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San Jose Earthquakes: 3 Keys to Victory Against Vancouver

By Jesse Tapia

Mar 4, 2017; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Anibal Godoy (30) celebrates with San Jose Earthquakes forward Marco Urena (21) after scoring a goal during the first half of the game at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Anibal Godoy (30) celebrates with San Jose Earthquakes forward Marco Urena (21) after scoring a goal during the first half of the game at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /
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 The Earthquakes face off with the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday night at Avaya Stadium and will look to build off of that season opening win.

The San Jose Earthquakes started off their new MLS season last week against the Montreal Impact with a win. The Earthquakes face off with the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday night at Avaya Stadium and will look to build off of that season opening win and get some momentum early in this young season. Below are three keys that could help this team achieve a win.

1. Find a way for Chris Wondolowski to get going

Chris Wondolowski had an extremely disappointing season last year and he’ll look to get past that this season. Last week Wondolowski had three shots with zero on target but did tally an assist on the only goal of the match. Wondolowski had two chances he should’ve taken advantage of but failed to. This week Wondolowski needs to do what he’s been doing his whole career and that is score.

2. The midfield needs to pressure Vancouver 

Even with the team adding Marcos Urena and Danny Hoesen, Wondolowski is still the top striker on the squad and he needs to go out and prove it Saturday night with a goal.

Last week the Earthquakes midfield did a phenomenal job of keeping pressure on the Montreal Impact. The majority of the game was played in the attacking half of San Jose and that was one of the main reasons why they were able to come out with the win against Montreal. Tommy Thompson did well to cause trouble down the wing and Anibal Godoy was arguably the best player of the entire match last week as he completed almost 90% of his passes and intercepted the ball three times according to SofaScore. If this midfield can replicate the success they had last week by keeping the ball in the attacking half, there should be no reason for the squad not to win.

3. The Earthquakes defense needs to play higher up to limit Vancouver’s attacking opportunities

Last week Vancouver let off 12 shots in their match against the Philadelphia Union but were unsuccessful in putting the ball in the back of the net. Given that these are professional soccer players, more times than not a team will score if they are getting pressure and shooting 12 times in a match. This is why it’s important for the San Jose defense to keep a higher line. They have the right players to do this. Victor Bernardez is the man to keep that back-line organized and given how Nick Lima played last week, this is something the Earthquakes can have success in.

Next: MLS Power Rankings: Week 1

The season is early but it’s never to early to come away with three points. If the Earthquakes manage to keep the pressure high that should allow Wondolowski to get his first goal of the season and also allow the back-line to play higher up. San Jose’s match against Vancouver Saturday night should turn out to be a good one.

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