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.

Thursday afternoon update

Yes, it’s another post for the blog today. And we thought two-a-days only happened in pre-season!

- Before we get to anything else, we want to let everyone know that the 1906 Ultras are sponsoring a road trip to the Earthquakes/Chivas USA match at Home Depot Center on August 23. The group has chartered a bus as well as discount seats in section 138, and total cost including game tickets and transportation is $70. If you’d like to have the 1906 Ultras experience but want to make your own transportation arrangements, you can do that, too. Full details are here. Make your reservations early — space is limited!

- We have confirmed with the Quakes that the trade of Ivan Guerrero was required in part to get the team down to the MLS mandated senior roster limit of 18 players, as we noted this morning. When the team acquired Arturo Alvarez, that pushed the number to 19, and with the sudden glut of left-sided players — Darren Huckerby, Alvarez, Ryan Johnson, and Guerrero all play left mid — Guerrero was the odd man out. It’s unfortunate, because he was universally admired as a model professional among the players and staff, but this was deemed to be the team’s best option at this time. (It did not help Guerrero’s cause that he was making so much money — $147,000, according to the MLS Players Union. That’s more than any MLS side can afford to pay a player who’s not in their starting eleven.)

- We mentioned last week that video from the Gary Radnich interview with Huckerby had garnered over 60,000 views on YouTube. Today, after a few days in the London Guardian newspaper’s list of “Our favourite things this week,” that total has nearly doubled and now stands at 118,380, due almost entirely to Radnich’s good-natured banter which was, sadly, also almost completely ignorant of anything factual about soccer.

Looking at the YouTube page now, most of the comments on the video criticize Radnich for his lack of knowledge and/or research. It’s too bad, then, that so few people will hear the following interview on KNBR from Brian Murphy of the Murph & Mac show. Our compliments to Murphy for conducting an informative, well-researched interview.

Kudos to Huckerby, too, for immediately recognizing the importance of Sunday’s match: “It’s a local derby, or as local as you’re going to get, so  I expect it’s going to be pretty intense.” That’s the spirit!

- There’s still no official comment from the Quakes about the potential acquisition of St. Vincent & the Grenadines international Marlon James. We’re hoping to have more information tomorrow — no promises, though.

From MSL to MLS?

We don’t know why people sometimes mix up “MLS” and turn it into “MSL,” but it’s a mistake we’ve heard more than once. (Usually from Britain, for some reason.) Turns out there is an MSL after all, though: the Malaysian Super League. And, as it turns out, it may soon have something in common with MLS, although we really have more questions than answers at this point.

Yesterday, The Star, a newspaper in Malaysia, reported that Marlon Alex James, the star forward for Kedah, a team that has dominated the MSL in recent years, wants to leave the team to join San Jose. (Kedah, by the way, is pronounced “k-DAH,” which sounds like a word Lieutenant Worf would have used to describe some obscure Klingon rite. But we digress.)

According to The Star, James said that he and teammate Cornelius Bernard Huggins “have received offers to play for San Jose Earthquakes … I have been offered a two-year contract and I have set my heart on a move and to take on a new challenge.”

Not long after that story appeared, this interview from what appears to be ESPN Malaysia appeared on YouTube, in which James reiterated his desire to leave Kedah as soon as possible for San Jose:

Kedah’s manager Azraai Khor responded quickly, telling ESPN Malaysia that he expected James to see out his contract, which runs through August 31.

So, what to make of it all? We haven’t been able to get the Quakes to comment on any of this but, since this is the Internet, we’re going to make a few guesses.

First off, when we interviewed Quakes GM John Doyle about a month ago, he mentioned that “we have people watching (Caribbean national team) matches that are sending us video on those guys,” and since both James and Huggins play for St. Vincent and Grenadines (the same nation of longtime MLS defender Ezra Hendrickson), it’s entirely possible that the team is aware of the players.

It’s easy to see why they would at least be interested in taking a closer look at James. During his time in Malaysia, the striker has racked up some serious numbers for Kedah. He topped the MSL scoring charts with 23 goals in 24 games during the 2007-08 season, as Kedah won the MSL championship for the second year running. In fact, Kedah has already won the Malaysian FA Cup this year, leaving the Malaysia Cup as the only trophy they need to complete a second consecutive treble.

