The month of March is finally here for the San Jose Earthquakes. The first month of the season is upon us and with it comes the optimism of Dominic Kinnear’s second year in charge of the Earthquakes. The Earthquakes start out with three big western conference matchups, two of them at Avaya Stadium. Due to the International Break, MLS will play just three fixtures before going on break until April. This article will have small previews, key matchups, and predictions for the slate of matches coming up here this month.
3/6-Home vs. Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids were one of the worst teams in 2015. After finding success playing their young homegrown players, they let them all go. They have since plummeted from contending for postseason play, to competing for the top draft picks. Last year they were terrible on both ends of the field while averaging 12.3 shots per game, they only registered a little under 4 shots on target per game. With only five percent of their shots coming from inside the six yard box, nearly half (48%) of their shots came from outside the 18 yard box. While they added Shkelzen Gashi as a DP player, they failed to upgrade their midfield. Due to this you’ll continue to see their offensive impotency play a role in their results this year as they won’t be able to get the ball forward and create more chances. With the Earthquakes having one of the top defenses and a significantly deep pool of offensive talent, expect them to win this one with ease. Prediction: Earthquakes 3- Rapids 0
3/13-Home vs. Portland Timbers
Presumably coming off a win vs. Colorado, the Earthquakes will have a very strong test in hosting the defending MLS Cup Champions. Portland lost Villafaña, a huge key to their success last year, but replaced him with one of the best left backs in MLS, Chris Klute. Assuming he won’t be back from injury quite yet, you can anticipate seeing Liam Ridgewell at left back. Portland likes to keep the game in the midfield and control the game that way. Portland vs. San Jose usually seems to be relatively cagey in nature, as only six of their 14 matches head to head have ended with a team scoring more than one goal. Interestingly enough, Portland and San Jose had the same amount of goals scored and goals conceded (41 Goals For, 39 Goals Against), yet Portland ended six points ahead of the Earthquakes in the standings. It is safe to say that Caleb Porter has a very self disciplined squad that he will be bringing to Avaya Stadium on March 13th. A draw would be a good result for San Jose, but could easily see Portland keeping the quakes off the sheet and getting at least 1 goal. Prediction: Earthquakes 1- Timbers 1
3/19- Away vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
The first MLS edition of the Cali Classico in 2016 comes 6 days after an extremely tough home matchup vs. Portland Timbers. The Earthquakes had the Galaxy’s number last year, going 2-1 against them. The best example of how San Jose will approach the match is cut and paste from the Earthquakes 1-0 home win on August 28th last season. They stayed compact in the midfield and absorbed pressure, reducing the Galaxy’s chances to shots outside the 18 yard box. As they won the ball in the midfield they countered quickly down the wings and got dangerous service into the box. This exact game plan against the Galaxy just destroyed them in the CONCACAF Champions League match. Santos Laguna won 4-0. The Galaxy’s old age in the midfield and on the back line was obvious as the younger Santos team ran circles around them for 90 minutes. Expect to see more of the same game plan for this first matchup. The Earthquakes have a very good shot at getting a good result in this match. Prediction: Earthquakes 2 – Galaxy 1
Main Photo Shaun Clark, Getty Images
