SAN JOSE, Calif. – On Fan Appreciation Day at Avaya Stadium, the San Jose Earthquakes couldn’t give the crowd the one thing they would have appreciated most of all.
For the 10th time this year -–and the ninth instance since 440325872" tabindex="0">May 28 – the Quakes failed to get on the scoreboard, settling for a 0-0 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a soggy 440325873" tabindex="0">Sunday afternoon.
Despite 18 shots, a season-high 13 corner kicks, and a 490-354 advantage in total passes, the Quakes simply couldn’t punch one past longtime Vancouver backup goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi. The latter made six saves in his first MLS action in more than three years.
“We needed that little bit extra – a good run, a good ball, and it was missing today,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I can’t give the guys any grief for their effort, but I can look back at this game – and some parts of our season – and say, ‘There are some areas where we need to improve upon.’ And those areas, for the most part, are 25 yards and in to the opposition’s goal.”
Since opening the year 5-3-4, the Quakes have gone 3-8-10, averaging just 0.76 goals per match over that stretch. San Jose’s season total of 32 goals ranks last in league, some six goals behind the next-worst teams, Colorado and Houston.
“You look at the stats, the stats don’t lie; we haven’t scored enough goals this year,” Kinnear said. “I’m not going to hide from it. We said last year, we needed more goals after the opening goal. And this year, we’ve lacked the first goal. It’s not like we’re not trying to score. It’s just that the quality in that last little bit has escaped us today. And for quite a few games this year.”
Kinnear acknowledged after the game that the problem will require an answer beyond the Quakes’ current roster. That's especially true considering that forward Quincy Amarikwa, who was effective as Chris Wondolowski’s strike partner in the second half of last season, is expected to be out until at least July 2017 as he recovers from two torn ligaments in his left knee.
“It needs to be addressed in the off-season,” Kinnear said. “We’re going to need to add an attacker.”
Wondolowski, the club’s captain and often its cheerleader, could see the wisdom in that – although he counseled against wiping the slate totally clean.
“You never will bring back a full team the following year, no matter what. I’m sure there’ll be some of those choices,” Wondolowski said. “But I think that there’s a good core. I hope that we really don’t start from scratch.... We have some things to build on. But I still think that there are a couple things we can address.”
