SAN JOSE - As the San Jose Earthquakes look back on the 2005 season, questions abound. Will the lingering memory be the satisfaction of having claimed the MLS Supporters' Shield and a franchise record 14-game unbeaten streak? Or will the bitter taste of the team's first-round playoff exit at the hands of in-state rival Los Angeles overshadow any feelings of success? And then there's the question that has every Bay Area soccer fan on edge: Will there even be a San Jose Earthquakes next season?
While the Quakes immediate future is still up in the air, the recent past will likely be met with mixed emotions. As forward Brian Ching put it after their playoff defeat by the Galaxy: "Great season. Tragic ending."
That's because life in MLS is all about how far a team progresses in the playoffs. Let's not forget that the 2001 championship edition of the Quakes entered the playoffs seeded only fifth out of eight teams. And despite having the league's best record in 2005, what will be remembered most is San Jose's playoff ousting at the hands of their long-time rivals.
But their postseason disappointment aside, San Jose can rightly feel good about what it accomplished this year, especially given the expectations heading into the campaign. The offseason departures of Landon Donovan, Richard Mulrooney and others had many predicting a season of struggle for the two-time MLS champs. Even with the acquisition of players like Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis and Alejandro Moreno, some were predicting that the Quakes wouldn't even qualify for the postseason.
A slow start to the year, combined with season-ending injuries to Troy Dayak and Craig Waibel raised further questions as to San Jose's playoff aspirations. Things even looked worse when Ching was felled by a hamstring injury in May that would sideline him until September.
But even as the Quakes struggled to a 3-3-6 record by mid-June, the seeds of a rampant revival had already been sown. The midseason acquisitions of midfielder Mark Chung and defender Kelly Gray suddenly gave the team attacking options at every position. And the return to health of defender Danny Califf did much to solidify a back line that had been shaky early on.
But the single biggest reason for San Jose's transformation from mid-table strugglers to league leaders was the emergence of Dwayne De Rosario. Heretofore an erratic forward with a reputation for hogging the ball, De Rosario's move into an attacking midfield role saw him realize the full extent of his long-acknowledged talent.
De Rosario not only distributed the ball with surprisingly crisp passes, but the Canadian international's unparalleled work rate saw him contributing on the defensive end as well. And his partnership with Clark gave the Quakes a central midfield pairing that had fans forgetting, at least for a moment, about the departures of Mulrooney and Ronnie Ekelund.
By the end of the season, De Rosario was not only leading the league with 13 assists, but he was scoring some breathtaking goals as well, including an audacious free kick against the Galaxy in the regular season finale that earned him Goal of the Year for the second time running.
With De Rosario at the controls, San Jose embarked on an unbeaten run that saw them claim their first-ever Supporters' Shield. Following a 3-0 mid-July loss to D.C. United, the Quakes went the rest of the regular season without tasting defeat. In the process, San Jose became the first team in league history to complete their home schedule unbeaten, with a record of 9-0-7.
The playoffs turned a once stellar season sour, however. San Jose found themselves matched up against their long-time rivals to the south, and the Russian Roulette nature of the playoffs was driven home to the Quakes in brutal fashion. Two defensive blunders saw San Jose quickly fall behind 2-0 in the first leg. But a Clark strike midway through the second half saw San Jose crawl to within a goal.
It was at this point that the series was decided. While most teams would have been content to take a one-goal deficit into the home leg of the series, San Jose had prided themselves all year on playing to win, regardless of the circumstances. Showing their true colors - and perhaps some tactical naiveté - the Quakes pressed the attack and were made to pay when former hero Landon Donovan scored on a counterattack with just three minutes remaining.
Now instead of taking a manageable one-goal deficit back to Spartan Stadium, the Quakes found themselves needing to make up a considerably tougher two goal margin. For all of the talk about a repeat of their epic comeback against the Galaxy in 2003, it proved too high a mountain to climb, and San Jose followed in the Columbus Crew's footsteps as a Supporters' Shield winner who lost in the first round of the playoffs.
"It's a negative, because you want to end your season on a high," said head coach Dominic Kinnear. "You want to be that team that is dancing in the locker room because we've done it before and we know how fun it is. But it's a negative matched up against a lot of positives."
The question "Where does the team go from here," is a bit more loaded for San Jose than it is for other teams, because the usual assortment of personnel changes may be accompanied by a change of venue for the Quakes. As of now, nothing has been decided about the team's possible move.
"You want to be that team that is dancing in the locker room because we've done it before and we know how fun it is. But it's a negative matched up against a lot of positives." |
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<strong>-- Dominic Kinnear</strong> |
As far as the roster goes, two immediate concerns are the futures of Chung and Califf. Chung is contemplating retirement, citing a desire spend more time with his family. Califf has long expressed a desire to play overseas, and the Montclair, Calif. native said he plans to explore that option, although a chance remains he would stay with the Quakes.
"A lot will depend on whether the team stays in San Jose," said Califf. "If the team stays, it will make that decision much more difficult because both myself and my family love it up here. But [playing in Europe] has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember. I'm going to actively pursue that."
Califf stated that some teams have already expressed interest, although he wouldn't say which ones, adding that he has "a lot of irons in the fire."
If both Chung and Califf decide to leave - and assuming the Quakes stay put - San Jose has players able cover at both positions. Defender Ryan Cochrane showed well in a reserve role this year, and assuming Brad Davis returns to health, San Jose shouldn't miss a beat. Kinnear will no doubt look to shore up his depth in those areas, especially in midfield where the possible departure of Chung would leave the Quakes thin on the flanks. But Kinnear looks to be in better shape than most coaches would be after losing players like Califf and Chung.
Perhaps a bigger concern for Kinnear will be shoring up his forward line. Brian Ching, while an established scorer in MLS, has proven to be injury-prone. And while Moreno and Ronald Cerritos both enjoyed excellent seasons, the feeling is that the Quakes could stand to have more firepower up top, especially given Cerritos' advancing age.
Given the trades pulled off by Kinnear this year, an offseason acquisition to bolster these areas looks likely, and maybe that will be enough to get San Jose over their playoff hump.
As far as Quakes fans are concerned, they're hoping they will still have a playoff hump to get over.
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story is not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
