The L.A. Galaxy dominated the stats in Saturday’s victory over San Jose. Unlike previous games, this time the scoreboard reflected which team played the beautiful game and which team played the high school junior varsity version of the beautiful game.
Stats Ring True in Earthquakes Loss
The Galaxy dominated every major statistic. L.A. out-shot San Jose 17-6 (7-3 on goal), out-possessed San Jose 65%-35% (almost a 2:1 ratio), out-passed San Jose 557(!)-315 (L.A. had 371 passes in the attacking half, more than San Jose’s entire night), out-chanced San Jose 11-5, out-cornered San Jose 6-2, out-dueled San Jose 63-42, out-crossed San Jose 35-12, out-intercepted San Jose 27-22, and in this case, out-scored San Jose 3-1.
Many Earthquakes fans will cite poor officiating: the Dawkins red-card which even drew the ire of Sydney LaRoux Dwyer, four yellows, and the ref’s perceived eagerness to call fouls on the Quakes while ignoring the Galaxy—San Jose was called for 22 fouls to Galaxy’s 13. However, one player’s dismissal for a half, yellow cards, nor foul calls can excuse the statistical dominance of the Galaxy. Furthermore, poor officiating is not the answer for the signs have been there since preseason.
In their three preseason games versus MLS teams, San Jose was held scoreless while allowing their opponents control of the match. The Earthquakes lost to New England 2-0, Houston 1-0, and L.A. 1-0. San Jose could not maintain an attack to generate goals, and this problem persisted into the regular season.
In their first two regular season games, San Jose was out-shot 34-15, out-crossed 47-24, out-cornered 14-7, out-passed 840-798, and out-chanced 23-14. A few conversions helped secure wins, but San Jose continued to lose the quality-of-play battle with opponents.
The stats chicken came home to roost on Saturday. Poor preseason performances and “iffy” regular season wins were symptoms of the underlying problem within the team: not generating attacks and creating chances. Despite all the improvements to the roster San Jose has made over the past year, the stats show that San Jose still has a lot of work to do to be a playoff contender.
After Saturday’s loss, San Jose has been out-shot 51-17, out-chanced 34-19, out-cornered 20-9, out-possessed 56%-44%, and out-passed 1397-1,113 for the season. The stats are clear: the ability to control games and impose their will on opponents remains well out of San Jose’s grasp. Opponents are simply playing at a higher level.
In my previous article, I asked the question: “Are the Quakes for real, or getting really lucky?” The question was answered Saturday. The question now is: can San Jose turn it around?
Main Photo: Victor Decolongon, Getty Images
