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SJ Earthquakes Midseason Review: Defense in focus

By on July 3, 2015

Midway through the MLS regular season, we highlight comments compiled from Football Every Day’s matchday interviews, with the second part of our San Jose Earthquakes midseason review focused on the Quakes’ outstanding defense. Our first part, on the new Avaya Stadium, can be found here.  Our second part, on the Quakes’ offense, can be found here.

On the pitch, the Quakes’ main highlight halfway through the season has been their stingy defense. In fifteen league matches, they’ve allowed just fifteen goals, with an even stronger goals-against record at home.

The Quakes backline didn’t begin the season quite as impressively, with six goals conceded in their first four matches. Clarence Goodson was sidelined with an injury in the opening few matches and Paulo Renato struggled alongside Victor Bernardez.

But when Goodson returned from injury, everything clicked into place. Goodson returned against Chicago in the home-opener and has started every league game since. After briefly flirting with a Ty Harden partnership at the back, Goodson and Bernardez eventually slipped into a center-back pairing that was meant to be.

“The two centerbacks (Goodson and Bernardez) played amazingly, they’re beasts in the air winning every fifty-fifty ball,” Shea Salinas said after the Quakes’ 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Further up the field, Fatai Alashe has also been a stalwart in the Quakes’ side. Drafted as the fourth overall MLS Superdraft pick, Fatai had no trouble fitting into the Quakes’ starting lineup. Dropping into the holding-midfielder role ahead of Khari Stephenson and Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi. Fatai plays with the maturity and consistency of a player well beyond his years.

On fitting into the team, Fatai said his ease was down to, “just the help of my teammates. They help me out, just being able to listen to their communication.  They talk to me, tell me where to be and honestly that’s most of it, just listening to those guys and working hard.  Obviously it’s a transition going from college to the MLS but if you have guys like these around you it makes it a lot easier.”

Goodson reflected, “That’s the job of the centerbacks — the guys who are a little more experienced help and pull the boys along, get ourselves into good shape.”

It has paid off in Alashe’s case. After the Quakes’ 0-0 draw with FC Dallas, Kinnear was pleased with Alashe’s progression: “He’s really been given tough assignments week-in-week-out. He has good range, he’s a good defender — he doesn’t go down and get himself beat.  He’s a real good player and he was good for us again today.”

Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham, who has himself emerged as a starter this season said, “I think each game we’ve taken steps to improve defensively.”

After the Quakes’ first shutout of the season, a 1-0 win over Vancouver, Kinnear said: “I think the whole back four played well. Through the middle I think Victor and Clarence have been playing good together — it’s a pretty solid partnership.”

That game, Bingham didn’t have a single save to make and added: “Clarence and Victor tonight were outstanding, by far the MVPs of our team.”

In the right-back position, Marvell Wynne has been a fixture, starting fourteen of the Quakes’ fifteen league games so far this season. On the left, the Quakes’ backline has been unfazed by multiple changes throughout the season. Shaun Francis began the season a starter but hasn’t started a game after being injured in the Quakes’ loss to RSL.

But just in time, Jordan Stewart returned from injury the next game, away to the Houston Dynamo. Stewart’s leadership, Kinnear says, is “a good part of his game.  I think the understanding of the game a little bit easier when you have guys talk.  It’s definitely a strong point of his game.”

In their next home game, against Columbus, Kinnear said: “[Stewart] was getting forward, him and Shea [Salinas] seemed to be working pretty well together.  It’s good to get him healthy.”

Cordell Cato has also flirted with dropped from the wing to play full-back and has earned many plaudits. Chris Wondolowski said after the RSL game: “Cordell is a very offensive-minded guy and he had to play right back and left back and that’s not an easy thing, especially against Salt Lake who have very dangerous guys going forward.  I thought he did a great job as well…it’s nice to have those options.”

After Vancouver, Kinnear went as far to say: “Cordell being in left-back looked comfortable.”

During relatively unimportant matches, Kinnear has also flirted with JJ Koval as a centerback. Khari Stephenson noted that Koval isn’t new to the position, having been a “stud” there in the Quakes’ CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals against Toluca last year. After the Quakes’ 1-0 US Open Cup loss to the LA Galaxy, Koval said he felt “relatively comfortable” in the position. Kinnear rated his performance, “okay” — Koval losing LA forward Jose Villarreal in the buildup to the Galaxy’s early goal. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve played together…you stay with runners,” Kinnear said.

Never were the Quakes’ defensive capabilities on show more than in their recent 3-1 California Clasico win. Kinnear’s men went down 1-0 early on and Goodson told Football Every Day: “I was really dazed, really dazed. I didn’t think we were playing that great at the moment so it was a good reaction and excellent second half from us.”

But after the goal, the Quakes blunted LA’s attack, which had scored five in each their last two matches. “Obviously we want zeros,” Goodson commented.  Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. “We’re confident in our defensive shape and we defend with eleven guys,” Bingham added after the Clasico.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.