Jackson Yueill has played in several defensive and midfield spots so far this season. Photo credit: ISI Photos
At his press conference after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes coach Alex Covelo talked about the priority of “taking space.” A few minutes later, goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski spoke about how Covelo emphasizes “space.”
This is the big difference between Matias Almeyda’s tactics and Covelo’s. Almeyda wants his players to take on people, Covelo (and, to be fair, most top-tier coaches) want players to take on space. This is abstract, a bit philosophical, but also: effective. The best teams take advantage of the best spaces on the field. The Earthquakes are hardly Man City, but what they showed over the weekend – for the first time in what feels like years – was that they can take space and move the opponent players around to win.
Jackson Yueill, captain and de-converted centerback, is in the middle of it.
At the end of last season, I suggested that Yueill fit best as “an eight-and-a-half who can put wingers and fullbacks in a position to hit the key passes.” Another, more obnoxious, way to define him might be “a deep-lying raumdeuter.” Either way, he’s one of the most interesting guys on this team for his ability to put pressure on the opponent all over the pitch. Here’s a great example from the first half of Saturday’s match.
Colorado bottled up San Jose for the first 30 minutes by keeping Yueill and Jan Gregus in front of their midfielders and relying on the giant Rapids centerbacks to keep the Quakes’ attacking 4 in check. It’s a 4-1-4-1 with Bryan Acosta shadowing Jamiro Monteiro just off-screen:
Yueill shuffles four steps to his right and turns “surrounded by three Rapids” into “5v5 break.” Apologies to Colleen Warner’s soul.
This is, in itself, pretty cool. He’s not done, but he needs a little help. Jeremy Ebobisse, who is making selfless runs like Wondo (but fast), sprints at a deep angle to take the Colorado centerbacks with him on an off-ball run and isolate Cristian Espinoza.
Yueill does something special here: moments after one gut-busting 40-yard run, he makes another one, off-ball, with no expectation of receiving a pass. Right across the space Jebo gave up.
He takes three defenders with him, including the recently-off-the-grass Warner.
Finally, Yueill checks to the ball like a target forward. This freezes leftback Lucas Estevez and lets Monteiro lob the ball up to Espinoza for a patented endline run.
Things don’t totally work out from there. That’s partly because of a weird swirling wind, part because Monteiro is still getting on the same timing as his new teammates, and partly because the team just hasn’t totally figured out its in-the-box/off-the-ball movement. The whole game they were lacking a far-post runner. That said, if you force all 11 opponents inside their own box in the first half…you are doing things right.
There’s a lot going on in this clip, but one of those things we have not seen in a while: disciplined movement off-the-ball to break down a set defense. Selfless runs to scramble the opponent. Espinoza streaking towards the endline with his head up.
Yueill is the personnel key to a ton of this: the dude just does not seem to tire and shapeshifts into a few different roles based on where the ball is on the pitch. This lets his teammates play off of him and set him up. Selfless runs like Ebobissie’s probably feel a little less selfless if you end them in the 6-yard-box making eye contact with Espinoza. It’s a little less hero ball and a little more virtuous cycle.
The tactical key is taking space decisively. Running to a spot to drag defenders away from where they want to be, ramping up disorientation. It’s a little less thrilling than the “11 guys in black and blue trying to dunk on their opponents, one possession at a time” of the 2019 Quakes, but it has a bit more repeatability. Starting, one hopes, with Wednesday’s Open Cup match.
