"More of the same for the Quakes..." This is a text message I received from a friend only 15 minutes after the start of San Jose's 2010 MLS season. Two minutes earlier, Javier Morales had sent an incredible half volley in the top right corner of Joe Cannon's goal.
Arturo Alvarez can not go through. Photo: Dani (www.danivernonphoto.com) for TheBaySoccer
2 goals and a red card later, my friend had not changed his mind and the Earthquakes' pre-game confidence had taken a serious knock.
Real Salt Lake out-muscled the Quakes in the midfield from the first minute of the game and, even though the goal came out of nowhere before the visitors even had a real chance to approach the goal, it was a consequence of the space and time left to Morales to control and shoot.
Too weak in the midfield with Andre Luiz not at his top yet and Javier Robles obviously too nervous to make the right decisions, San Jose was forced to try long balls. One of them gave a good opportunity to Ryan Johnson alone in the box in front of Rimando but Salt Lake's goalkeeper had anticipated and blocked Johnson's attempt (23')
3 minutes later, Cornell Glen slalomed between 2 defenders and found himself in a good position to shoot at the edge of the box but his attempt was out of target.
These few minutes about between the 20th and 26th looked a little better for the local team, but they were still unable to keep the ball on the ground, leaving the control of the game to their opponent.
Fabian Espindola higher than Ramiro Corrales.
Photo: Dani (www.danivernonphoto.com) for TheBaySoccer
And when you abandon the control of the ball to Javier Morales, you quickly get punished. It happened a second time when Real Salt Lake's midfielder in the center of the field, had enough time to prepare a beautiful pass in Fabian Espindola's run, between Jason Hernandez and Chris Leitch. The two defenders were in a good position to stop the attack, but Hernandez missed the interception which left Espindola alone with the ball in front of Joe Cannon who couldn't save his team (0-2, 27')
After their second goal, the visitors slightly released the pressure, which allowed the Quakes to have a few good situations without really being able to threaten Rimando.
Frank yallop made a few tactical changes at half time: Joey Gjertsen came in and played on the right wing, pushing Arturo Alvarez on the left and Brandon McDonald was asked to reinforce the midfield. The two victims were Javier Robles and Bobby Convey. The first one showed some qualities in the first half, but he made a lot of fouls and wrong decisions, while Bobby convey was absolutely transparent.
Ike Opara winning a ball between Robbie Findley and ex-Quake Ned Grabavoy
Photo: Dani (www.danivernonphoto.com) for TheBaySoccer
Adding some strength in the midfield with McDonald seemed to be a good idea, as it is clearly what the Quakes lacked in the first half. Unfortunately for the Quakes, only 7 minutes later, these efforts were ruined by another mistake. Chris Leitch, seeing Espindola leaving in his back with the ball in a dangerous position, grabbed his shoulder with his right hand right before the striker was going to enter the box. Red card for Leitch, free kick for Morales who magically placed the ball in the same right top corner as for his first goal, way out of reach of Joe Cannon.
The game was over already and last year's nightmare was starting to come back in the local fans' minds.
So...More of the same for the Quakes?
Nothing proves that it is not happening. As I already wrote in the past weeks, the Quakes will not suddenly turn into a top MLS team and competing for the playoffs until the end of the season would already be a great achievement.
However, despite the negatives, a few things make me think that the same disaster will not happen. Without starting a deep analysis, the pre-season has been lead in a much more rational way than last year. The staff already knows what to expect from the new players signed. The defense, even though they allowed 3 goals tonight, should be much more efficient than the one that started last season, and losing the battle of the midfield tonight against one of the (if not the) best team of the league in this area of the game is not necessarily extremely worrying.
Photo: Dani (www.danivernonphoto.com) for TheBaySoccer
But the Quakes will quickly need to be much better than this, both in the quality of possession in the midfield and in the finishing of the forwards, which was also very poor tonight compared to Real Salt Lake's.
Attendance: 10,589
Scoring Summary: RSL - Javier Morales (Robbie Findley) 14; RSL - Fabian Espindola (unassisted) 27; RSL - Javier Morales (unassisted) 54.
Misconduct Summary: RSL - Ned Grabavoy (caution) 39; SJ - Chris Leitch (ejection) 52; SJ - Brandon McDonald (caution) 57; RSL - Jamison Olave (caution) 64; SJ - Ike Opara (caution) 90.
San Jose Earthquakes -- Joe Cannon, Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Ike Opara, Ramiro Corrales, Arturo Alvarez, Andre Luiz, Javier Robles (Brandon McDonald 46), Bobby Convey (Joey Gjertsen 46), Ryan Johnson, Cornell Glen (Quincy Amarikwa 83).
Statistics: Shots 14; Shots on Goal 4; Saves 2; Fouls 11; Offsides 0; Corner Kicks 5.
Real Salt Lake: -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell, Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers (Rauwshan McKenzie 63), Chris Wingert, Ned Grabavoy (Andy Williams 64), Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola (Alvaro Saborio 72), Robbie Findley.
Statistics: Shots 12; Shots on Goal 6; Saves 4; Fouls 15; Offsides 2; Corner Kicks 4.
