Finale loss mirrors Quakes' season
San Jose enters offseason in 'building mode' after losing record
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The Earthquakes' 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in both teams' regular season finale resembled the type of season San Jose had in 2009.
Injuries, miscues, missed opportunities, inconsistent play and perhaps plain bad luck contributed to a second consecutive season in the basement of the Western Conference standings.
It's a scenario San Jose thought would not be repeated after finishing its expansion year in 2008 with a feeling the team had begun to gel. Momentum was supposed to carry over to 2009.
San Jose entered the season finale with a 2-1-4 record in its past seven matches. That called for some celebration. Instead, the Earthquakes go into the offseason looking for answers after a 7-14-9 record with 30 points, three fewer than last year.
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It didn't help that the team was plagued by injuries.
"I really feel that there was a lot of momentum going into our second year," said Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon. "I still feel that this team mentally needs to be a little bit stronger and impose our will."
The Galaxy imposed their will against San Jose Saturday. More specifically, it was Landon Donovan making his presence felt.
A Donovan cross led to an own goal in the 24th minute, then he scored one in the 77th minute and nearly added another late in the match.
San Jose didn't have an answer for Donovan just how the Earthquakes didn't have an answer for turning things around completely this season.
Two months into the season the Earthquakes playoff chances were all but gone. For the second consecutive season team management had to rebuild the team.
The turnover perhaps hurt the squad the most. Cannon, Shea Salinas and Jason Hernandez were the only original players since the Earthquakes rejoined Major League Soccer last year.
That is something Cannon, head coach Frank Yallop and the rest of the team doesn't want to see happen again. "I think we need to keep hold of our core of guys that we have here and ended the season, especially the 12 last games," Cannon said. "I'm saying that, we obviously need something new, some new blood. For me to sit down and dissect this team is unfair. I think a lot of these guys gave their efforts."
Cannon said change must first come with accountability in the players.
"I didn't produce the way I'd like to have done this year. It's kind of a regret," he said. "There a lot of things I would have liked to have done differently both on and off the field. It's going to be a long off season, one that will stick in my head."
Yallop liked what his team showed in the second half of the season and also what the team showed against the Galaxy for the most part on Saturday.
He agrees with Cannon about keeping changes to a minimum. He said there is no real need for a big name player, such as David Beckham with the Galaxy. "We're in a different type of building mode," said Yallop, who coached the Galaxy in 2006 and 2007. "Expansion is never easy. Seattle has done a good job of getting off the ground but they have a different way of looking at it than we have. We want to go long term with all the stuff we have and do it slowly. We haven't put a ton of money into a lot of stuff. That's the way we want to do it."
Players will like to follow in what they call Yallop's blue-collar system, one that focuses on developing the talent it already has.
"We need a difference maker, like Landon," he said. "We have a good squad with five guys out but I still think we did OK. You'll see a better team next season."
Ivan Orozco is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