His play looks pretty solid, too, as seen on this YouTube clip:

That’s a nice turn and shot to score on the half-volley. On the other hand, James’ Wikipedia entry lists him as 6′ 2″, and he looks to be much taller than most of his opponents, and that’s not going to be an advantage he would enjoy in MLS, where center backs routinely top the six foot mark.  While James scored against Canada last month in a World Cup qualifier, it was reported that the first time the two teams met, James “was stifled by Canada’s Adrian Serioux, allowing him little space throughout the match.” Serioux, currently with FC Dallas, has played for several seasons in MLS.

The final item in the “we’ll believe it when we see it” category is the fact that Huggins, who James claims has also been offered a deal in San Jose, is a 34-year-old central defender, which is not exactly a position where the Quakes are lacking depth. The fact that Huggins did not catch on in either MLS or the USL after spending 2003 with the USL-1 Virginia Beach Mariners also hurts the credibility of that claim.

In any case, the situation will have to resolve itself quickly, since the MLS transfer window closes on August 15. Kedah’s cooperation will be required as well, since James’ contract does not expire until the 31st, and the club is still in the running for their treble.

Time will tell. We’ll pass along new information as we get it.

Guerrero sent to DC United

The Washington Post’s Steven Goff is reporting that San Jose’s Ivan Guerrero has been acquired by DC United for a partial allocation. The move allows San Jose to meet MLS roster requirements after the acquisition of Arturo Alvarez from FC Dallas.

Guerrero, 30, made 13 starts and came off the bench once for the Quakes, spending time at both left back and left midfield.  His finest moment in blue and black came when he scored the game-winning goal against Houston at Buck Shaw Stadium on May 22.

The trade is also being reported on DC United’s official blog and on Soccer by Ives.

The greatest rivalry in MLS rumbles again

If there was ever any doubt about the biggest rivalry in American soccer, it looks like it was settled today, when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck Los Angeles. The LA Times reports that there “were no reports of major damage or injuries,” which leads us to believe that the damage from the Earthquakes won’t occur until Sunday, from roughly 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and it will be confined to an area sized roughly 110 yards by 72 yards in Oakland. There will be no fatalities, but we hope that personnel are standing by anyway to treat the bruised egos and crushed hopes of the Angelenos.

The big news today, however, is the arrival of another prodigal son. This time, it’s Arturo Alvarez, now in his sixth year in MLS at the ripe old age of 23. Since he left San Jose in 2005, he’s developed into a dangerous attacker. “When we drafted Alvarez, you saw flashes of what he’s doing (now) in maybe three plays a game,” Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop told Center Line Soccer’s Jeff Carlisle for a story we ran in May. “I think now he’s doing it for 90 minutes. I think he’s worked out what it takes to do well in this league. He plays simple when he needs to, but when he needs that bit of magic, he has it. He’s dangerous. I think he was excellent last year for Dallas — if not their best player, one of them.”

Alvarez had a breakout year in 2007, as you can see on this highlight reel that FC Dallas put together. (Special bonus: a soundtrack from The Hives.)

As for the trade itself, we’ve been told that it came together quickly on Monday and was not on the table when Kei Kamara was dealt to Houston last Thursday. That trade, which gave the Quakes additional allocation money as well as Houston’s first round pick in the 2009 SuperDraft, supplied the Quakes with the additional flexibility they needed to land Alvarez.

Alvarez has been listed as a forward on the Earthquakes’ roster, so it looks like Yallop’s intention is to play him up top. He told CLS in May that being closer to goal helps the youngster, noting “his assets are around the goal.” However, considering Yallop’s recent interest in trying out a 4-3-3, there’s no telling exactly where he may end up on the field when the Earthquakes hit Oakland on Sunday.

• • •

In other news, it may be the end of the line for former Earthquakes great Ronald Cerritos. San Jose’s all-time leading scorer, now 33, was released by Real Maryland FC (yes, even Maryland has royalty now), a USL-2 team.

Today, it’s pureed tomatoes with a touch of vinegar

Or, in other words, today we’re playing catch-up.

(Sorry about that. A few days off and we’re resorting to puns to kick off the blog. It’s a sad state of affairs.)

We’ll start by rewinding to Thursday, when the Quakes announced that the trade of Kei Kamara to Houston for a first-round pick in the 2009 SuperDraft and allocation money. From our perspective, this looks like a decent deal for both clubs. Kamara, despite some evidence to the contrary, is a player with some upside, and he’s going to fare a lot better in Houston, where he will not relied on for 90 minutes every week. To draw a comparison from baseball, when Tony La Russa managed the A’s, his rule for developing young players was to put  them in situations where they could succeed. It didn’t matter how small their role was — just give them a task they could accomplish so their confidence could grow. Out of necessity, the Quakes started Kamara at every opportunity, and he was clearly overwhelmed by the situation towards the end of his stay in San Jose. A fresh start will be good for him and, if it provides the Quakes with the means of acquiring another player, it will be good for San Jose, too. The draft is a crap shoot, allocation money can always come in handy.

