SAN JOSE, Calif. ā Getting used to the MLS style of play was arguably a distant second in terms of adjustments San Jose Earthquakes forward Danny Hoesen needed to make in 2017.
Thatās because Hoesen welcomed his first child into the world in June. Son Damian, now nine months old, was born in the midst of Hoesenās debut season with the Quakes, and provided a new perspective for the 27-year-old, who struggled for weeks to find his place after arriving on loan from Dutch club FC Groningen.
āItās changed a lot,ā Hoesen told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. āSometimes, you come home after a bad game or a bad practice, you come home and see his smile and all is good again.ā
Hoesen hasnāt needed that kind of cheering up often so far in 2018. After an impressive preseason, the Netherlands native produced his first multi-goal performance in MLS with a brace in San Joseās 3-2 victory against Minnesota United FC during the seasonās opening week. It earned him the first Alcatel MLS Player of the Week award of the year, as voted on by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR).
Thatās a continuation of the way Hoesen ended last year. After having to fight for playing time at an unfamiliar spot on the wing, he finally put together a string of starts as a true No. 9 atop the Quakes attack to close out the regular-season schedule. Hoesen finished with three goals and an assist in San Joseās last six games, scoring in each of the Quakesā three victories during that stretch.
āThe last five games of the season, Danny had made a case for himself,ā Quakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli told MLSsoccer.com. āIt definitely helps if the player knows that he can impose himself, and that is something Danny felt strongly about. He knew that with [Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski], there was an opportunity for him and Wondo to lead the attack, and heās doing just that. They are working well together.ā
So well that Wondolowski, the Golden Boot winner in 2010 and 2012, has been talking up Hoesen as a potential 2018 recipient of that award ā and that was even before Hoesen placed a one-timed shot from 20 yards to beat Minnesota goalkeeper Matt Lampson in the first half and followed up after intermission with a nice give-and-go through Valeri āVakoā Qazaishvili to create separation from Jerome Thiesson and find the far post to open the season
Hoesen celebrates after scoring | USA Today Sports Images
āI think we saw it in practice from Day One; we knew that he could strike a ball, we knew he had the attributes,ā Wondolowski told MLSsoccer.com. āBeing a striker is a funny thing; sometimes they go in, sometimes they donāt, and they werenāt falling for him early. They were at the end, and when they do start falling, I think it snowballs. As youāve seen through the preseason this year, a couple go and they keep you going.ā
That production helped show why keeping Hoesen was such an important part of San Joseās offseason. With the loan year over, Fioranelli had to enter some āwho will blink first?ā negotiations with Groningen regarding the cost of securing Hoesenās services permanently. It helped that Hoesen had made clear the Quakes, who still held his MLS rights, were his desired destination.
āI told [Groningen] this is the only club I want to go to and this is the only club thatās possible to get me,ā said Hoesen, who was signed by the Quakes via Targeted Allocation Money. āAnd they said, āWell, if we donāt agree on a transfer fee, you come back and play with the second team.ā So they started threatening me a little bit, but thatās part of the game. Eventually, they changed their mind because they knew they needed the money as well and they didnāt want to keep paying my salary and [have me] play for the second team. Eventually, everybodyās happy.ā
The notion of a Golden Boot contender coming from San Jose would have seemed pretty far-fetched last year, when the Quakes were limited to just 39 goals as a team. But the addition of Designated Players Vako and Magnus Eriksson in the last nine months have given San Jose more punch for new coach Mikael Stahre to deploy ā including this Saturday in the Quakesā visit to Sporting Kansas City (8:30 pm ET; TV & streaming info).
āI think it clicks more now,ā Hoesen said of the attack. āObviously, Vako came in the summer and had to get used to the league, the players as well. Training with each other every day [helps]. Magnus is a very smart player; he knows when to move, when to pass, how fast to play a ball or just to keep the ball. If you have smart players around you, itās easier for all of us.
āNow I think weāre full of confidence. I think the players have enough experience that if a ball goes wrong or you miss a shot, just keep your head up and keep going. Thatās important. Whereas last year, if we conceded a goal, you saw people like, āOh no, not again.ā It just started creeping into the season. I hope this year weāre better than that.ā