This week’s trialist, college combine, extra time in Canada
By Jay Hipps · July 24, 2008
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.)
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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.
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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.
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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.
I like Yallops way of pressuring his players to produce or else. He praises them but then hold tryouts and invites Booker to try out, which puts pressure on O’Brien. No job is safe.
You stepped away from the internet too soon, Jay! Kamara’s just been traded to the Dynamo for the proverbial “allocation money and draft choices.” I’m one of the admittedly few that will be sad to see Kei go; always thought he battled hard for the colors, even when the results weren’t quite there. But at least he’s heading to ex-Quakes land, in Houston. Hopefully this will lead to another signing by the Quakes?
Quakes Swap Kamara For Pick
http://sjearthquakes.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080724&content_id=175415&vkey=news_sje&fext=.jsp&team=t110
good, kei is gone. sorry but at his age that’s as good as is gets for him. good move. at this point i rather give salinas minutes, which he won’t do worse than kei, that’s for sure.
Another excellent move by Doyle and Yallop… Good work guys. Did you get Dom drunk and slip this trade by? The Quakes essentially got back what they paid for Ronnie O’Brien. That’s unbelievable!
Thanks to Bigsoccer’s Sko16 for this link where Kamara is quoted:
“The problem with my team for being at the bottom of the league table is on the midfield. Our midfield is very weak. The production to us, the forwards, is not there. The production is so bad, that’s why I am not getting in front of goals. And I’m not happy about that,”
…”maybe it’s also time for me to be selfish and just start using my skill and dribbling couple of people to go and get a goal.”
Read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/200807230894.html