New York Red Bulls 2 - 0  S. J. Earthquakes

Nervous Quakes Fall at Giants Stadium

Sunday April 27th, 2008
MLS - Match 4


Giants Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ

Attendance: 9,053

Nick Garcia's attitude at the end of the game (arguing with the referee after the final whistle) is probably the best sign of the nervousness shown by the Quakes during 90 minutes earlier this afternoon. The preseason as well as the first 3 MLS matches left us with the feeling that, whatever their weaknesses are, the Quakes had a very strong defensive block, which could be the basis for building an interesting team. For the first time this season, San Jose looked like an inexperienced team, afraid of their opponents. This wouldn't be surprising for an expansion team if they had not shown such a confidence in their strengths in the previous weeks and if they had not so easily beaten the same opponent (3-0) a little more than a month ago at the Carolina Challenge Cup.

New York didn't line-up their best team back in March. Another easy win was not expected from the Quakes today at Giants Stadium, but the lack of confidence and the continuous feeling during the match that they were going to lose, more than the final result, are worrying.

San Jose started the game with the exact same formation that started their victorious trip last week in Colorado. For New York, Juan Pablo Angel was missing, due to a back injury. The first 10 minutes were very difficult for San Jose players who couldn't hold the ball, leaving the possession and the best opportunities to the Red Bulls, who were dangerous especially on corner kicks.

The Earthquakes then had a better period and dominated between the 10th and the 20th minute, creating great chances by Corrales (15th) and Glinton (16th)

10 minutes for each side and the game became balanced...and boring. The Quakes answered to New York's better pressure and positioning by more agressiveness and, as hard as he was trying to keep his cards in his pockets, Mr. Kennedy (today's referee) finally had to book Jason Hernandez (36th) for a dangerous tackle on Dave van den Bergh (the best player in this first half).

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, New York took control of the game again and created 2 great opportunities. First, Claudio Reyna, after a splendid combination with van den Bergh, found himself alone in the box in front of Joe Canon who was not very well positioned, leaving a large space wide open between him and the far post. The ex US national team's captain seemed to perfectly place the ball but Nick Garcia, in a desperate sprint, cleared the ball right before it passed the line. Then, after another perfectly executed corner kick by van den Bergh, Jeff Park headed the ball a few inches above the open goal. Interesting enough to mention, Garcia, again, seemed to be saved by the bell when, after another doubtful intervention on Altidore in the box, the referee looked at him and called...the end of the half!

With his team always on the edge, Frank Yallop thought he had to change something at half time. He decided to reinforce his midfield, replacing Gavin Glinton by Joe Vide. Unfortunately, the tactical change didn't have any positive effect and New York could enjoy a better possession in terms of quality and quantity. Van den Bergh was involved in every good move for his team.

After 66 minutes, Yallop decided to launch his joker, Jean-Philippe Peguero against his former team. Fans had been wondering the whole week if their new hero was going to be fit for today. They were not disappointed. As he came on the pitch, he immediately showed an impressive physical strength, touching a lot of balls in a few minutes. With van den Bergh subbed by Danleigh Borman a few minutes later (72nd) and Goldthwaite injured (replaced by Carlos Mendes, 75th), the Quakes could reasonably have started to believe in bringing back one point from this long trip.

John Wolyniec, who had been discreet so far, decided to take over for van den Bergh and started his show. Aggressive, in the good way, on all the balls, he took advantage of a mistake by Joe Vide. While the Quakes' defenders were moving forward, Vide, in the midfield, with no real pressure and an easy pass to make, lost the ball to Wolyniec who immediately threw it in the run of Altidore. When the defenders turned around, it was already too late and Cochrane had to commit a foul at the edge of the box (inside, according to Mr. Kennedy). Mike Magee didn't miss the penalty (1-0, 79th)

The Quakes reacted immediately, with, in the following minute, an incredible opportunity for Kamara whose header was saved by a brilliant Conway.

This was the last real chance for San Jose and, after Garcia finally got his yellow card for holding his new best friend's shirt, the Red Bulls scored a second goal by Altidore after another great move (and assist) inside the box by Wolyniec.

Next Wednesday (April 30th at 6pm), the Earthquakes have another tough away challenge at Real Salt Lake, before receiving FC Dallas (Sat. May 3rd at 7pm) and Columbus Crew (Sat. May 17th at 7pm) at Buck Shaw Stadium.

T.H.

