LONDON—After the disappointment of last season’s Eastern Conference Championship defeat to the Colorado Rapids, the San Jose Earthquakes are rumbling again, and ready to go a step further this year.
Count captain Jason Hernandez as one of those who hasn’t shaken the feeling of last year’s loss. As the club’s preseason trip in England rolls on here, the veteran defender is eager to see if he and his teammates will learn from last season’s shortcomings this season.
“As one of the longest serving Quakes, it was great,” Hernandez said of the 2010 season. “But to go so close last season and not reach the final, hopefully we can win it this year.”
[inline_node:329379]Goalkeeper Jon Busch suited up in his third consecutive conference final last season after coming over from the Chicago Fire during the preseason. He admitted this week that the Quakes’ success last season set the bar higher for the franchise, which saw the postseason for the first time since their relaunch in 2008.
“Reaching the playoffs is now our baseline” Busch told MLSsoccer.com. “The experience gives our guys who had not tasted the playoffs, or success in the playoffs, a little appetizer.”
Although the team now have set themselves a standard that they expect to live up to, they are trying to keep their immediate goals as realistic as possible. They know that reaching the playoffs is their priority this season and that this must be achieved in order for the team to progress.
“Obviously the first goal is to reach the playoffs” Quakes veteran Ramiro Corrales said. “We know that if we do that, then we can repeat what we did last year and go even further.”
The Quakes lost to a Leicester City team peppered with first-team players 3-1 on Thursday in Leicester, but the team shook off the result as a blip on the preseason radar.
“We got to the semifinals of the Cup with this team and have added some good young players” head coach Frank Yallop said. “This season is exciting, as everyone is on the same page and moving forward.”
Said Busch: “We want trophies, we want cups, we want anything we can get our hands on.”
Check out the Feb. 24 edition of the ExtraTime Radio podcast, featuring D.C. United's Charlie Davies, Real Salt Lake's Nick Rimando and league executive Nelson Rodrigueztalking about the new playoff structure.