On to Sunday against Los Toros Rojos. (Yes, we’re still avoiding use of the English version of their name because we’re not big fans of the whole “build your brand by naming your soccer team after your energy drink” thing.) Our match report is here, along with our photo gallery and Harvey Rañola’s video interview with Scott Sealy. We’ve also posted post-game audio from Frank Yallop and New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio and forward Juan Pablo Angel.

Our impressions of the match? Well, Darren Huckerby played like a Rockstar, Francisco Lima is starting to look like he could be a real Monster in the midfield,  and we loved how the Quakes came out Full Throttle after conceding the own goal, with a display of Relentless attacking. Sealy demonstrated some speed, too — he can go, and Go Fast. Aside from not bringing home all three points, we really got a Kick out of yesterday’s performance.

Here’s the rest of the press roundup for today:

- MLSnet has a match report and post-game piece from our own Pete Ratajczak, as well as video highlights.
- The Mercury News and San Mateo Daily Journal have match reports as well. Our compliments to the Daily Journal’s Michael Erler for working in a Martin Heidegger reference, thereby bridging the gap between soccer and 20th century existentialist thought. We await his essay analyzing Yallop’s  team building and player acquisition strategies vis-a-vis Hegel’s dialectics.

This week’s trialist, college combine, extra time in Canada

Greetings to All-Star Thursday here on the solar-powered soccer blog, where we’re waiting for the mid-summer schmoozefest to be over so that the Quakes can get back on the field for chapter two of the Huckerby/Lima/Sealy era.

Speaking of Sealy, be sure to check out the interview we posted yesterday, in which he divulges that he’s already had two offers to leave MLS at the end of the year. (Don’t panic yet — he hasn’t made any decisions about his future.)

• • •

We had a chance to speak with Quakes coach Frank Yallop, and he gave a thumbs up to the debut performances of his trio of new signings. He was pleased with Francisco Lima’s calming influence on the midfield and his distribution, and thought he would mesh well there with Ramiro Corrales. He also liked what he saw from Darren Huckerby, who managed to threaten Toronto’s nets even though BMO Field’s slick plastic turf hindered his game. Yallop also thought Sealy had done well, especially considering his opportunity to get to know his new teammates consisted of “shaking their hands at the stadium before the match.”

Yallop may not be done with this summer’s player moves, however. Although he defended the performance of his forwards, noting that the team as a whole hasn’t been creating enough opportunities, he did express a desire to bring in one more striker before all is said and done.

• • •

Speaking of new players, the Quakes are holding an invitation-only player combine this week with college seniors. The first session was yesterday afternoon, with another to follow today.

There’s also a new trialist in town, former  Leicester City, Reading and Brentford right winger Paul Brooker. Brooker, 31, has been without a club for almost a year and plays a position where the Quakes have quite a bit of depth, so his work is cut out for him if he is going to win a spot on the team.

• • •

Finally, we’re going to be away from the Internet for a couple days, so things may get a bit quiet around here until Sunday. If you spot any interesting Quakes-related news items to share, please post them in the comment section below.

See you at Buck Shaw and remember to bring that sunscreen — it’s a 12:00 start.

Slow news day in Norwich?

If you watch Gary Radnich’s interview with Darren Huckerby, conducted the same day the new Quake was presented to the press last week, there’s not much to it. It’s pretty typical stuff from Radnich — he clowns around with Huckerby, his staff at KRON, and pretty much anyone else he can think of. He keeps it light and playful, which is the style he brings to everything. He’s not particularly well informed about soccer, the geography of England, or the pronunciation of “Ronaldinho,” but that’s not exactly atypical among local TV hosts. Radnich is essentially the Huell Howser of Bay Area sports — you can laugh at him if you like, but he’s really all about getting you to laugh along with him.

The interview is apparently big news back in Norwich, however, where two newspaper articles have focused on it in recent days, driving the traffic to the YouTube clip linked above to over 60,000 views. First, the Norwich Evening News ran a story Monday focusing on the interview and the reaction of Quakes fans over on BigSoccer. (It’s never a good sign when reporters resort to posting reactions from Internet message boards, particularly if they use people’s screen names. If you’re ever reading a news story and see a quote like, “‘In my professional opinion, Dr. Montgomery’s behavior was innappropriate,’ writes poster BigStudWithTheLadies2007,” run the other way as quickly as possible.)

