Valeri “Vako” Qazaishvili celebrates with Andy Rios following Vako’s goal against Real Salt Lake on July 27, 2020. Rios provided the assist on the goal. Photo credit: MLSsoccer.com team at the MLS is Back Tournament from the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
Valeri Qazaishvili is such a fascinating player. He does one thing at a world class level (dribble) and is otherwise a solid, above average, athlete. I often get the sense that if he grew up in American Georgia and not Caucasus Georgia, he’d be an SEC running back: his shiftiness, low center of gravity, and bullishness are what make him such a tough cookie.
The fact that Vako does that one thing so well, however, means that he can sometimes lay off on the other things he is merely alright at. Or, if you remember the 2018 San Jose outfit: he would sometimes rather dribble through three guys than make an easy pass. On the other hand, good golly is he a magnificent dribbler (at 1:43 of the clip below).
A History of Vako
Almeyda has tried to get the most out of Vako. Similarly to how he’s played to Magnus Eriksson’s strengths (vision and passing range) and those of Tommy Thompson (one-two play and agility on the ball), the Almeyda Earthquakes try to get Vako on the ball and running at defenders at the top of the box. When effective, it can end Daniel Steres’ season (at 3:13 of the clip below).
An incredible thing about Vako, however, is how consistent he’s been over time (stats from Whoscored.com)
| Season | Team | Minutes | Goals/90 | Assists/90 | Pass% |
| 2019 | San Jose | 2099 | .0038 | .0024 | 84.6 |
| 2018 | San Jose | 2719 | .0037 | .0015 | 85.3 |
| 2017 | San Jose | 870 | .0057 | .0011 | 83.8 |
| 2016/17 | Vitesse / Legia | 243 | .0041 | .0000 | 84.2 |
| 2015/16 | Vitesse | 2649 | .0038 | .0008 | 88.1 |
| 2014/15 | Vitesse | 2725 | .0040 | .0015 | 87.4 |
| 2013/14 | Vitesse | 1227 | .0033 | .0016 | 85.2 |
Some people may want to see more growth out of a player from age 20 through age 26, but it seems pretty clear. Vako is the player he’s always been. Fortunately for San Jose, that’s been a pretty good player.
The other interesting thing about Vako is that, in his San Jose career, he’s been quite mediocre for months at a time before just flipping a switch and becoming incandescent (data from Soccerway).
| Year | Month | Goals |
| 2017 | July | 1 |
| August | 2 | |
| September | 1 | |
| October | 1 | |
| 2018 | March | 2 |
| April | 0 | |
| May | 0 | |
| June | 2 | |
| July | 0 | |
| August | 4 | |
| September | 2 | |
| October | 0 | |
| 2019 | March | 0 |
| April | 0 | |
| May | 1 | |
| June | 3 | |
| July | 3 | |
| August | 1 | |
| September | 0 | |
| October | 0 |
Is Vako Back for MLS is Back?
It is very tempting to say that Vako’s 1g/1a effort against Real Salt Lake against Monday is a sign that he is going to do his Summer Vako thing over the duration of the tournament. The temptation is even greater when one considers that he’s in the last six months of his contract and may want to follow European teammate Magnus Eriksson in getting his young family the heck back to Europe. The temptation becomes inescapable when one looks at Minnesota United’s defensive shape against Columbus in their last match (data via Reddit u/FMFMCNC):
That empty spot in front of Aja (#4); between Alonso (#6), Jan Gregus (#8) and Metanire (#19)? That’s basically the Vako Zone.
Looking Forward to Minnesota
Minnesota United has owned the Almeyda Earthquakes, it’s true. It’s tough to forget how gruesome that 2-5 defeat was in the beginning of the season. But there are plenty of excuses to make for these defeats: no Judson in one, an unfortunate deflection off Judson in the box in another (which: kind of A Thing, unfortunately!), and an early San Jose team unfamiliar with Almeyda’s system, in reverse order.
All that said, Minnesota’s been mediocre in this tournament without Ike Opara. Their win against Sporting KC was off of two 90’+ goals with Tim Melia red-carded out. The Loons’ three games since then have been draws, none of which were particularly inspiring. Colorado and Columbus got late-game equalizers, and for San Jose late-game equalizers tend to more-often become late-game winners.
Minnesota was successful against Columbus by ceding possession and siccing Hassani Dotson on Darlington Nagbe. Columbus had 64.5% possession and 608 passes (on 89% passing accuracy!) but 20 crosses. There’s no reason MNUFC won’t try to do the same thing against San Jose, but there are two good arguments as to why it won’t work:
- Jackson Yueill has proven to be cussed on the ball and much more calm under pressure than nearly anyone predicted.
- Magnus Eriksson can switch the ball to the left wing like a boss
For their own tactics, Minnesota’s three-man midfield tries to cut the field in half, which works to frustrate the opposing #10 by forcing him to get on the ball outside the middle of the pitch. But San Jose doesn’t have a #10, they have two registas — Yueill and Eriksson — who switch the field. Minnesota will likely try to shut down the Yueill-to-Espinoza pass, and you can’t blame them. But that opens up Eriksson-to-Vako, if both players are up for it.
Vako to the Future (ugh, what a bad pun)
I should start by saying that I love Vako. I spent some time in Georgia (including one very poorly-played match on a very hilly pitch, after which I ate my weight in hazelnuts) and like him I am quiet, stubborn, and want to dribble through an entire team. I appreciate how his social media presence is mostly just bragging about how adorable his kid is. If I wasn’t spending so much time chasing my kid through a pandemic, I’d try and convince Quakes PR to let me do a dumb Georgian Cooking Video with Vako and Guro. I digress.
(Editor note: “Guro” is Vako’s fellow Georgian, Guram Kashia, in case the reference isn’t obvious.)
According to Colin Etnire’s erstwhile contract spreadsheet, Vako’s contract is up at the end of this season. It’s somewhat unlikely he’ll be back in San Jose, at his salary and so far from the conditions he signed on with. I wouldn’t blame him for not wanting to be in the United States for the time being. The difference between him hoping to catch on in a lower-level European league and having a chance in France, Portugal, or back in the Netherlands is his performance in this tournament.
Last year, when Vako was dropped from the starting 11 and the Georgian National team, he returned furious. With so much on the line in these next couple of weeks, him turning it on would mean him having control over the age 28-31 seasons in his career — likely his last big payout.
A motivated Vako ready to light it up could be the difference between this upcoming Minnesota matchup and the last three bloodbaths. It could be the difference-maker between a CONCACAF Champions League berth and another doldrums year. It could also be a tidal shift in his own career. No pressure on the Mountaineer Messi, but a special Vako could mean a special summer.
