MLS SuperDraft second round pick Jack Skahan is already making waves with Earthquakes affiliate Reno 1868 FC. Photo credit: San Jose Earthquakes
I’m one of those weirdos that enjoys minor league soccer just in the normal course of events, but let me tell you: it’s even better when the first team is a disaster. Luckily, Reno 1868 are a free-scoring, successful lower division side that feature a huge number of players who are actually under contract in San Jose. I watched their 3-1 victory over the Tacoma Defiance last Friday, and here are my impressions that are relevant to Quakes fans:
- I now understand why Matías Almeyda likes Jack Skahan so much. I knew exactly nothing of the late-round draft pick in college, other than he was listed as a right winger, and wasn’t particularly big. In preseason, I knew nothing (since all matches were behind closed doors) other than lineups that implied he was playing in central midfield instead. Last Friday continued the theme. Turns out? That’s a perfect role for him. He’s energetic and aggressive, harrying opponents and winning balls back. He seemed to take particular pleasure in playing one-touch. He even made some clever runs from deep, most notably the one that led to a chance he dispatched calmly for the equalizing goal. He has as weirdly advanced sense of positioning and space for someone who apparently wasn’t playing the position much in recent years, dropping in between center backs when necessary and always showing for the ball. He’s a bit undersized, and I haven’t seen enough to know what his passing vision will look like, so those could be ceilings to his potential. But if this is what he can produce after just a few months in the position? Then making it in MLS is an actual possibility.
- In many ways, you could say his game reminds me of Eric Calvillo, who is the young player I’m most focused on this year. I’ve always seen him as a long term number 8, and he was Skahan’s partner in the double pivot for this one. I would describe his performance in extremely similar terms to Skahan, but there were two additional factors: first, several lung-busting track-back runs that made my heart swoon. Second, he has progressive passing ability, including threading the killer through-ball to Skahan on the goal, that will be the basis of his long-term upside, similar to Jackson Yueill. He’s even more active than Yueill, however, and looks extremely fit. He was also tighter, on the whole, in his distribution than Skahan was, which is to be expected given how much more time at the professional level he has. I think this is the season for the 22-year-old to break into the rotation in the first team.
- Marcos López, in contrast, did little to impress. He’s got good size and athleticism, and occasionally flashes above-average technique, but what stands out more than anything is an abject lack of confidence on the ball and what certainly appears to be a limited ability to read the game. Scouts always say that the thing that differentiates pro players from Sunday league stars is the speed with which they process the visual information of the sport, and honestly, Lopez just appears to be completely overwhelmed by the game swirling around him. His defensive positioning was solid enough, and he was productive winning the ball back, but he almost never got forward (which you would expect to be a strength given his speed and left-footedness), and hit an absolutely wretched cross one of the few times he tried. I was hoping that over the offseason, given that he’s just 20, he would start growing into the MLS level, but he doesn’t even look special in USL right now. He’ll need to build confidence and get comfortable with the speed of the game at the lower level to make it back to San Jose, let alone the Peruvian national team.
- Gilbert Fuentes might well be the opposite: a super high-IQ game-reader who is a bit small and lightweight for the MLS level. He has a really good feel of space offensively, which is why I think he might be a long term 10 rather than 8, in addition to being less suited to the ruggedness of the pivot. He didn’t break out too much incisive passing on the day, but his ball control was strong and he was good at working the ball in and out of tight spaces. His goal wasn’t particularly glamorous, but the late-arriving run was well-timed. Defensive work will never be his strength but he seemed up for it. He definitely has the tools to make it in MLS, but he has enough to work on that I wouldn’t be surprised if he was primarily in Reno this year. He turned 18 just two weeks ago, so we can afford to be patient. I’m also glad the flow is back after he cut his hair short last season.
- Siad Haji is one of my favorite players to watch, since his vision and technique are uncommon in an American prospect, but, as happened all too frequently last season, he was anonymous, and (barely) lasted 60 minutes. He frequently looks like he doesn’t know what to do when out of possession, and either due to fitness or mentality, doesn’t cover a lot of ground or appear to work particularly hard. Unfortunately, the gorgeous through balls and ball control that is his hallmark really didn’t show up against Tacoma, leaving his contribution more or less invisible. I’m sure the coaching staff want more proactivity from him, more fitness, and more switched-on defending. He’s still just 20, so he has time to develop it, but he looks at least a year away for me.
- Predictably, JT Marcinkowski was solid as a rock as a shot stopper, looked totally in command of his area, and most importantly, continued his tenure as Lord of the Pings. Man is he good with his feet, particularly spraying long balls to the flanks. He definitely looks above the USL level, and I can’t wait until he takes over for Daniel Vega. Of course, we’re going to be missing him for large chunks of time while he’s on Olympic duty.
- The decision to adapt the same man-marking tactical setup as the first team looked a bit awkward, but not awful. There were definitely gaps in handing off responsibility, or times players forgot that they were playing man altogether. One of the interesting distinctions was that while the senior team typically leaves one field player “unmarked” up top (in order to have a free man at the back), Reno appeared to press all available defenders, a much more aggressive posture. I’m assuming that was intentional, but it’s an interesting wrinkle, which would leave the “unmarked” man somewhere higher on the field/on the other side, forcing the defense to switch or play long to beat the press. Either way, it looked quite a bit more polished than San Jose did in their first game under the system. RIP to Ian Russell’s diamond, which brought me so much joy the past three years. Although I understand why they want the whole organization to have tactical harmony.
- There are some decent non-San Jose players out there, although no one I would consider a first-team candidate. I personally enjoy Corey Hertzog, a classic high-effort striker who doesn’t wait for things to happen, and has a bit of quality too. Christiano Francois looks like a polished article of a left winger, with pace, ball control, and a bit of directness. Thomas Janjigian is a very solid, large center back but probably doesn’t project to the next level. Kevin Partida, the ex-San Jose man, played at right back but still looks to me to very much be a defensive midfielder out of position. He rarely got forward effectively, and his replacement Brent Richards curling two delicious balls over the top was a stark contrast to illustrate how right backs can effect the game offensively. Richards is a gem, but probably won’t graduate the USL level.
- Let’s take a moment to pour one out for four of my favorite Reno players who are no longer with the team. Danny Musovski, after a bit of a slow start to his professional career, took off like a rocket and won an MLS contract…with LAFC. I’d rather have him on a minimum deal than Hoesen on a TAM deal, personally. I might even say the same of Brian Brown, who is a bit more athletic than Musovski with similar finishing ability but who now plays for the top club in Albania. Duke Lacroix, who looked immensely better than Marcos Lopez at left back over the last two seasons in USL, got an MLS tryout, but ended up settling at a different USL club. Seth Casiple, a do-it-all midfielder who was probably one of the highest soccer-IQ guys on the team, was allowed to leave for Orange County, which is closer to his hometown of San Diego. Something tells me that Ian Russell would’ve liked to keep him…
- Finally, if you’ll indulge me whining about the TV production of this match, I want to note that the direction was abominable. Switching to tight shots during live play far too frequently, playing replays over corner kicks, etc. I would bet any amount of money it was directed by someone who primarily does other sports. Note to soccer TV directors: less is more. Always. Although I do appreciate ESPN+ for bringing lower league soccer into my living room on the other side of the country.
