It has been one month since the last edition of The Shakedown so there is plenty to talk about. Let’s get into it
Hello Darkness My Old Friend
The Earthquakes have been cruising around the .500 mark all season but since losing Chris Wondolowski to a US Men’s National Team call-up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup after their thrilling California Clasico victory, the offense has been more than unstable. In this three game losing streak the Quakes have only scored 2 goals, both in a loss against the Galaxy, while conceding eight. This is unacceptable form even with Wondo and other key players out. Injuries are surprises, call-ups to national teams are not.
The front office in San Jose needs to ensure there’s enough quality depth on the bench so that if a couple of key players are not available the performance on the pitch doesn’t collapse. It’s not like Dave Kaval and crew are sitting on their hands hoping for improvement to happen on it’s own. Players like Tommy Thompson, Fatai Alashe, and Marc Pelosi show that the emphasis is being put on developing the next generation of Quakes. With five usual starters over 30 years old that seems like a good plan for the future. The issue supporters have with that plan is we are not in the future and as of this week the Quakes are in eighth place in the Western Conference, 7 points out of a playoff position. They also have scored the third least goals in the league, barely ahead of Colorado and Chicago. At this point last year they had a nearly identical record and had actually scored three more goals. Bringing Dominic Kinnear back was supposed to bring back that championship mentality that Quakes had in the early 2000’s. A MLS version of “ same soup, another day”. Instead it seems like the soup has gone bad.
This fanbase was patient enough to wait 18 years for a home to call their own. They were patient enough to wait for their beloved club to come back after it was taken away from them in the middle of the night. If the performance does not improve this year, they may not be patient enough to fill Avaya Stadium when that talent of the future finally matures. Just about the only person that can right this ship is just about on his way back to the Bay Area now that the Gold Cup has ended, but in the meantime. Patience please.
The United Quakes of Amarikwa
Just like the rain that just passed through California it wasn’t all bad news for the Quakes in July. As June was coming to a close the Quakes re-signed a forward they had originally drafted back in 2009, 27 year-old Quincy Amarikwa. Amarikwa has started two games so far and already has two goals. Both of them came in another edition of the Cali Clasico, this one at StubHub Center in Carson. Perhaps his most impressive move of the Clasico was his slick escape from three Galaxy defenders crowding him around the sideline. With no where to go but back towards the middle of the pitch, Amarikwa flicked a pass into open space and slid past the defenders as if trying to run through a door before it closes. It was a nice distraction in an otherwise terrible night for Quakes fans.
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?
One of the enigmas of MLS for the last six years has been, why do the Quakes seem to conduct themselves as a mid-market sized team. They play in San Jose, the tenth largest city in the country, the capital of Silicon Valley with a huge international population. Yet, when Forbes came out with a list of estimated team values in 2013 the Quakes were the 4th least valuable team with a value of $75 million. That amount of money is referred to as “seed money” to a lot of the startups that spring up every day in and around San Jose. This is one issue that cannot wholly be placed on the front office. Since their return to the league in 2009 the Quakes played in a stadium that was woefully inadequate for a professional sports team. 10,000 seat Buck Shaw Stadium sat on the grounds on Santa Clara University, a private university. This meant that even though the Quakes sold out most of their games, statistically they were always near the bottom in attendance. The private university setting also limited the marketing opportunities available to the Quakes.
Enter Avaya Stadium. It sits so close to old Buck Shaw that you can see the silhouette of the east stands from Silver Lot. Peeking through the office buildings as if keeping a watchful eye on his larger, but also much younger brother. Proud of the legacy that was transferred across the train tracks. That legacy has sold out every MLS home game this year for the Quakes. It has also increased attendance by 59 percent over last year. That is a lot more money that is soon going to be available to upgrade the roster. The new roster rules are also going to add more spending money to the coffers of the Quakes.
They also got a nice little boost of $260,400 in 2014 thanks to the performances of their players at the World Cup. Add the new sponsorship deals that came out of the new AVAYA Stadium and the Quakes may be getting ready to turn some heads with their spending. I spoke about the movement towards a younger team, maybe adding a player with experience in the biggest leagues in the world can be that stabilizing force in the locker room that brings the team together. Teams across MLS have been spending big money on international stars and it finally looks like the Quakes have the financial ability to compete. But, like figuring out how to time-travel, this new ability should be used cautiously. Bringing in a well known international star has its obvious perks, but they are rarely enough to derail a multi-year plan of building a team that in consistently fighting for a MLS Cup.
