San Jose Earthquakes: 2020 Preview – Building under Matias Almeyda

With less than a month to go until the start of the 2020 MLS campaign, we are taking a look at how each team has evolved since last year and their chances this term. This time, the San Jose Earthquakes.

For the sixth time in the last seven seasons, the San Jose Earthquakes failed to reach the playoffs in 2019 — and the year they did, 2017, cannot be called a success as they lost 5-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first round.

This season, San Jose missed out on a postseason berth on the final day of the campaign when they lost to the Portland Timbers. Despite not making the postseason in 2019, though, the season was a big improvement on the year previous when they finished bottom of the Western Conference in 2018, winning just four games all season.

The ‘Quakes also featured in the U.S. Open Cup last season, getting the better of USL Championship side the Sacramento Republic 4-3 in the fourth round. They made it through to the round of 16, where they were defeated by Los Angeles FC 3-1.

Here is how things shape in 2020 for the San Jose Earthquakes.

Best Performers

Three members of the 2019 San Jose Earthquakes squad secured an average WhoScored rating of more than 7/10 for their performances in the regular season last term, and incredibly, their top scorer was not one of them.

Chris Wondolowski scored 15 goals last season, breaking the MLS all-time goalscoring record in the process. The 37-year-old now has 159 goals in the league, but only came home with a 6.74/10 over the course of the campaign. His strike partner, Magnus Eriksson, was one of those to reach the 7/10 mark. The Swede scored six times and assisted ten more in the 2019 term.

The club’s best player last season was Cristian Espinoza, who averaged a 7.2/10 thanks to assisting a team-high 13 goals. Vako was the other member of the squad to hit the seven mark with eight goals and five assists.