Earthquakes Off-Season: Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On

In only their first year of existence, the Sacramento Republic attracted an MLS-caliber coach and attracted sellout crowds en route to winning the USL Pro title. From humble beginnings sparked a groundswell seemingly overnight.’Built for MLS’ became the Twitter avatar of every would-be SacTown political pundit. The team brought in heavy-hitting investors and it all crescendoed with MLS senior level VPs all but ensuring that Sacramento becomes the next MLS team.

“So as far as turnover goes, really, we don’t know. Obviously there will be turnover” Earthquakes GM John Doyle

100 miles give or take to the south the vibe is noticeably different. Yes, despite the billboards in different markets (even London) stating the city’s distance from the “epicenter of soccer”, the Earthquakes you could say are on shaky ground.

Two years ago the San Jose Earthquakes won the Supporter’s Shield. That could have been ten years ago the way the season went for San Jose. In trying to pinpoint the high marks of 2014, Earthquakes GM John Doyle sounds suspiciously like a car insurance catchphrase when he laments that, “the 2014 season was a huge disappointment. Everybody knows that.”

It was and indeed we do.

How bad were the Earthquakes in 2014? Well despite having one of the league’s most precocious scorers in Chris Wondolowski, the team scored a league low 35 goals. What makes Wondolowski’s total seem gargantuan is to consider Alan Gordon in 15 games for San Jose, scored 0 goals. Yet in 14 games for the LA Galaxy, Gordon scored five goals.

This explains why Doyle recently said that Wondowloski and ArgentinianDP Matias Perez Garcia are the only two players guaranteed to be returning in 2015. That was after Doyle said, “But, you know, a new coach comes in, and a coach with a lot of experience and a lot of success, is going to make changes.”

In that same remark, Doyle contradicts himself saying, “But I wouldn’t say it’s going to be the whole team turned over, that’s for sure.”

So ignoring the GM talk and double-talk, let’s examine the team.

The cupboard isn’t as bare as you might think. Sam Cronin is consistently one of the best wingers in the league. Tommy Thompson is still one of the most coveted young players out there. Jon Busch, depite having very little in terms of defensive help, led the league in saves (easily) and finished fifth in saves percentage despite facing fifty more shots than anyone else in the league.

Perhaps with the spectre of Sacramento breathing down their necks the onus was on San Jose to do something drastic and big. Before the 2014 season had even ended, San Jose did just that. By bringing Dominic Kinnear, San Jose has made what will almost certainly be the biggest acquisition of the MLS off-season short of Bruce Arena going to Tottenham.

Kinnear is not only a proven winner, he’s a local product having grown up in Fremont.

Even more importantly, Kinnear is the singular figure who can bridge the pre-Dynamo (read: winning) Earthquakes to the hot mess that’s there right now.

While Kinnear is evaluating possibilities, one player with a cloud over him is Yannick Djalo, the diminutive striker on loan from Benifica who scored three goals for the Quakes despite being only able to appear in 13 games since being signed March.

Earthquakes Off-Season: Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On

By Matt Hoffman | Nov 10, 2014