Nov 22, 2020; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski (8) celebrates after scoring during the second half against Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. Photo Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
There is going to be plenty of offseason content here at Quakes Epicenter, especially considering what a short offseason it’s shaping up to be. We’re likely going into the most critical silly season in recent memory: the Earthquakes are going to have a ton of money coming off the roster, several open slots, and for the first time since Dom Kinnear was hired in 2014, a long-term vision for what the team is supposed to look like. Exciting stuff.
But before we get to that, last Sunday’s 3-3 barnstormer, the one that ended in Tim Melia picking the Earthquakes out of his teeth, is worth remarking upon. That last goal, Wondo’s 97th-minute header after 90+4 minutes of extra time, was really something. And despite its sui generis nature – chasing a goal in a do-or-die situation and all – there were a few things present in the buildup that show what San Jose might try and do in 2021 and beyond.
The Earthquakes had a lot of success in transition against Sporting Kansas City, and really throughout the season. What they need to improve upon in the future is building up against a set defense. As we’ll see, their main approach to that is by having people show up where they shouldn’t against a tired defense.
The buildup begins with a central passing triangle of Oswaldo Alanis, Jackson Yueill, and Marcos Lopez. Wait, what?
Alanis is such a classy passer that there’s no reason to waste him either defending (Judson is the last man back, 15 yards from his own half) or competing for a header in the box (Florian Jungwirth is the Alan Gordon off Chris Wondolowski’s hip in this clip). Meanwhile, Marcos Lopez has come inside where there’s space because 1) every defender is surrounding Wondo and 2) Johnny Russell is exhausted. A team that has spent the past 96 minutes spreading the field has just brought their two left-footed players into the middle of the pitch because nobody wants to chase them there.
As Ilie and Felipe Hernandez collapse on Marcos Lopez, the inverted left back dishes it over to Andy Rios. Because Russell just doesn’t want to cover weakside, SKC is now 5v5 against the attacking squad of Cade Cowell, Wondo, Flo, Rios, and Cristian Espinoza. Alanis trots towards the box. Right in front of, it is worth mentioning, Johnny Russell.
By the time Rios gets it over to Espinoza, there are basically five Sporting defenders who have comic book-style “?!?!” alerts over their heads, facing the ball and terrified that the Argentine is going to slice them apart for another goal. What’s incredible, then, is that he does.
Flo and Andy Rios have soaked up a ton of SKC focus, the defense has basically committed to shutting down that near-post triangle. Meanwhile, on the back post, the best athlete on the pitch and the best goalscorer in MLS history are 2v2 on the CB and RB.
If you’re wondering why Tim Melia isn’t balling it in the Bundesliga with his PK prowess, it’s because he’s not that great of a communicator or terribly positionally aware. He relies on a centerback like Matt Besler or, in years past, Ike Opara to keep folks organized and stop things like a back-post overload. (Reviewer note: Besler was unavailable for this game due to injury.)
Espinoza just flipped the ball to his weak foot and Kansas City is defending against the low, driven, cross that Espinoza’s terrorized teams with this year. And at the back post, Roberto Puncec just realized that nobody’s covering Oswaldo Alanis.
You would think that Johnny Russell, team MVP, would, um, do something. Or if his job is to set up the game-icing break, he could at least shout that someone ought to cover Alanis. But dude’s been run ragged all day, and he lets San Jose’s tallest field player jog into the box unmarked. Espinoza looks up and picks out his target…
This frame is one of my favorite moments from a year that’s had its share. I’ve talked about what everyone else has missed: Alanis coming into the box, Espinoza on his weak foot, SKC shutting down the driven cross. Chris Wondolowski sees all of this, and sees Puncec take his eyes off his mark and on to Alanis. Puncec points out Alanis, Wondo makes his move, and Espinoza knows exactly what to do.
Alanis is a decoy. Not a lot of centerbacks would make 60-yard runs to be a decoy, and it’s a credit to the 31-year-old Moreliano that he does it. Wondo slips behind Puncec and towards the back post. It takes a perfect ball (with his off foot!), but Espinoza is known to do that six or seven times a game.
You could imagine somebody feeling bad for Roberto Puncec. He’s had a goal deflected off his face and a goal deflected off his foot. He’s really kept Wondo tied up all match, and it’s not his fault, really, that nobody marked Alanis.
But as everybody who has watched San Jose knows, Wondo only needs his defender to lose concentration for a split second to make his move. Puncec’s eyes wandered, and Wondo was there to head the ball into the bottom corner and tie the game.
Look, it’s still unclear if Wondolowski will be back next year and what his role will be if he does return. His movement is special, but it’s worth mentioning that Matias Almeyda’s Earthquakes are being built towards scoring goals without relying on the Wondo Mind Tricks.
They are probably the closest MLS team to the old “Total Football” concept where everybody passes, everybody moves, and who cares who scores. In their final goal of the season, they were able to unbalance one of the tightest defenses in MLS by pushing players to where they shouldn’t be, and doing so relentlessly, until smoke starts coming out of the opposition’s knees. Espinoza doesn’t get isolated if Lopez doesn’t pinch in to the middle. Wondo doesn’t break free if Alanis doesn’t make a 60-yard-run. It’s an offense that keeps on cranking up the pressure until the defense needs to either release pressure with a longball away, or they just straight-up collapse.
We’ll see how San Jose builds on this in 2021. I have some thoughts which I’ll be sharing over the coming months, and many of my colleagues will have their assumptions and conclusions as well. But for now, and for the rest of the offseason, I’ll be thinking about poor Roberto Puncec, whose one job was to keep on the best goalscorer in MLS history, and how, in the most important moment of the most important game of the year, San Jose got him pointing to somebody else entirely.
