SAN JOSE, Calif. – Since returning to MLS in 2003, Joe Cannon hasn’t been benched for any significant length of time. But the San Jose Earthquakes’ all-time leader in every major goalkeeping category thinks that’s going to change.
Cannon, replaced in goal by Jon Busch last week as the Quakes returned from their 20-day World Cup break, said that he feels the job is now Busch’s to lose rather than an open competition. Publicly, coach Frank Yallop has only said that Busch will “most probably” start Saturday against D.C. United, and wouldn’t make any commitments after that.
“I think in goalkeeping you always have to look at it as [someone’s job to lose],” said Cannon, who missed no more than three MLS matches in any of his last six seasons.
Not surprisingly, Cannon said he disagreed with Yallop’s decision, which came after the Quakes allowed seven goals in three matches -- two defeats and a tie -- over an eight-day span just before going on the World Cup break. Cannon recorded shutouts in five of the Quakes’ first eight matches, but there appeared to be problems in communication between him and San Jose’s back line that were magnified during the winless stretch.
“I’ll tell you what I told Frank: Looking at the entire year, looking at the goalkeeping situation everywhere else [in MLS], I felt guys have made a lot bigger mistakes than I have and still kept their jobs,” Cannon said. “That was my only rebuttal. He told me they wanted to talk about it more, but I don’t think there was really anything to talk about. It is what it is.”
The Quakes’ defensive problems were certainly not all Cannon’s doing. In addition to moving Busch into the lineup, Yallop made the fairly radical decision to shift Jason Hernandez out of central defense, where he’s played the last four-and-a-half years, and move him to right back, freeing up space for Ike Opara and Bobby Burling to man the middle.
“The stuff I felt we struggled with in [a 2-0 loss to Dallas] was not just an individual thing, but a collective thing,” said Cannon, who later added: “I know there’s more to the story. There will be a time down the road when I think that I’ll have more things to say.”
Cannon bristled at the idea of accepting life as a backup, but as a Bay Area native who played collegiately at Santa Clara, he also wants to stay in Northern California. Cannon is under contract with San Jose through 2011.
“As far as jobs – there’s two new expansion teams next year, and supposedly two more [after that],” Cannon said. “The jobs will be there. I think it’s just a matter of looking at your situation as a whole: What you want to do with your life? What city do you want to help out?
“I think I’ve always been pretty adamant that I want to stay here and make this work, on the field and off the field,” he added. “But at the same time, I think there’s already too much drama or over-analysis from one game to look at worst-case scenarios. I think neither [Cannon nor Busch] really want to make a story out of this.”
In the meantime, Cannon -- always a Quakes fan favorite -- had a message for the faithful: Be kind when Busch makes his home debut Saturday, and beyond. Cannon still recalls the sting of joining the Galaxy in 2007 after they traded away 10-year incumbent Kevin Hartman
“No matter who’s in goal, the fans need to support whoever’s there, and I hope that they show him the same support that they’ve given me for so long, because I’ve been that ‘keeper before,” Cannon said.
Geoff Lepper covers the Earthquakes for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at sanjosequakes@gmail.com. On Twitter: @sjquakes.
