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Summer slump: San Jose Earthquakes season review; Part Three

By on November 1, 2015

There are many nuances that Americanize Major League Soccer — ranging from minute to the size of 6’5″ centerbacks — and over the course of this season the San Jose Earthquakes felt every one; from the glories of a new stadium, the announcement of 2016 MLS All Star game in San Jose, and visits from stars such as Kaka, Steven Gerrard, and Clint Dempsey, to the growing pains that include a lack of depth, key players lost to international duty (with no MLS breaks) and, finally a disappointing near-miss for a playoff spot.

We’ve compiled our experiences at Football Every Day from a season covering the Quakes live on gamedays: in this Part Three, we look at the team’s midsummer adventures, including a punishing July slump set amid a celebrated visit from Manchester United.

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It was quarter past nine at night at Stanford Stadium on June 27th. One fireworks show had just ended and another was about to begin; the Quakes had just come back from behind for the third time in four years in the annual California Clasico against the LA Galaxy and the 50,000 strong, sold-out crowd was shifting its attention to the upcoming fourth of July fireworks show after the match.

The triumphant Quakes were exiting the field for the tunnel. Amidst a bevy of autograph-hunters, whose frenzy centered around Chris Wondolowski, Clarence Goodson spoke to two reporters nearby. Goodson had scored a second-half goal to complete the Quakes’ comeback and promptly rounded the advertising boards to jump into the crowd. He couldn’t hear any specific voices in the euphoria — “I was really, really dazed,” he said.

Yet the reserved, quiet figure who usually appears in front of the press had to yell in the reporters’ ears to be heard above the clamor.

In late May and early June, the Quakes had slowly begin to lose steam. They hinged Goodson and Bernardez’s defensive solidity and had allowed just six goals in nine games following the 3-1 win over the Galaxy. Wondo had padded their flat goalscoring record, bagging nine of their nineteen goals in the opening fifteen games of the season, but their lack of depth was startling. Koval and Pierazzi had rapidly fallen out of favor to the point where Kinnear changed formations in Alashe’s absence.

Then, a spark. Garcia set alight a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders, scoring a beautiful goal at the end of a mazy run and assisting Nyassi’s strike. Jordan Stewart had recently returned from injury and provided assurance at the back as well as valuable leadership. He also worked well with Salinas down the left, giving the winger more freedom to cut into the middle and take advantage of his excellent passing range.

The Quakes took their newfound confidence into the Cal Clasico and bossed the game. Although Bingham let in a low, bobbling long-range effort from Juninho early on, Wondo pulled one back before halftime. The Quakes took the momentum in their stride and Goodson powered home his first MLS goal in eight years with a near-post header on the other side of the break. “The big skinny, he had leaps,” Wondo joked.

Kinnear blasted LA’s “crappy” performance, and the loss was made all the more bitter with a long haul back to a makeshift locker room in the Stanford Aquatics Center across the street. They were located a stones’ throw from where the holiday fireworks were stationed, and ash was falling down on the players and coaches as they went through their official post-match press conference, standing poolside. As Wondo was speaking, two bemused swimmers came upon the scene and squirmed their way around the group, sopping wet, before using the adjacent high-dive. In all respects, it was a peculiar gameday.

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Quincy Amarikwa started in Avaya Stadium’s regular season opener; just not for the Quakes. The outspoken, twenty-eight-year-old forward was a part of the Chicago Fire’s side that April day, yet fell out of favor under Frank Yallop soon afterward. Kinnear, in search for another forward, traded Ty Hardan for Amarikwa a day before the Cali Clasico. Amarikwa was a short-term replacement for Wondolowski, who left to join the US Men’s National Team’s Gold Cup camp on July first. Condo’s absence was the catalyst for a terrible month for the Quakes, and although Amarikwa epitomized so many values of hard work and a never-say-die attitude that the Quakes appreciate, he was often isolated up front. In the Quakes’ match-day program, he said he’d choose to be stranded on a deserted island with Nyassi above all other Quakes players, but he was stranded all alone up front in July. One can imagine Garber chuckling after a tiny flick of the magic staff we must naturally assume he carries around at all times.