Today, the Evening News‘ story is followed up by another, this one in a competing publication, The Advertiser. The new article essentially repackages the points made in the Evening News story but skips the BigSoccer commentary. Wow — there really must not be much happening in Norwich right now.

Kudos to Huckerby, by the way, for playing along with Radnich in the interview. Here’s our favorite part of the exchange:

Radnich: Are you a married man? Do you have a famous girlfriend that we can help promote?

Huckerby: Not really, no. I’m married but she’s not a pop singer, so — it’s too late for her, she’s too old. 

That little bit cracked them both up, and we’re impressed that Huckerby is witty enough to ad lib something like that, and humble enough to poke a little fun at himself and his spouse. The ability to crack up your teammates can be a great trick for improving team chemistry, so it may be a good sign for the Quakes, too.

The most important part of the interview, though, as wife of blog just mentioned here in blog headquarters, is that Radnich said at the end that Huckerby “seems like a nice guy.” Mainstream Bay Area sports fans like Radnich, so getting the Radnich seal of approval is a good first step towards being accepted by mainstream Bay Area sports fans. When you’re trying to grow a franchise, that’s not a bad thing at all.

Trouble in Tinseltown?

Today’s soccer spotlight falls on the humble community some 400 miles to our south, an anonymous burg of nearly 13 million souls known predominantly for its utter inability to promote itself or its inhabitants in any way. (Apparently, we got out of bed on the sarcastic side this morning.)

Anyway, the Galaxy has cut loose veteran defender Abel Xavier and he is not particularly pleased about it, as he has been all too happy to share with both Steven Goff of the Washington Post’s Soccer Insider blog and  Goal.com’s Kyle McCarthy. Xavier is particularly critical of Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit.

Xavier told Goff that Gullit “doesn’t respect the players, he doesn’t communicate with the players. He never wants to listen to the players. It’s a bad environment. He doesn’t like players with personality. The players are afraid to speak out because, for most of them, their jobs are not guaranteed. They are afraid of losing their jobs. … Look at Carlos Ruiz: One week Ruud Gullit wants to trade him and the next week he wants to be his best friend. … With all the friction between the coach and the players, how can you have a healthy environment?”

Xavier shared similar criticisms with Goal.com’s McCarthy. “I admired (Gullit) as a player, but I do not admire him as a coach. The way he conducts himself, his lack of ability to communicate with players and his way of developing the team shows a lack of respect. … When we win, he praises himself. When we lose, he blames the players. …They don’t fight for him and they don’t believe in him.”

On the surface, Xavier’s gripes could be dismissed as sour grapes, but many of the observations he shares with McCarthy paint the former Portugal international is an insightful observer of MLS and American soccer:

“The American mentality is great,” Xavier said. “Players want to learn and they want to work. The players always want to play and back the coach. You don’t scream at young players. You’ll kill their confidence. You should show them what to do with the correct language. Before you are a football player, you are a man. You need to be respectful.”

Xavier thinks the American mentality requires a different style of man-management… building team spirit while on the training pitch and cultivating mutual respect.

“MLS is different than Europe,” Xavier said. “You need to integrate with the team. You need to be part of the players and listen to what they say. You need to create a group relationship, especially amongst the experienced players, and he doesn’t do that.”

Interesting. In fact, after reading that last little bit, it sounds to us like Xavier’s biggest criticism of Gullit is that he’s not Frank Yallop. (Or that Ruud is, well, rude.)

In any case, it’s an odd move for another reason. On July 1, MLS contracts were guaranteed for the rest of the season, which means that teams are responsible for a player’s full annual salary after that deadline passes, so the Galaxy gets no salary cap relief from dumping Xavier.

Ah, chaos in L.A. Couldn’t happen to a nicer team.

• • •

There is one thing that’s working in L.A., and that’s David Beckham. The New York Post, icon of excellence in journalism (ow, there’s that sarcasm again), today reports some of the financial benefits that Beckham has brought to both the Galaxy and the league:

The Galaxy sold an astounding 300,000 Beckham jerseys last year, Garber pointing out “That’s more than Derek Jeter, more than Reggie Bush.” As a matter of fact, that’s more than any athlete on the planet. For perspective, Reebok confirmed that jersey sales for NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were in the 75-80,000 range.

