Are they building or starting over?

The San Jose Earthquakes start their 2010 MLS campaign Saturday March 27 at Buck Shaw Stadium against Real Salt Lake with a new season of opportunity and a lot of fresh faces.

Where is Shea Salinas? Gone to the Philadelphia Union, the new league franchise. Huckerby, Pitchkolan, Elliot, Ribeiro, and Graczyk are gone as well. This is not last year’s squad.

That was then

The 2009 season went poorly, no two ways about it. The Quakes ended at the bottom of the Western Division well out of contention for a playoff berth. They often played well at home, only to let the opposing team come back late, and they rarely played well away. It is the kind of record that often accompanies a team that is playing beyond their level, or lacks belief, or both.

There was a schizophrenia to the Quakes playing style last year. On the home pitch they were often a slick passing team, getting forward with lots of possession and movement. It was exciting football but seemed contrary to the defense-first sensibilities of Coach Yallop who extolled the virtues of the gritty 1-0 win. At away fixtures the Quakes seemed to entirely fall apart.

As the results went against the Quakes, new players were brought in, familiar names left, and the starting eleven never seemed quite settled. The lack of mutual intuition showed on the field costing the Quakes scoring opportunities, defensive coverage and results.

This is now

The Quakes seem to have settled on a known and trusted back field with Jason Hernandez and Bobby Burling in the center, and Ramiro Corrales and Chris Leitch as wing backs. These players are all familiar with each others’ play. Joe Cannon is of course back in goal.

Defensive depth and competition for starting positions in the back is now provided by young defensive talent brought into the squad. Big Ike Opara from Wake Forest, Justin Morrow from Notre Dame, and Steve Beitashour from San Diego State, will be looking to break into the roster and make an impact. Ike Opara looks very close to starting alongside Hernandez.

Bigger changes may be evident in a reworked midfield. Bobby Convey and Arturo Alvarez will compete with Joey Gjertsen, from the Montreal Impact, for the work on the wings, while Andre Luiz, and Ramon Sanchez are now bolstered by Javier Robles and Brad Ring in the middle. The team is working to sign 17 year old Omar Jesse to join them, a fast and technically gifted talent who has trained with Chelsea and Crystal Palace in England.

The tireless Ryan Johnson returns up front with Cornell Glen, Brazilian Eduardo joining them. Wondolowski and Amarikwa return adding depth.

On paper it is a stronger squad up and down the pitch, but the test of the first league matches will tell. Will the new blood make an impact or fade into the background? There’s a big difference between having talent and impacting the game.

Hope springs eternal

Here are things to look for this season, headlines the coaching staff may be working for

• The Quakes win every third game 1-0
• The Quakes win a game without Joe Cannon having to make a hatful of saves
• Joey Gjertsen makes an impact as a winger in the MLS
• Ike Opara establishes himself as a starting center back and contender for rookie of the year
• Ryan Johnson scores more with his feet than his head and threatens for the Golden Boot award again
• Arturo Alvarez shoots with his right foot and catches everyone off guard
• Bobby Convey enjoys his work

Keys to Success

Games are unlikely to be won on individual skill; the smallest chink in the team defense is a goal conceded, and the most subtle lack of anticipation is a an opportunity on goal forgone

The main key to success will be the team gelling into a whole, moving and playing as one. This group has not been playing together for years as is true for some of the other squads. Each player will need to learn instinctively where his teammates will be, making runs and covering for each other without having to think about it. Given the difficulty in predicting the starting eleven, this is a tall order, but vital for their success.

Once gelled as a team, they will need the collective self belief to come back in injury time and get a tying goal, time and again, that quality champion teams tend to have.

Season Prediction

The goal and only goal of the Quakes this season should be making the playoffs. It’s a long points race in which success demands consistency and grit. A playoff berth is feasible and will be the acid test of the Quakes evolution.

Things are looking up in San Jose. The Quakes stadium has been given a green light this year and beer will no longer be restricted to a roped off beer garden. A dozen different flavors of beer will now be available to the fans throughout Buck Shaw Stadium.

Win Pins will be handed out to fans commemorating each win at home, numbered 1.0 for the first win, and 2.0 for the second, like Richter Scale readings. There is some clear ambition there. If the last pin is less than a 6.0 the failure will be clear, whereas a 8.0 in earthquake country is of a magnitude commanding awe. It seems targets have been set.

The Quakes are moving ahead. There is no better time to be a Quakes fan than right now.

Buck Shaw Beer Flavors
1. Bud Light
2. Budweiser
3. Corona
4. Modelo Especial
5. Newcastle
6. Tecate
7. Sierra Nevada
8. Fat Tire
9. Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen
10. Lagunitas IPA
11. Kona Longboard
12. Kona Fire Rock