A report from Friday’s practice

With all the changes to the side in the last few weeks, you almost need a roster sheet to keep track of the guys who are suiting up with the Quakes for training these days. Actually, scratch the “almost” — a new roster sheet would have been helpful today.

Since July 15 and the opening of the transfer window, the team has added Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, Scott Sealy, and Arturo Alvarez, all of whom were playing with the first team in today’s scrimmage. That’s only the beginning of the changes, though. Huckerby and Alvarez played both at midfield and forward. Ronnie O’Brien played both centrally and on the right wing. Ramiro Corrales spent time in his customary spot in central midfield and also at left back. So, while coach Frank Yallop has more talent available to him now than at any other time this season, things are definitely in a state of flux.

On the bright side, this is the first full week of practice with the Quakes for Huckerby and Lima. After the Toronto FC match, both players remained in Canada for most of last week, getting their paperwork together at U.S. consulates. Huckerby’s game depends a lot on speed and timing, so his integration into the side will depend somewhat on his teammates’ ability to hit him with precisely-timed passes. Fortunately for the Englishman, his speed and dribbling ability means he can create his own space on the field, and those skills were on display a number of times today.

As for Lima, the man is coming on quickly now. It wasn’t on display too much in his first two matches with the Quakes, but it showed today that he can exert a great deal of control over the midfield. He’s got the personality of the prototypical d-mid — part terrier, part hard man, but with good skill on the ball, too — and he’s starting to show why he played that role at Roma just a few years ago. He was extremely vocal on Friday, leading a charging counterattack and shouting to his teammates. Never mind that he doesn’t speak much English — when he shouted, “¡Vámonos!,” everyone knew what he meant.

There were other new faces as well. The Quakes signed Spaniard Mikel Arce to a developmental contract today, and the 6′ 3″ forward was there, along with two trialists: Sanna Nyassi, the twin brother of New England’s Sainey Nyassi, and a 19-year-old German midfielder whose name was not available.

As for the mystery man of Malaysia, forward Marlon Alex James, Yallop indicated that yes, the team was interested in him, but nothing had been resolved as of this morning. The coach spoke to the press after practice — be sure to check out the audio here.