It’s obviously difficult for a foreign coach to adapt to Major League Soccer, but it shouldn’t be this hard.
After three games, Matias Almeyda is without a win as the new head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes, and a 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday called into question the viability of his tactical vision.
The Argentine coach has implemented an aggressive man-marking scheme in defense, a system that yielded fantastic success for him at Chivas. Yet San Jose aren’t Chivas, and the man-marking setup has thus far cost the Quakes dearly.
The system demands diligence, extreme fitness, and excellent one-versus-one defending, but the Quakes have shown none of those traits over a sustained ninety minutes.
Off-season addition Judson is a stopgap in the midfield, winning tackles and covering ground after others have been beaten. In the back-line, center-defender Guram Kashia has been solid once again this year.
Otherwise, San Jose’s back-line has been shambolic. Panamanian center-back Harold Cummings lacks pace and remains vulnerable to the long ball in behind. He has also failed to leverage his main attribute: his size. In a 3-0 loss to Minnesota United last weekend, he ducked out of a late header and allowed an own goal that effectively ended the game.
New left-back Marcos Lopez has also been error-prone, and Almeyda’s system has exacerbated these mistakes because man-marking offers scant cover when players are beaten one-on-one. While Lopez has shown promise building out of the back, he has been too eager to push forward and is often caught out — as was the case when the Quakes allowed an early goal against Seattle in preseason. Similarly, Lopez dove into a challenge in the build-up to New York’s second goal last weekend.
He has also made other costly mistakes that can be attributed to his youthful inexperience: conceding a hand-ball penalty early in the second half against Minnesota and failing to track his runner in New York’s third goal. Where Almeyda’s man-marking scheme required diligence, Lopez has been inconsistent.
Almeyda, for his part, acknowledged that the Quakes need to minimize their errors after their loss against the Red Bulls. “Of the nine goals we’ve conceded, I don’t think a single one was the strength of our rivals. It was more of our mistakes,” he said.
Had he not considered that his man-marking system compounds such errors? Or that a squad that yielded historically bad results last season would be prone to mistakes?
Almeyda knew that he inherited a team with the second-worst defensive record in MLS; it should be no wonder that they’ve struggled to adopt a tactically demanding and mentally taxing defensive setup. If not for a strong start from new goalkeeper Daniel Vega, San Jose could be even worse off right now.
It’s true, though, that Almeyda couldn’t have accounted for Nick Lima’s surprisingly poor form. Although Lima was voted San Jose’s defensive MVP last season and recently impressed for the US national team, he’s been personally at fault for four goals so far this season: in preseason, he was beaten down the line in the buildup to Seattle’s second goal; against Montreal, he lost his man at the far post and cost San Jose the decisive goal; versus Minnesota, he failed to stop a quick breakaway that led to Minnesota’s second; finally, he shut off against the Red Bulls and allowed Alex Muyl convert New York’s second with an unmarked run at the far post — a simple lack of effort, and easily the worst of his errors. He was promptly substituted.
Having missed a large part of preseason for the USMNT training camp, Lima very clearly needs more time to adapt to Almeyda’s system. Almeyda’s man-management hasn’t seemed to help, though. Lima has been the first substitute in every match so far, and it’s not difficult to imagine that such rotation has had an impact on his confidence. It’s hard to say if, at this point, he’s being substituted because he’s struggling or if he’s struggling because he’s being substituted.
There have no doubt been periods when the man-marking system showed promise. In the first half against both Minnesota and New York, the Quakes kept their opponents off the scoreboard. But it has been unsustainable: in both games, they played with significantly less energy as their legs grew tired in the second half, hemorrhaging goals.
And even if the squad drastically improves their fitness and reduce their errors, it’s unclear how the Quakes stand to benefit from the man-marking scheme in the first place. In preseason, Guram Kashia suggested that the system was supposed to help the Quakes win the ball in dangerous positions, but the Quakes haven’t looked to make quick transitions so far this season.
So the question stands: is the man-marking system the best way forward for the Quakes?
It’s not time to panic just yet, but Almeyda should definitely reevaluate his defensive setup over the international break.
