There is an assumption in the modern American soccer landscape that new, young, foreign soccer is better. It’s an assumption that Chris Wondolowski battles every time he steps on the field for the San Jose Earthquakes, and it’s an assumption that got the better of him Saturday night when he was benched against the Houston Dynamo.
That assumption often has its merits but San Jose’s insipid 2-2 draw with Houston was a counterpoint. In Wondo’s absence, Mikael Stahre’s starting eleven reflected the club’s conscious effort to promote youth. The longest-tenured Quakes player in the eleven was 2015 Draftee Fatai Alashe and, for the first time since 1999, not a single San Jose starter was over the age of the thirty. The lineup was also majority-foreign.
And yet, the Quakes’ performance was poor. Mikael Stahre’s new 4-3-3 formation was designed to help the team build out of the back and optimize the talents of Vako, Magnus Eriksson, and Danny Hoesen up top, but on Saturday night it seemed to have the opposite effect. The extra midfielder crowded the space in the channels and without Wondolowski, Hoesen looked isolated.
Without Wondolowski, everyone was left frustrated. Said Stahre: “We are really disappointed to play 2-2 at home; we have to win these kinds of games.”
Although Magnus Eriksson’s low curler gave the Quakes a first-half lead, the home side were uninspiring in the first half. “I think it was a frustrating night for us,” said Hoesen. “We wanted to have more possession and added one midfielder to keep the ball more and also have that extra midfielder in defense. I think Houston did a good job to keep us under pressure so it was impossible to build-up properly.”
As a lone forward, Hoesen needed more support from the midfield but was left wanting. “[Without Wondo] it’s a little bit easier for the defenders because they can mark me with two,” the Dutchman said. “But coach wanted the extra midfielder and if we keep possession and we attack a lot, then it’s fine because you can make your own runs and create your own space. In games like this, sometimes you feel isolated.”
Defensively, the Quakes were sloppy. While Stahre noted his team had “really, really good energy” in the locker room at halftime, it didn’t translate on the field as the Quakes allowed two poor goals near the beginning of the second period. Troublingly, it was the third consecutive game the Quakes had lost a halftime lead, which hints at a mental susceptibility.
“Soccer is also a mental game, when you concede two goals really fast,” said Stahre. “We must handle that in the future, for sure. It’s not just about the technical and tactical things, it’s about the mental thing and that’s not easy to just switch.”
Only Jahmir Hyka’s late equalizer, deflected into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area, mitigated the disaster.
Stare was coy about his tactical changes after the match but it was telling that he reverted to a 4-4-2 as the Quakes were chasing the match. “We were in big, big, big trouble at that point,” he said. “We made some changes and it was a little bit better in the end. It was an important goal from Hyka.”
Hyka had been introduced as a second-half substitute with Wondolowski, whose energy and leadership helped reorient San Jose’s front line. “It was definitely different, another way to prepare,” the captain said of his new role.
He was, of course, ever the professional. “It’s part of the game,” he said. “We wanted to make a tactical change, we wanted to add another guy in the midfield and try to possess it. It’s something we’ve been really trying to work on, building up our possession into the final third. Coach talked to me about that and that’s the role he asked me to play.”
If anything, though, the performance in Wondolowski’s absence showed just how much the Quakes still rely on their captain.
PHOTO: ISI
