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SAN JOSE – The Matias Almeyda coaching debut was not exactly a flop.
But the Major League Soccer opener this weekend underscored how much work it will take Almeyda and the Earthquakes to join the playoff conversation.
After all the optimism San Jose created in the offseason by hiring the 2018 CONCACAF coach of the year and signing four new starters, the result Saturday night looked a lot like last year when the team suffered a historically bad season.
The season-opening 2-1 defeat to the Montreal Impact at Avaya Stadium exposed shortcomings in a challenging new defense Almeyda has implemented.
“We are trying to really adjust, and it will take him some time,” defender Guram Kashia said. “It’s not like (there’s a) magic stick and everything will change in two or three games. Because we need to make mistakes to learn, and we are in that process right now.”
Is there time for a team that has made only three playoff appearances in 11 years?
The Quakes play four of their first five games at home where they need to pile up points to have any chance of success after a league-worst 4-21-9 record a year ago.
Almeyda, who came from famed Mexican club Chivas of Guadalajara, is asking a team that struggled mightily on defense the past two years to “man mark” across the field.
Kashia, a veteran from the Republic of Georgia, said players had film study for 60 minutes to 90 minutes a day last week, watching about 40 different clips from the last preseason game.
“It’s so much information, and we are soccer players,” he said. “We’re not the most intelligent athletes in the sports world. We’re trying to take all the information and bring it on the field, but it’s not that easy. He demands a lot of focus and attention, and you can see the last 15 minutes of the first half we kind of got distracted.”
Indeed, despite the changes in personnel, the opener at a less-than-full Avaya resembled many of last year’s results – an early lead for the Quakes, followed by defensive breakdowns and the inability to mount a late comeback.
Because of what happened against the Impact, Kashia estimated the team will watch 50 clips this week to prepare for visiting Minnesota FC, which comes to town Saturday.
The tying goal came from Ignacio Piatti in the 29th minute when he was unmarked in the six-yard box after a corner kick. Saphir Taider’s game-winner in the 44th minute was the result of allowing fullback Zakaria Diallo too much time and space to deliver a pinpoint serve.
Almeyda talked about the big picture despite those defensive breakdowns.
“No adverse results will ever leave me satisfied, but I don’t live life being stuck on a result,” the Argentine said through a translator. “They had two distractions; the rival’s two goals from which we can correct ourselves. As the game went on, our team was competitive, a team fighting for possession, a team that pressured.”
The new starters – goalie Mario Vega (one save), left back Marcos Lopez and midfielders Judson and Cristian Espinoza – played the full game. Two returners, Magnus Eriksson and designated player Vako Qazaishvili, combined for the first goal while playing slightly new positions. Vako, playing on the left, fed Eriksson, who took a more central position to score in the 11th minute.
But overall, the Quakes were not good enough to hold a lead at home against a team that missed the playoffs last season.
“It’s going to be an evolving process throughout the year,” captain Chris Wondolowski said. “We don’t want to be peaking in three weeks. We want to be peaking in 30 weeks.”
Wondolowski, 36, will have to wait to join U.S. star Landon Donovan as MLS’ all-time leading scorer. He remains one behind Donovan’s 145 career goals after being held to one late shot Saturday night.
Montreal clogged the middle of the field and sat deep, waiting for the chance to counter while leaving little space for San Jose forwards to operate.
“We’re still very optimistic,” Wondolowski said. “To a man, we want a game tomorrow. We want to be out there again and right the ship. I can honestly say that was not the case last year — it was, “Let’s lick our wounds, try to recover, go back to the drawing board.” Now it’s like, “All right we have it, let’s execute it, let’s go get this done.”
That said, Almeyda and the players acknowledged that a more positive atmosphere won’t mean much without the results. Even last year’s squad, the worst in team history, won its opener. And there’s only so much time the Quakes have to learn the system before they find themselves too far back to make a playoff push.
“Tonight, I won’t be able to sleep,” Almeyda said. “I’m going to watch the game three or four times. But there is a light that is coming, and we’ll have to turn over and work, that’s the only way to get out of this situation.”
