Matias Almeyda is attempting to change the culture at his new home, the San Jose Earthquakes. But in reality, what else could he do? They were so bad that he could only start from the very bottom.
The New England Patriots are great because of their culture. Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson were great because of the culture. Roger Federer is great because of his culture.
Obviously, things like talent, personnel, coaching, finances all have an impact. But they are all grounded in one thing: culture. It is the culture of a place, an organisation, a person or peoples that breeds the efficient maximisation of things like talent, investment and resource.
There is a reason why leaders in society talk about changing the culture. The attitudes that people hold bleed into what they say, what they do, how they behave and the results that they achieve. The culture is the foundation of everything.
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So when taking over a team as bad as the San Jose Earthquakes, there is only really one place to start, as new head coach Matias Almeyda is currently experiencing.
This brilliant piece by Tom Marshall comes from the Earthquakes preseason camp in Cancun. In it, he details what Almeyda has been doing to change the culture of the worst organisation in MLS. Staggeringly, the Earthquakes amassed just 21 points from 34 games last season is the fifth-worst tally in the post-shootout era. They were astonishingly poor.
And so, Almeyda, recognising the job at hand, is starting from the bottom. And as Chris Wondolowski states, the players are beginning to buy-in:
"“Everyone is just open ears, open hearts and open minds. It’s special to see. Before, everyone had their own agendas and ideas of how they wanted things to go and now I think we have literally 30 guys who are just sponges, willing to soak up whatever it takes.”"
I am sure that is nice for Almeyda to hear. But, really, where else could he begin? There is little point in discussing the positioning of a full-back with a two-goal deficit and 20 minutes to play just after a turnover of possession on a counter-attack. The Earthquakes need to drill down into much more basic principles before they delve into the details.
For Almeyda, discussing values like hard work, — he is running double training sessions every day with just one day off every two weeks in Cancun — discipline and togetherness, implementing a broad, overreaching tactical approach, getting to know the players on a footballing and personal level is far more important. He must start with the simple and then slowly build. He must start with the culture of the club.
As Guram Kashia stated, ‘the , I believe, are changing the DNA of the club, and it’s something you have to do if you end up last in the league.’ In the end, what else could Matias Almeyda do? It is time for the San Jose Earthquakes to change, from the very bottom.