The San Jose Earthquakes front office did not realize what a timely addition the color red was to the new look Earthquakes. Red, black and blue is the perfect color combination to describe the San Jose Earthquakes 2014 season. A world-class defender, a highly prized (and paid) designated player, and a “bash brother” all spent considerable time nursing injuries, leaving then coach Mark Watson struggling to find chemistry on the pitch. Now that the last game of the season is four weeks behind us and the new stadium has a name, Avaya Stadium, and a playing pitch, let’s go back and pick through the wreckage that was the SJ Earthquakes 2014 campaign.
Such a monumentally bad season requires an equally monumental effort to sift through. Initially, I believed I could sum up the season elegantly enough with only two words, absolutely disappointing. I didn’t think that would be an acceptable article for the editors so I decided to dig deeper to see what went well, what went horribly, and what parts of the season only a mother could love. I scoured the land around Buck Shaw, I spent time at the Caltrain stadium adjacent to the stadium and I spent time staring at the new stadium hoping the huge new scoreboard would light up and tell what happened. Then, I gathered all the pieces of the wreckage and like a federal crash investigator, I laid them all out in an empty airplane hanger and dug through them looking for clues as to where it all went wrong.
The good: This year was an anomaly in the history of the San Jose Earthquakes. Sure there have been bad seasons in the past, but nothing on this level. The ‘Quakes ended the season with a club record 15 game win-less streak. They were also without some of their star players for a significant part of the season. One of their best games of the season was the season opener against Real Salt Lake. While it ended in a tie, it featured a classic goonies comeback, 27 shots on goal and also was started by Chris Wondolowski, Victor Bernardez, and Steven Lenhart, who would all miss significant time during the regular season. The season quickly went downhill after the first game, it seemed to get better as spring gave way to summer. However, eventually the injury bug caught up with the team and the second half of the season was the worst stretch for the team, ever. I don’t know if there is an increase in injuries during World Cup years, but surely the extra stress on the body from all the travel and extra minutes playing ultra-competitive soccer did not help the fitness of any of the players involved. Next year one can only expect, and hope, that the number of significant injuries will go down. The ‘Quakes are also moving into the freshly christened Avaya Stadium, or the Epicenter as many fans are set on calling it, which should help with the atmosphere during games. Buck Shaw was quaint but with a capacity of only 10,000 it was much too small for a modern MLS team. On the pitch the ‘Quakes still have some key pieces that can make them one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
The Bad: The defensive combination of Clarence Goodson and Victor Bernardez, when playing together, is one of the toughest lines to get through in MLS. When not on the pitch, their mature and calming presence is definitely missed. Goodson was limited to 10 games this season while Bernardez lost time with national duties in Honduras. Andreas Gorlitz was brought in over the winter to help out with defensive duties, but the 32-year old German went down with injury after only 3 games. His minute total for the season was 225. The ‘Quakes style of play depended on a strong defense that is able to take the ball away from an attacking team and quickly convert the counterattack. Realizing that their defensive core was decimated, the front office made a move on July 31 and signed the 3rd designated player in team history, 30-year old Argentinian midfielder Matias Perez Garcia. It seemed as if the team finally had a possessive midfielder with good pitch vision. One that could set up the emerging front line combination of Chris Wondolowski and Yannick Djalo. 6 games and 384 minutes later Perez Garcia was lost for the season. Djalo, on a season-long loan from Portuguese squad Benfica, was also limited to 18 games in his first season in MLS. Wondo heroically tried to personally carry the team to the playoffs, but with fellow forward, lucky rabbits foot, and half of the “bash brothers” Steven Lenhart limited to 11 games in the season, first by a knee injury then a bicycling injury, the tasked proved too large even for the fierce and fiery Wondo.
The stats only a mother could love: As stated earlier, the ‘Quakes ended the season on a 15-game win-less streak. That left them with 30 points on the season, 3 less than Chivas USA, a team that does not exist anymore. During this winless streak, the ‘Quakes have scored 12 goals while allowing a staggering 30 to the opposition. Teams were shooting all over the ‘Quakes, while they were busy digging themselves into a bigger hole week-after-week. As the Man with No Name says “Their are two kinds of people. Those with loaded guns, and those that dig. You dig.” This is to hoping next season the ‘Quakes finding their poncho and quick reflexes and put the shovel down. You dig?
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