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The Basics
San Jose Earthquakes
9-3-2, 28 pts., 14 GP; 31 gf, 14 ga (+17); home 4-2-1, away 5-1-1
Last 10 Results: WWWWWWDDLL (6-2-2)
Strength/Location of Schedule
@ VAN (1-0 W); v SD (3-0 W); @ SKC (3-1 W); @ LAFC (4-1 W); v ATX (5-1 W); @ STL (3-2 W); @ TFC (1-1 D); v VAN (1-1 D); @ SEA (2-3 L); v FCD (2-3 L);
I made the personally unsettling decision to track only the past ten games for every team in Major League Soccer (literally killing me), but for anyone who forgot the San Jose Earthquakes conceded one single goal over their first six games (versus Seattle Sounders; hold that thought). Even after the surrendered their second goal, then third, then fourth, then they allowed two after that, etc., it took to the beginning of (fucking) May for San Jose to draw its next game of 2026. In the words of the great philosopher, Gwen Stefani, that shit is bananas for the team that traded Cristian Espinoza to Nashville SC and doesn’t have any other player that would make most people’s short list for league-elite players.
When they picked up their second loss of the season at Seattle, nobody blinked because why would you? They were 10-1-0 at the time, San Jose was bound to slip up at some point, so why not again a Sounders that both started strong and beat them previously? Even that was tricky – e.g., they started a sacrificial lineup and gave up two shit goals, but the first shit goal (midfield where?) – which tied the score – came after Ousseni Bouda and Preston Judd came into the game. Judd returned the game to 2-2 with his ninth(!) goal of 2026, but Seattle scored the winner (also not good; defenders where?) after Beau Leroux and the experienced Paul Marie came in to solidify the defense. And then came last weekend versus FC Dallas...
The video review for this post included the highlights for the draw at Toronto (where the ‘Quakes almost saw the game slip away twice, despite having a case for the better game) and Seattle (where their B-team held strong against a visibly better Seattle team), but I only put in real time on the home loss to Dallas. The second act of Samuel Sarver’s goal celebration made that a famous result (his first celebration was the scuba-diver bit made famous by…gawd, was that Roger Levesque?), but the most compelling and relevant detail from that game came from the way Dallas went at San Jose from the jump. It started with (yet another) shit goal – scored off a giveaway and smartly shot home by Partrickson Delgado – but Dallas squeezed sweat out of San Jose’s midfield and defense all the way up to Leroux’s holy-shit equalizer and a few minutes beyond. The rest of the game doesn’t matter so much – e.g., Petar Musa did his thing to lift Dallas back into the lead, and San Jose’s Reid Roberts equalized for San Jose again off a real bumbler (literally bounced off and in) – but, again, one thing really stood out: Dallas squeezed San Jose from Roberts’ equalizer to Sarver’s winner. And that’s enough to make one dream up possibilities…
The ‘Quakes top the Timbers by a fair margin in any large measure I can name; moreover, they’ll roll into Providence Park tomorrow with a 5-1-1 road record – and you can see the two real ones they won in The Basics. You can also see they’ve averaged 2.0 goals allowed/game over their past five games, at which point it’s fine to ask just what in the exact hell is going on with them. Has something actually slipped, or would Timbers fans do better to see the Dallas win through the same “shit happens” lens as the road loss at Seattle? To sharpen the question, has anything changed?
Not the lineup, that’s for sure: Bruce Arena (still going! and what did he say?! I need this, if just for closure!) consistently sets up his team in a 4-2-3-1. The heart of the ‘Quakes defense has been rock steady, with Daniel always in goal and Daniel Munie with the generally(?) impressive second-year Roberts starting every time. Leroux and newcomer Ronaldo Vieira have started just one or two fewer games – until recently at least (hold that thought) – and the same has held for fullbacks Benjamin Kikanovic and Jamar Ricketts (to a lesser extent) and both Bouda (five goals, three assists) and Judd have been whole, healthy and effective for most of the season. With spot exceptions here and there, Bruce has had something close to his best roster available for most of the season…but that doesn’t mean all has gone according to plan.
The ‘Quakes probably gambled more than I understood when now and former German star Timo Werner joined the team. As with most gambles, that deal broke both ways – i.e., they get great (and smooth) production out of Werner when he’s available (four goals, five assists; the latter is more impressive), but he has a total of 455 minutes on the season and hasn’t started in weeks. Between playing twice Werner’s minutes and an outsized number of helpers (seven, plus two goals for a tip) Niko Tsarkiris may actually be the greater loss. Having neither player available appears to have taken a fair chunk of attacking brain off the field for San Jose and, as I read it, Arena’s doing some serious button mashing to paper over the absences – e.g., Leroux as an (apparent) playmaker versus Dallas and just throwing shit at the wall in the U.S. Open Cup loss at a full-strength Colorado.
