PHOTO: San Jose Earthquakes
The Earthquakes entered the friendly confines of Minnesota and left with their second win—against Minnesota United, and for the year. It was a strange match, one in which San Jose looked dominant for long stretches but only really scored off of two penalty kicks and a very strange cross which the Loons gave up on.
There was plenty to dislike. Minnesota had plenty of breakaways and the Earthquakes made Rasmus Schuller look like Sergio Busquets for a bit, the way the Loons’ deep-lying midfielder broke up attacks. But they sustained pressure, connected passes, and turned the corner on the defense without letting Darwin Quintero dominate the game. If it wasn’t for a wildly bad pass by Shea Salinas, San Jose could’ve caught the flight out with a clean sheet. And you can see Florian Jungwirth screaming at his left back to just boot the ball right before the poorly-thought-out back pass.
You know “when it doubt, kick it out?” How about, “when in doubt? Listen to Flo.”
Going back to Canada
San Jose’s last trip up to Vancouver was memorable, brutal, and memorably brutal. In the first round of the playoffs, San Jose lost 5-0 up there. It was a very Chris Leitch-esque game: poor fouls led to set pieces which Vancouver easily converted, which led to San Jose pressing and Vancouver putting the game out of hand.
This is a very different team. For one, San Jose is much better at set pieces with Harold Cummings on the backline (they are even stronger with Yeferson Quintana, but the Uruguayan giant is still out this week). Fatai Alashe brings some grit, and he had a nifty 7-of-10 passing in 30 minutes last weekend.
Midweek games on the road demand midfield rotation, and San Jose is a bit strapped given that it’s unclear if Tommy Thompson has fully recuperated from his illness and Jahmir Hyka is out for at least the remainder of the week. Alashe could be a difference-maker if he can keep Felipe’s back to goal and chase down some Alphonso Davies runs.
San Jose has been winning the majority of their duels (53%) and aerial battles (52%) so far this year (stats going into Minnesota). They will have to be steely against Vancouver, who are in their second or third year of just trying to bully off opponents. If a foul leads to a dangerous set piece, it could be fatal; tracking Kendall Watson and Kei Kamara in the box is no easy task.
On the offensive side, it will be interesting to see if Mikael Stahre takes the opportunity to rest Hoesen and give Quincy Amarikwa a start. Hoesen’s been hot so far, but it could be thankless to ask him to bash against Watson and Aja for 60 minutes to open up spaces. But that’s the sort of task Quincy lives for. An Amarikwa-Wondolowski forward pairing may be a bit old-school, but it could also create gaps through which Magnus Eriksson can pass and shoot, as well as save legs for Saturday’s matchup against DC United—which will be played on grass, thankfully.
Road midweek games are never easy, especially if it’s the second game on turf in a row. Even if it’s one-third of the way through the season, it is unclear if Vancouver are good or not. ‘Caps fans are calling for the head of coach Carl Robinson, Sporting KC blew them out 6-0, and they have hardly held down homefield.
San Jose can score on Brian Rowe, the ‘keeper who lost his job to David Bingham. Magnus and Flo can go shoulder-to-shoulder against some of the strongest players in the league. San Jose will have to be purposeful in possession and clever in the box to head back home with points. They can’t afford to expect Brek Shea to do this again:
