players on the backline as to not get caught on the counter.
With Rodrigues and Vitor Costa, Yarbrough said he speaks to the Brazilians in Spanish, while for the others, he uses English. Together, the new five-man defensive unit know just enough words to communicate key orders to each other in the heat of battle.
“We needed to grind out a game like that,” Russell said. “It gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.”
The playoffs might be way out of reach at this point, but the Quakes still have plenty of chances to make this year worthwhile.
They play three MLS games in seven days next week before turning their attention to the Leagues Cup, where they will play the LA Galaxy and Chivas Guadalajara of Liga MX.
