The San Jose Earthquakes finished their preseason with a 1-0 win versus the NASL’s New York Cosmos on Saturday. With the team now focused on the regular season, the 2016 preseason can offer a glimpse of San Jose’s future.

The Good

Perhaps the best news that came from the 2016 pre-season is the huge amount of depth the Quakes have at their disposal. Offensively, the Quakes added attacking-midfielders Simon Dawkins and Alberto Quintero, as well as 12-year-veteran forward Chad Barrett. 2015 Quakes forwards had a great pre-season as well, with Mark Sherrod and Adam Jahn each netting five goals for the team in all competitions. Depth was a huge problem in 2015, and the problem appears solved.

The Quakes reinforced their defense with the additions of center-back Andres Imperiale and third-round draft pick, right-back Kip Colvey. Expect to see both players off the bench this season.

The Quakes proved their defense is just as potent as it was in 2015. Back-up ‘keeper Bryan Meredith never allowed a goal in all competitions, and the most any team scored against the Blue-and-Black was two goals by the New England Revolution in their first pre-season match. Every subsequent game was a shutout or an allowance of just one goal. Expect the defense to continue this into the regular season.

The Quakes appear poised to have break-out stars. 20-year-old Homegrown midfielder/forward Tommy Thompson saw plenty of minutes, and was even subbed into the Sacramento Republic FC match over designated player Matias Perez Garcia when starting right-winger Cordell Cato went down with an injury. Expect Thompson to fill in until Cato is ready to return.

When healthy, 23-year-old Trinidad & Tobago international Cato may see starting minutes as well.

Finally, 19-year-old Brazilian center-back Mateus Silva continues to develop with the squad and may see minutes as soon-to-be-34-year-olds Clarence Goodson and Victor Bernardez play their final professional years. The Quakes have laid the foundation to be competitive for years to come.

The Bad

The Quakes have too many options for not enough positions. With the huge amount of depth the Quakes created at midfield, there had to be casualties.  Defending-midfielder and 2014 first-round draft pick JJ Koval was shown the door earlier this week. The Quakes also dismissed their second and fourth round draft picks Patrick Hodan and Ty Thompson.

Garcia’s job on as a starter may be in jeopardy as Cato and Tommy Thompson make their cases to be on the starting XI.

Against MLS competition in the pre-season, the Quakes were scoreless. While this is not a concern for many fans as it is preseason, offensive problems may have been the biggest culprit to a failed 2015 playoff run (the Quakes were tied for third-to-last in goals scored at just 41 total). The Quakes cannot afford to rely on their defense to see them through games, but must establish an offense capable of scoring at any time. This preseason did not offer any hope; the Quakes were held to two goals or less versus established competition.

The Ugly

Preseason games don’t count, but when you’re the league’s active leading goal-scorer, you may want to take a mulligan on your preseason. Chris Wondolowski was held scoreless in every preseason game, including having a PK blocked by Quakes U-16 academy ‘keeper Dominic Peters.

When asked about the drought, Wondo remained calm. “There’s flows and ebbs throughout every season . . . and I’d rather have a bit of a dry-spell now than the middle [of the season].”

Wondo has proven himself to be a goal-scorer; don’t be surprised if he has a break-out game early in the season to make up for his missed opportunities in the preseason.

The Quakes begin their regular season Sunday, March 6th versus the Colorado Rapids in Avaya Stadium at 12pm.

Main Photo: Ronald Martinez, Getty Images