The Quakes’ first match without Wondo was a US Open Cup rematch with the Galaxy just four days after the Clasico. LA had sent the majority of their starting lineup home to rest for their weekend MLS fixture and similarly, Kinnear chose to start his reserves. Although the Quakes held their weight, they were unable to claw their way back after LA’s early go-ahead goal.
At the weekend, Kinnear’s men visited Portland. They sat deep in a 4-5-1, starting Barrera and Pierazzi in the midfield alongside Alashe, throwing Thompson, who enjoyed an extended run in the first-team during Wondo’s absence, and Salinas out wide and Sherrod up top. The makeshift nature of the starting eleven was exposed by a dominant Portland, who saw more than sixty-one percent of the ball and took twenty-two shots before a scrappy late winner finally found its way in. Sherrod was clearly out of his depth and thus found himself replaced by Amarikwa in the Quakes’ meeting with Houston the next weekend. Kinnear experimented with a 4-3-3, but they couldn’t muster any attacking threat nonetheless, with Garcia’s left-hamstring noticeably bugging the midfielder.

Midway through July, Kinnear needed some time to sort his head through things. A midweek friendly with Club America provided a much-needed kickbacks for the fans and an opportunity for the Quakes to sort through some of their kinks.

Club America fans gathered in numbers outside of Avaya Stadium beginning at 10:00 am on match day, Tuesday the fourteenth of July. Although it was technically a home game for the San Jose Earthquakes, the America fans made the atmosphere hostile for the home team. As a part of the International Champions Cup, commonly a preseason tournament treated like international friendlies, there wasn’t much for either team in the game – the Quakes, for one, had their minds cast on a key MLS meeting with the Galaxy on Friday. And yet, the atmosphere spilt onto the pitch. The field was set alight with a surprisingly heated contest, although at least it didn’t actually catch fire from the firecrackers Club America fans threw onto the pitch. “It was sometimes a little too competitive,” Kinnear summarized.

Twenty minutes into the Quakes’ meeting with the Galaxy that Friday, the visitors were firing on all cylinders at the Stubhub Center. Salinas and Nyassi’s pace terrorized LA on either wing and two early goals from Amarikwa put the Quakes cruising ahead. If Steven Gerrard harbored any notions that his MLS debut might be a walk in the park, they were quickly forgotten.

Yet Robbie Keane pulled one back via a penalty and then Gerrard equalized in the thirty-seventh minute with a debut goal. The Galaxy would pull ahead 5-2 by the time the ninety minutes were over to leave the Quakes in the dust, with dirt in their mouth.

At the same time as their winless streak worsened, though, the Quakes as a franchise were experiencing their biggest bonuses off the pitch. Manchester United came to visit Avaya Stadium for a midweek friendly with the Quakes and stayed in the Bay Area for a whole week. United would train on the main pitch and the Quakes kept to their usual practice field. Louis van Gaal was full of praise for the weather and facilities in the Bay Area, although he was less complimentary of his team, who beat the Quakes 3-1. The home side always expected to lose but they made up for the discrepancy in talent with their work ethic and physicality. Wayne Rooney might be able to make MLS defenders look silly on the training ground but won’t soon be winning headers against Goodson and Bernardez.

Kinnear simply wanted to give his side a good time and played twenty-two players, even teenage summer-signing Matheus Silva. Alashe scored a well-deserved goal, assisted by Salinas. It would be the closest thing to a boost in confidence the Quakes stumbled upon that month.

Wondo finally returned for a visit to Vancouver to round off the month, sliding back into the midfield behind Amarikwa in a 4-1-4-1, but anther late goal from Quincy proved in vain as the Quakes were defeated 3-1. At home, the Quakes had achieved their goal of turning Avaya Stadium into a fortress but found themselves trapped inside all too often in an attacking sense, drawing Portland 0-0 on August second and losing 2-1 to Houston on the road, having briefly lost Goodson to injury. Within five weeks, the Quakes’ losing streak had escalated to nine games. Game over game they managed to reach new lows and redefine their rock bottom. Memories of their losing streak in 2014 began to creep into mind as the Quakes slipped second-to-bottom in the Western Conference.

Fortunately for Quakes fans, the 2015 run-in was to prove quite different from the 2014 edition.

Stay tuned for Part Four.

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.