SAN JOSE, Calif. — In the midst of an international calendar, a slew of injuries and heavy transfer negotiations, Matias Almeyda’s San Jose Earthquakes put the distractions aside and rose to a playoff spot after comfortably defeating the Dynamo, 2-0, at Avaya Stadium.
The 2019 season is exactly at the halfway point for the Black-and-Blue, and the general feeling at Earthquakes Way is that the project under the Argentine is starting to bear fruit. The best example of that was his team’s performance throughout the 90 minutes on Wednesday night and the reactions after, which also taught us three valuable things.
Vako is playing at the level of a Designated Player
With two goals and a performance that was head and shoulders more complete and more entertaining than everyone else’s, Vako made a statement on Wednesday night.
He can perform like a Designated Player in Almeyda’s scheme – when he wishes to. He can get the stadium to roar his name, get the superstar treatment – if he truly wants it.
“It’s nice,” the Georgian said on the ovation he received. “I’m happy; it motivates me. I will try to continue.”
Just weeks ago, the Georgian was the lightning rod for criticism and justifiably so. With only a goal in his first 13 appearances this season, Vako was off to his poorest start since his arrival in San Jose back in June of 2017. The pressure — from fans and from Almeyda — was weighing on his back. It was far from the ideal situation for the team’s highest paid player.
“Most important is how I feel right now,” responded Vako when asked if times were tough before the scoring run commenced. “I feel good and it’s past it…”
The Georgian has hit a corner, scoring five goals in the last three games — all competitions — with all five goals being the team’s last five. Performances like Wednesday’s, however, are now expected from Vako game in and game out, as they should be.
“Vako was playing at the start of the season, but I felt that there were players that were performing better than him,” ‘El Pelado’ said. “I communicated that to him, and the level that I want from Vako is the one we saw tonight.”
“Sometimes it bothers the players to be taken out, which is normal, but I think that’s one way to create competition and bring the best out from everybody,” he added. “He played a great game tonight and is playing well overall. In Vako, I want a player that is reversible. He’ll play not only when he receives the ball, but also to assist his teammates when it comes time to defend. He can do that; it’s proven that he can, and he will keep doing that.”
The attacker now has his work cut out for him. If he wants the limelight, praise and success, it’s his for the taking. After all, everyone inside of the locker room will vouch for him.
“Like his teammate, since I got here, I’ve told him this many times: He’s a player that has incredible talent that only depends on him on when he wants to demonstrate it,” said goalkeeper Daniel Vega. “He’s slowly growing and adapting to the system. He wasn’t playing, so he’s slowly growing.”
“Today, he’s demonstrating he’s a great player, there’s no excuse,” he added. “He has a lot of quality, a lot of class. Like a close teammate of his, it makes me extremely happy to see things go well for a teammate. I say it from the bottom of my heart, it makes me really happy to see his situation better – and the situation of other youngsters, who are growing – that’s what is going to take us places.”
Carlos Fierro’s move fueled by “love” and “passion,” not money
Now that Fierro’s transfer to the Quakes is official, Almeyda was open to address questions pertaining the chats he and the 24-year-old Mexican had ahead of his move, which happened largely due to Cruz Azul’s “good behavior” towards San Jose in giving them a “huge chance” to purchase the attacker.
“I didn’t promise him anything,” remarked Almeyda. “He knows me very well and he knows that in order to play, he has to train hard and take advantage of the opportunity.”
The Argentine added: “He’s very happy. He’s convinced that he wanted to be here. When we talked about it with our directors, Jesse (Fioranelli) and our president, we prioritize when a player wants to be here. They don’t come over here to earn a lot of money. Carlos Fierro comes for passion, love and because he wants to succeed. That’s what I value. That’s what we value with our directors.”
It’s now clear that Fierro will arrive in San Jose and find competition for a spot on either flank very tight. But according to Almeyda, “the ideal thing” is for player selection to be a difficult task. Fierro will certainly do that in less than two weeks time.
The Quakes are morphing into a legitimate playoff contender
The current Quakes have lapped what they were in late March. Over the last ten regular season games, only LAFC — unanimously the league’s best team — has done better, earning two more points than San Jose. Meaning that at this rate, there are very few reasons why a playoff appearance shouldn’t be in the team’s foreseeable calendar.
An entertaining brand of soccer is being transmitted on the field, while confidence is oozing inside the locker room.
“I think we’ve taken a lot of steps in the right direction and really grown that belief,” said San Jose’s captain, Chris Wondolowski. “It’s a funny thing, confidence. We bought into coach Matias’ game plan and when you execute it in the right way, it’s very effective. We were on some shaky ground the first couple games and weren’t all on the same page and got exposed. But when you have all 11 guys playing the way that we need to and executing the game plan, it’s very fun.”
Despite the financial obstacles and the renovation in culture, it was always hard to put it past Almeyda, an expert at saving organizations from near-extinction. By no means has anything been accomplished yet, but it’s difficult to brush aside the legitimate upwards trajectory at Avaya.
“I think the team is growing a lot,” Almeyda said to a room full of reporters after Wednesday’s victory. “We are trying to instill commonality within the players. For me, the way they communicate, their work ethic and unity are fundamental.”
“In my first meeting with the them, I said I wanted a team, not individuals, in which everyone put in their own grain of sand,” he added. “We are achieving that. It makes me happy when every time something happens to one of our players, like Wondo’s [Chris Wondolowski] call-up to the MLS All-Star Game, which is well deserved.”