A Point Lost in an Instant

Yesterday’s match for the Earthquakes against New York was an ugly one but they were just minutes away from securing a valuable point on the road when disaster struck. Though the Red Bulls had created the better chances and forced a savvy goal line clearance by impressive central defender Nick Garcia, the game appeared to be headed for an appropriate 0-0 draw when Jozy Altidore wound up with the ball at his feet running full throttle towards the Quakes goal, with only Ryan Cochrane and Joe Cannon to beat. Cochrane tried to close Altidore down and force him left but just as the young New York star hit the penalty area Cochrane stuck his leg in across Altidore’s right shin. The contact appeared to be minimal but Altidore went down with a thud and the referee pointed to the spot. If Cochrane had made the foul a few yards before than it’s a free kick not a penalty.

It could be argued that Cochrane had to risk lunging in like that but perhaps a better tactic would have been to continue to attempt to close in on Altidore and try to slow him down, stand him up or force him to take a shot from a slightly worse angle. Possibly the lunge in could have come on the actual shot. Maybe Cochrane slows him down just enough for Jason Hernandez to get goalside and give added support. Obviously if you’ve ever played defense you know it is a thankless job and one little mistake can lead to a loss even when you control a forward for the rest of the match.

Certainly, even if the foul doesn’t happen there is very high probability that Altidore buries a shot low past Cannon for the goal anyway. The blame shouldn’t go to the Quakes defender alone.

It was a costly turnover at the midfield by Joe Vide that left San Jose stretched and exposed. A Red Bull player lobbed a clearance forward straight at Vide who had time to settle the ball on the New York side of midfield. Instead he attempted to play the ball on his first touch with his chest to Ramiro Corrales or perhaps he was trying to trap the ball. What resulted was that the ball skidded yards away from Vide straight to the gray haired John Wolyniec who slapped a perfectly weighted ball diagonal along the shabby turf, splitting the Quakes defenders, and right into Altidore’s path. The forward took three touches then went down to draw the penalty when Cochrane challenged.

Up until that point Altidore had done little and had been contained with hard-nosed defending and contact. Then in one instant, its gone. Even though Joe Cannon guessed right he couldn’t get a hand on Mike McGee’s penalty and the Quakes missed a golden opportunity to take a point away from New York who were playing without their designated player Juan Pablo Angel and the Jamaican speedster Dane Richards.

San Jose now has three points from four games and that pace will not be good enough to reach the playoffs. Jean Phillippe Peguero, or is it the other way around, showed promise and can hopefully add to the Quakes goal production. So far they’ve only made two goals while conceding five. Ronnie O’Brien wasn’t able to do much against the Red Bulls and neither team could really possess the ball on the plastic artificial surface.  The ball runs away from the first touch too easily and takes strange hops and bounces so an ugly match only gets uglier. Why grass cannot be installed is a mystery and the fact that in April there are American football lines still clearly visible on the pitch is a travesty.  This is the biggest metropolitan area in the country and the crowd was less than 10,000. Major League Soccer still has a long way to go in winning over the hearts and minds of those who play or follow the sport in this country. The new stadium for the Red Bulls can’t come soon enough.

The Quakes next two league matches are at home playing on the new grass surface of cozy Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara. If they can earn six points then things begin to look very positive, however to not produce the results at home and then return to the road really increases the difficulty of a winning season.

Ben Sizemore

Officials:

Referee: Michael Kennedy - Assistants: Jose Corro; Paul Scott - 4th official: Mark Geiger

Attendance: 9,053

Goals: 

Mike Magee (79)

Jozy Altidore (90+5 - Assist: John Wolyniec)

Yellow cards: 

SJE:Jason Hernandez (Reckless Foul, 36)

SJE: Ryan Cochrane (Reckless Foul, 62)

SJE: Nick Garcia (Pushing, Holding, 87)

Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes: Joe Cannon - Jason Hernandez, Ryan Cochrane, Nick Garcia (C.),  James Riley -  Ned Grabavoy (Jean-Philippe Peguero, 67), Ivan Guerrero (Shea Salinas, 81), Ramiro Corrales, Ronnie O'Brien -  Kei Kamara, Gavin Glinton (Joe Vide, 46)

New York Red Bulls: Jon Conway - Kevin Goldthwaite (Carlos Mendes, 75), Seth Stammler, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Mike Magee, 46), Chris Leitch - Dave van den Bergh (Danleigh Borman, 72), Luke Sassano, Jeff Parke, Claudio Reyna - Jozy Altidore, John Wolyniec.