Quakes upbeat as camp opens
Yesterday at the Oakland Coliseum, the San Jose Earthquakes opened their pre-season training camp, hoping for both a break in the weather and in the ongoing contract negotiations between the league and the MLS Players Union. The rain let up for the morning workout and we should know a lot more about the status of the talks by the end of the week — the existing collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Sunday — but the big questions about San Jose’s new acquisitions, Eduardo and Joey Gjertsen, went unanswered. Monday morning, as it turned out, was all about fitness; nary a ball was kicked.
First, a bit of catching up: As Center Line’s Jeff Carlisle noted last week, the Quakes have signed Joey Gjertsen, who last played with Montreal and Vancouver in the USL. He won USL MVP honors in ’06, the same season Vancouver won the league championship, and San Jose head coach Frank Yallop said yesterday that he can play either as a forward or a winger, so add Gjertsen’s name to the depth chart in the spot that used to say “Shea Salinas.”
The bigger signing is not yet official, but Brazilian Eduardo, who has played with FC Basel (Switzerland) and FC Toulouse (France), was also in camp yesterday, having agreed to terms with the team. Look for an official announcement once MLS is done with the paperwork; the Mercury News also has some details.
Both Robert Jonas and I were on hand for Center Line to talk with Yallop, GM John Doyle, Joe Cannon, Jason Hernandez, and new assistant coach Mark Watson. Look for additional stories later this week as well as a podcast featuring the full-length interviews.
Thanks Jay. The natives were starting to get restless with no centerlinesoccer.com report on the training camp. Hopefully the interview with Doyle will have an update on the other international signings he mentioned in previous interviews.
yeah baby!!!!!!!!! training camp is here and the season is just around the corner….here’s to some playoff action in 2010
GO QUAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Futbol Monkey, he mentioned an attacking/right sided mid and another forward, still to come. There’s going to be some fierce competition for roster spots with Cornell Glen healthy, RJ coming off a 12-goal season, Eduardo, new draft picks, etc. It should all benefit the team in the end.
Can’t wait for the season to start. I’m still saddened and frustrated by Salinas’ premature departure but I am feeling a little more hopeful that we can have a better season this year.
Go Quakes!
Eduardo looks to be a good signing. Lets hope that we can play to his strengh’s, lets go quakies
QUAKES 2010!!!
Hurray! Return of the podcast! The season can’t be far behind.
might the new CBA also allow for a slightly larger squad size as well?
tmack, Frank spoke a bit about the challenges of working with such a small roster but was noncommittal when I asked him whether he would welcome an increase in roster sizes due to a change in the CBA. Reading between the lines, I think he’d love to have more players under contract, but he’s not going to publicly say so during the negotiations.
thanks Jay….let’s hope that maybe 4 more spots are added to the roster…..perhaps 22 senior spots and 6 developmental spots in total….that,combined with a reasonable increase in the salary cap, would allow teams to have more mls-ready players available as well as have some spots to protect and nurture young talent
Not to mention that an increase in roster size would help MLS clubs that participate in the Champions League tournament.
Bear in mind that the league is still losing money. It’s easy for us to say: more roster spots! increase the minimum pay! raise the salary cap! — And of those are all good ideas. But it’s someone else’s money we are advocating spending. I am hoping for a swift and equitable resolution to the CBA, but as long as they get it done and there is no strike or lockout, that’s the main thing. — Our club in particular needs to focus on the task of getting better and not be distracted by these CBA negotiations.