Tuesday Training recap…

Not much to report here. Except for the trialist at right back.

His name is Chris Williams and he is a 24-year-old freshman at Holy Names University in nearby Oakland (and before people start contacting the NCAA Rules Compliance Department, Holy Names is an NAIA school, which allows this sort of thing.) Normally I wouldn’t bother communicating this, but the guy looked pretty good. He’s not the quickest, but he serves a good ball. He is originally from Wales.

Another trialist present was Lars Lyssand, who some may remember as a San Jose State product who was cut from the Quakes back in 2002, and has bounced around several USL-1 clubs since, most recently with Puerto Rico in 2007.

Yallop made a quick getaway from practice before I could talk to him, so I’ll try to gauge his level of interest after the Cal game on Wednesday.

Aki Riihilahti was there and participated in the full gamut of drills and scrimmages. I’d say he looked okay, but then again, he hasn’t even been in the country a week. We’ll see how he looks in the upcoming practice games. (And if you’re wondering why I didn’t try to get an interview with him, he is not being made available until his deal is approved by MLS and his signing made official.)

Bobby Convey is not in town. Still. Apparently he is going to meet the team in L.A. next week and then come up to San Jose. I guess he is determined to avoid the crush of journalists eagerly awaiting his arrival (which today consisted of me and…nobody else.)

So who looked good? Johnson, Salinas, and Somma all caught the eye. Huckerby did as well, although he did complain of a sore knee afterwards. Didn’t look serious though. Jason Hernandez seems to be getting closer to full fitness.

Ryan Cochrane did practice but then hobbled off towards the end. His ankle looks to be bothering him still.

Nick Garcia did not train at all. No word as to why.