SANDY, Utah—The San Jose Earthquakes’ sixth-straight road loss saw them lose ground on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and also let Real Salt Lake move within a point.
Now, with a Heineken Rivalry Week edition of the Cali Clasico at the LA Galaxy coming up on Sunday (7 pm ET | FS1, FOX Deportes; MLS LIVE in Canada), there is need for change. Either in mentality or approach, because right now things simply are not good enough when the Earthquakes play as visitors.
“We have to change a few things for sure," said San Jose head coach Chris Leitch. "Obviously, we gave up some late ones. We can’t give up on those. We need to be a little smarter. It makes the scoreline look a little bad and hurts the psyche, which isn’t great."
The need for change in form and results comes with the added pressure of getting back into the postseason picture. The Earthquakes are currently two points behind the Vancouver Whitecaps for the sixth seed in the West, and need to prevail on Sunday against LA in order to have a shot at moving above the playoff line.
Picking up maximum points at StubHub Center will not be easy, however -- not if their recent road form is anything to go by. San Jose have lost their last six road games by a combined score of 21-3.
“The things that have made us successful at home and at times away is we tackle, we track runners and connect our passes,” said Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski. “The last few games on the road we haven’t done that. We need to get back to playing simple and playing effective.”
While getting back to basics is a priority, the Quakes are aware of the need to stick together. They are facing adversity right now, but still have time to right their wrongs and achieve their goal of reaching the postseason.
“I still think we have a belief that we can make the playoffs and that we will, but this is a situation where we have our backs against the wall and it’s time to show what we’re made of and see who [are] men in this locker room,” Wondolowski said.
There might not be a better barometer for that than a rivalry game against the Galaxy.
“I’m excited to see how we respond,” Wondolowski said. “I’m hoping we have some fighters in the locker room and if we do we’re going to come out swinging on Sunday and if not we have some other problems.”