“I think at this point it’s probably around the half-million mark, which is great for us and great for the league,” said Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas.

Let’s see — a half-million jerseys at $80 each — $40 million. That’s not the net profit, of course, but it probably helps out the bottom line quite a bit.

• • •

In other news, one of the Quakes’ supporters groups, the 1906 Ultras, have launched a spiffy new web site.  You can also find them in Section 111 at Buck Shaw. Nice job, guys!

Finally, Quakes’ midfielder/defender Kelly Gray has a new column up at Goal.com, talking about the team’s three new signings.

One more from the road

If you don’t have them already, we’ll say it now: buy your tickets now for next Sunday’s Buck Shaw Stadium match between the Earthquakes and Los Toros Rojos de Nueva York, because you’re going to want to be there, at least if our own anticipation is any sort of barometer of life on planet Earthquakes. The Quakes brought home a point from Toronto’s BMO Field yesterday, the toughest venue in MLS, but they are also bringing back a lot of reasons to look forward to next week’s match, the first in a three-game homestand.

We’ll start with the play of the team’s trio of newcomers: Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, and Scott Sealy. None of them have had more than a handful of practice sessions with their new teammates and despite that, all of them made significant contributions yesterday.

We’ll go alphabetically and start with Huckerby. Despite the fact that he has had a total of three training sessions since leaving Norwich City in May, he got behind the Toronto defense twice, forcing a diving save and panicked collision between goalkeeper Greg Sutton and defender Tyrone Marshall with the first opportunity and winning a dangerous free kick on the second, when Marvell Wynne had to chase him down from behind. Not bad for a guy who is probably still trying to memorize his teammates’ names. It’s also worth noting that Huckerby made an impact despite the fact that BMO Field’s artificial turf, dampened by a rainstorm earlier in the day, made it impossible to play balls into the corner for him to run onto — the field was so slick that nothing hit hard enough to get to those spots remained in play. That’s a big weapon in the arsenal of any speedy winger, and we’re looking forward to seeing it in action on the grassy, billiard table-flat surface at Buck Shaw.

Lima’s primary contribution yesterday was mental, with the utterly unflappable confidence he brought to the team’s midfield. We’re not sure how to describe it, actually, but the man has a presence out there that inspires confidence, an aura that says, “You can depend on me.” Considering the lack of confidence that the team has shown at times this year, this is exactly the kind of influence that is needed. We look forward to seeing him really taking charge out there once he’s more familiar with the team and the league, because he looked solid yesterday even though he was playing very cautiously.

As for Sealy, he also played with confidence, which is something the team has been missing. That’s no slight on Kei Kamara or Ryan Johnson, by the way — neither one of them are proven quantities in MLS. Sealy has scored 28 goals in this league, led his team in scoring, and was a finalist for rookie of the year back in 2005. He’s not going out on the field wondering if he’s good enough — that question has been answered — he’s going out there to score. Were it not for a deflection by Marco Velez, he may well have done that in the dying moments of the match yesterday. Given a bit of time to get to know his teammates, he’s going to score some goals for San Jose.

What else is there to look forward to? We noticed yesterday that the Quakes’ attack has added several dimensions. Previously, teams could key on Ronnie O’Brien and pretty much ignore everyone else. Yesterday, with Lima locking down the defensive midfield, Ramiro Corrales was able to get forward a bit more, and it was his through balls that set up Huckerby’s chances. With O’Brien and Huckerby attacking on either wing, defenses will have a lot more to think about from here on out. (And we’re willing to bet Lima has some attacking skills we haven’t seen yet, too.)

The defense was solid, as has typically been the case this year. Kudos to Joe Cannon once again for saving a PK that resulted from one of the worst decisions we’ve seen by a referee all year.

The big question, of course, is whether or not the team can put together a run that wins them a playoff berth. They’ve taken nine points in 11 matches on the road, a pretty solid record, and teams in the Western Conference continue to leave the door open for a late-season surge by San Jose — Colorado, Salt Lake, Dallas, and L.A. all tied yesterday, too. A win next week will start to make things very interesting.

On to the post-game press wrap-up:

-  Match reports, match reports, git yer match reports: MLSnet.com, Mercury News, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, CBC Sports, National Post.

- Post-game color can be found on MLSnet.com,  from Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Ben Knight, from sportsnet.ca columnist Ryan Johnston, from the CBC, and in the National Post.

- Video highlights are here.

« Previous Page — Next Page »