I don’t know either Tsarkiris’ or Werner’s status, but either one will turn up the heat on the Timbers defense if and whenever they come on. Ricketts, another recent scratch, came back for the Open Cup loss at Colorado and went the distance and Leroux has been available, even if they’ve had to turn him around. Bottom line, I’d expect the spine to be there – e.g., Daniel, Roberts and Munie, plus Vieira and Leroux or, worst case, Ian Harkes – along with fullbacks Kikanovic and Ricketts, Bouda wide in the three and Judd up top. Even counting recent slips, that has been a sturdy lineup - i.e., sure they haven't won in four, but they haven't played an easy one for just as long. They’ll get wide runs out of Bouda and Ricketts through, with Ricketts more likely to go wide (and at Brandon Bye) and Bouda having the freedom to probe the left side of Portland’s defense – which, between a rattled Antony and an increasingly vacant Jimer Fory, presents as a threat. Still, either player serves a good cross and Bouda can hover and break a highline when San Jose sets him up for it. As for Judd…dude’s a mystery. In the simplest terms, I’d describe his threat as a combination of a good soccer brain, actually surprising speed and better feet than one would expect. And, again, both Judd and Bouda get better for as long as Tsarkiris or Werner play. (Fwiw, I have nothing to tell me they will and I’m not looking it up; they’ll be there or they won’t.)
On the tactical side, I have seen San Jose press. Based on a stray comment I heard during the Seattle broadcast, I’d expect them to press harder in inverse(?) proportion to the number of missing starters (basically, the fewer the regular starters, the more pressing; also, I should never use the inverse proportion thing while stoned). That said, most of the video I reviewed saw them staying organized and countering, aka, the worst possible system for the Timbers. Even so, I’d like to see Portland go at San Jose the same way Dallas did and with the fervor of men playing for the livelihood. The ‘Quakes defense has fucked up enough lately – Roberts, most notably – for Portland to try rattling them early, consequences be damned. If that means holding the defense a bit deeper and pushing the midfield higher, I say go for it. The Timbers have nothing to lose but three points and what is that but a pittance when (probably) Phil has two months to build a better machine…
…not that he’ll do it, or can do it. At any rate, I’ d rather see the Timbers fight for a glorious win than settle for anything. We’ll see how it plays out.
9-3-2, 28 pts., 14 GP; 31 gf, 14 ga (+17); home 4-2-1, away 5-1-1
Last 10 Results: WWWWWWDDLL (6-2-2)
Strength/Location of Schedule
@ VAN (1-0 W); v SD (3-0 W); @ SKC (3-1 W); @ LAFC (4-1 W); v ATX (5-1 W); @ STL (3-2 W); @ TFC (1-1 D); v VAN (1-1 D); @ SEA (2-3 L); v FCD (2-3 L);
I made the personally unsettling decision to track only the past ten games for every team in Major League Soccer (literally killing me), but for anyone who forgot the San Jose Earthquakes conceded one single goal over their first six games (versus Seattle Sounders; hold that thought). Even after the surrendered their second goal, then third, then fourth, then they allowed two after that, etc., it took to the beginning of (fucking) May for San Jose to draw its next game of 2026. In the words of the great philosopher, Gwen Stefani, that shit is bananas for the team that traded Cristian Espinoza to Nashville SC and doesn’t have any other player that would make most people’s short list for league-elite players.
When they picked up their second loss of the season at Seattle, nobody blinked because why would you? They were 10-1-0 at the time, San Jose was bound to slip up at some point, so why not again a Sounders that both started strong and beat them previously? Even that was tricky – e.g., they started a sacrificial lineup and gave up two shit goals, but the first shit goal (midfield where?) – which tied the score – came after Ousseni Bouda and Preston Judd came into the game. Judd returned the game to 2-2 with his ninth(!) goal of 2026, but Seattle scored the winner (also not good; defenders where?) after Beau Leroux and the experienced Paul Marie came in to solidify the defense. And then came last weekend versus FC Dallas...
