San Jose 1-3 New York Red Bulls: Opening Day Disaster at PayPal Park

As one of the most optimistic sports fans you will meet (and it takes one to regularly cover the San Jose Earthquakes), this movie is a rerun and the genre is disaster. The offseason moves were sound, primarily acquiring three MLS veterans who have proven to be capable starters in their previous stints. Jamiro Monteiro had a particularly good game, as did other individuals for San Jose.

The difference in this game was individuals vs a collective unit. Individually, San Jose Earthquakes has talented players, many of which have represented their national teams, but the formation and tactics didn’t best utilize those talents. That stark contrast from the New York Red Bulls’ approach is what won them the game on Saturday.

Both clubs have a chip on their shoulder. If you ask the average MLS fan in 2022 to name the three California based clubs, they’ll immediately name LA Galaxy and LAFC and either name San Jose Earthquakes last, do so after a lengthy pause to think, or genuinely forget they exist.

Likewise, the New York Red Bulls are one of the original MLS clubs (acknowledging their former status as the MetroStars) yet they have never won an MLS Cup. Instead, they had to witness New York City achieve that feat in their 7th season of existence. If that doesn’t produce a chip on their shoulder, I don’t know what does.

The San Jose Earthquakes lost their opening 2022 MLS game 3-1 to the New York Red Bulls

The Red Bulls executed their gameplan to perfection. Carlos Coronel commanded the action in his box and looked largely unfazed aside from the loan goal conceded. John Tolkin provided width and attacking support down the left flank. Dru Yearwood anchored the midfield. Frankie Amaya played beyond his limited years. For all of the San Jose Earthquakes’ attacking options, it was Patryk Klimala who opened the scoring to give the visitors the edge. Chofis’s equalizer only offered a brief respite and then it was business as usual, with New York Red Bull’s scoring another two goals to start their season off strong with a 3-1 win. The house of cards fell down, bringing these feelings of disaster into the fold. It didn’t have to be a blowout like the Orlando loss last summer, it still felt crushing.

One team’s triumph is the other’s disaster. Matias Almeyda played formation roulette which for a team in as precarious of a situation this season is akin to gambling with their playoff lives, and the result was a bullet in their chamber. That may seem hyperbolic at the start of this season, but Nashville’s realignment to the West reduces the room for error even further in a conference that already had seven capable playoff level teams in it ahead of the San Jose Earthquakes. That’s not including other scrappy teams that have outperformed the northern Californian club as of late such as Vancouver Whitecaps and Real Salt Lake, and Austin FC also opened their season with a 5-0 win, albeit against the hapless FC Cincinnati.

San Jose Earthquakes are deep in some positions but shallow in others. They did not adequately upgrade at right back this offseason. On the other defensive flank, you have Marcos López, a player who regularly gets playing time for the Peru national team. Despite López being healthy and available, he MUST play. Instead, he watched this demolition job from the sidelines. Nathan re-aggravated an injury and had to be taken off. Francisco Calvo and Ján Greguš fought hard in individual battles, but the Quakes collectively lost the plot. The Red Bulls attacked relentlessly and JT Marcinkowski fought valiantly to keep a clean sheet by halftime.

Unfortunately for him and for the Quakes, the opposition scored right before the break. Something that happened so many times in the 2020 season, and the end result was familiarly disappointing. Meanwhile, the New York Red Bulls begin their rebuild/revenge tour on a positive note. Their youthful team looks well poised under Gerhard Struber to return to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. There may be no Thierry Henry or Tim Cahill, but they don’t need those kinds of stars to have a successful season.

The 2022 MLS season opener for the San Jose Earthquakes was a rerun, and Matías Almeyda must ensure that if this is his last season, he doesn’t conduct himself in a manner that suggests he’s already checked out, which is both a shame and also a product of being in a situation unlike any other in his previous jobs. Almeyda is one of the few people in management without a prior special relationship that wanted to manage the San Jose Earthquakes and he has embraced living in the San Francisco Bay Area, enjoying raising his family here and the anonymity to go through his daily routine unnoticed by the ordinary commuter. It still feels like the beginning of the end, and whether that end extends to Decision Day is now up in the air.

With Columbus Crew, Philadelphia Union, and Minnesota United the next three opponents before the March International Break, there is a likely chance the San Jose Earthquakes have 0 points in 4 games by that point, which itself would be a disaster for any club in any league worldwide. There are already calls for Almeyda to be fired. A minimum of 25% of PayPal Park left their seats and headed to the exits when the third Red Bulls goal hit the back of the net. The Oakland Roots coming off of a quarterfinal finish to their inaugural season, knocking out top seeded El Paso Locomotive in the 2021 USL Championship playoffs are a 40-minute drive north. Chris Wondolowski is no longer this club’s safety blanket. The pressure is on.

Time is ticking to ensure that the 2022 MLS Season can be one San Jose Earthquakes fans remember for positive reasons. Prove them and myself wrong that a disaster isn’t imminent. I would love for this article to feel like an overreaction six months from now, but this club’s history since 2013 has given Quakes fans a right to be skeptical and pessimistic.