I thought it might be fun to put together a model 2019 roster for the beginning of the Matías Almeyda era, where I simulate the offseason as if I were Jesse Fioranelli, to give you an idea of what the…
A Statement of Intent
My word. Matias Almeyda is a massive, massive hire for the San Jose Earthquakes, no ifs ands or buts about it. All coaches have weaknesses and failures, but Almeyda’s are at a level so far above where the Quakes are…
Player Stats Analysis: End-of-Season Edition
Earlier this year I looked through some statistics (both the advanced sort and the simplistic “counting” sort) to get an idea of whether or not my subjective impressions were on point. I take no pleasure in reporting that my doubts…
Tactical Masterclass? Tactical Masterclass.
I don’t care that the standings record that game as a loss. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the heart-pumping joy I got from watching this unburdened Quakes team negate and outplay Atlanta for 70 minutes before, as…
How to get out of this mess:
The San Jose Earthquakes finally parted ways with Coach Mikael Stahre, who managed the second-worst PPG of any coach in MLS history en route to not even making it through the first season of his three year, $1.2 million contract.…
Homegrown Prospectus (Summer 2018)
The San Jose Earthquakes, in the space of a year, went from just one homegrown signing to five. That development is a welcome one, considering that aside from all the positive feeling that developing local talent generates, it also allows…
Quakes Make Several Roster Moves
MLS roster rules can be arcane (available here), so clubs need a competent front office to navigate those issues in order to put the best possible product on the field. With the acquisition of Guram Kashia and the extension of…
Reno Midseason Affiliate Report
I’ve watched quite a bit of Reno 1868 lately, probably due to a combination of the fact every game is available on ESPN+ and the fact that the team is incomparably more successful than its senior affiliate (having just finished…
Early Season Statistical Observations
Sports analytics don’t tell the whole story, particularly in soccer, a game that is notoriously hard to quantify, with 11 players on each team, low sample size of successes (goals), and about a million confounding variables. I do, however, like…
Quick Salary Report Thoughts
It’s my favorite time of year: the MLS Players Union salary guide release day! I thought I would put down a couple thoughts about what we learned about the San Jose Earthquakes based on this release: I had previously estimated…