The video review for this post included the highlights for the draw at Toronto (where the ‘Quakes almost saw the game slip away twice, despite having a case for the better game) and Seattle (where their B-team held strong against a visibly better Seattle team), but I only put in real time on the home loss to Dallas. The second act of Samuel Sarver’s goal celebration made that a famous result (his first celebration was the scuba-diver bit made famous by…gawd, was that Roger Levesque?), but the most compelling and relevant detail from that game came from the way Dallas went at San Jose from the jump. It started with (yet another) shit goal – scored off a giveaway and smartly shot home by Partrickson Delgado – but Dallas squeezed sweat out of San Jose’s midfield and defense all the way up to Leroux’s holy-shit equalizer and a few minutes beyond. The rest of the game doesn’t matter so much – e.g., Petar Musa did his thing to lift Dallas back into the lead, and San Jose’s Reid Roberts equalized for San Jose again off a real bumbler (literally bounced off and in) – but, again, one thing really stood out: Dallas squeezed San Jose from Roberts’ equalizer to Sarver’s winner. And that’s enough to make one dream up possibilities…
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| After the dive? |
Not the lineup, that’s for sure: Bruce Arena (still going! and what did he say?! I need this, if just for closure!) consistently sets up his team in a 4-2-3-1. The heart of the ‘Quakes defense has been rock steady, with Daniel always in goal and Daniel Munie with the generally(?) impressive second-year Roberts starting every time. Leroux and newcomer Ronaldo Vieira have started just one or two fewer games – until recently at least (hold that thought) – and the same has held for fullbacks Benjamin Kikanovic and Jamar Ricketts (to a lesser extent) and both Bouda (five goals, three assists) and Judd have been whole, healthy and effective for most of the season. With spot exceptions here and there, Bruce has had something close to his best roster available for most of the season…but that doesn’t mean all has gone according to plan.
The ‘Quakes probably gambled more than I understood when now and former German star Timo Werner joined the team. As with most gambles, that deal broke both ways – i.e., they get great (and smooth) production out of Werner when he’s available (four goals, five assists; the latter is more impressive), but he has a total of 455 minutes on the season and hasn’t started in weeks. Between playing twice Werner’s minutes and an outsized number of helpers (seven, plus two goals for a tip) Niko Tsarkiris may actually be the greater loss. Having neither player available appears to have taken a fair chunk of attacking brain off the field for San Jose and, as I read it, Arena’s doing some serious button mashing to paper over the absences – e.g., Leroux as an (apparent) playmaker versus Dallas and just throwing shit at the wall in the U.S. Open Cup loss at a full-strength Colorado.
I don’t know either Tsarkiris’ or Werner’s status, but either one will turn up the heat on the Timbers defense if and whenever they come on. Ricketts, another recent scratch, came back for the Open Cup loss at Colorado and went the distance and Leroux has been available, even if they’ve had to turn him around. Bottom line, I’d expect the spine to be there – e.g., Daniel, Roberts and Munie, plus Vieira and Leroux or, worst case, Ian Harkes – along with fullbacks Kikanovic and Ricketts, Bouda wide in the three and Judd up top. Even counting recent slips, that has been a sturdy lineup - i.e., sure they haven't won in four, but they haven't played an easy one for just as long. They’ll get wide runs out of Bouda and Ricketts through, with Ricketts more likely to go wide (and at Brandon Bye) and Bouda having the freedom to probe the left side of Portland’s defense – which, between a rattled Antony and an increasingly vacant Jimer Fory, presents as a threat. Still, either player serves a good cross and Bouda can hover and break a highline when San Jose sets him up for it. As for Judd…dude’s a mystery. In the simplest terms, I’d describe his threat as a combination of a good soccer brain, actually surprising speed and better feet than one would expect. And, again, both Judd and Bouda get better for as long as Tsarkiris or Werner play. (Fwiw, I have nothing to tell me they will and I’m not looking it up; they’ll be there or they won’t.)
On the tactical side, I have seen San Jose press. Based on a stray comment I heard during the Seattle broadcast, I’d expect them to press harder in inverse(?) proportion to the number of missing starters (basically, the fewer the regular starters, the more pressing; also, I should never use the inverse proportion thing while stoned). That said, most of the video I reviewed saw them staying organized and countering, aka, the worst possible system for the Timbers. Even so, I’d like to see Portland go at San Jose the same way Dallas did and with the fervor of men playing for the livelihood. The ‘Quakes defense has fucked up enough lately – Roberts, most notably – for Portland to try rattling them early, consequences be damned. If that means holding the defense a bit deeper and pushing the midfield higher, I say go for it. The Timbers have nothing to lose but three points and what is that but a pittance when (probably) Phil has two months to build a better machine…
…not that he’ll do it, or can do it. At any rate, I’ d rather see the Timbers fight for a glorious win than settle for anything. We’ll see how it plays out.
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