SAN JOSE, Calif. ā A year ago, Landon Donovan said it was āinevitableā that Chris Wondolowski would pass him for the top spot on the MLSās all-time goal-scoring list.
He didnāt say anything, however, about the speed with which the inevitable would arrive.
With Wondolowski sitting on 144 career league goals ā just one behind Donovanās record-setting total ā since Oct. 6, the chase has slowed to a crawl. After going scoreless in the San Jose Earthquakesā first four games this season ā all defeats ā Wondolowski was benched Saturday by new coach Matias Almeyda in favor of Dutch import Danny Hoesen, who scored his first goal of 2019 as the Quakes pounded Portland, 3-0.
Is the pressure of chasing Donovanās mark weighing on Wondolowskiās mind?
Not so, says the Quakes captain.
āI know what the record is,ā Wondolowski told MLSsoccer.com this week. āIāve wanted to score that goal as much as Iāve wanted to score the first goal and every goal in between. When I step on the field, again, I donāt play to try to score goals. I play to win games. My job is to score goals, though, and I try to do that. Obviously, I didnāt do that in the first four games and we didnāt win. So a lot of it has to do with not doing the right things. Itās not wearing down, itās not extra pressure.ā
Whatever the reason, Wondolowski is currently enduring his longest drought, in terms of cumulative scoreless minutes (547 and counting), since the middle of 2016. The circumstances are different, however; back then, Wondolowski was still so effective that then-US national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought him to the Copa AmƩrica Centenario, and in Dominic Kinnear, he had a club coach who gave him a long leash.
In 2019, Wondolowski is once again having to prove himself to a new boss ā this time at an age (36) when most strikers are winding down their careers.
āItās always a dogfight in the beginning [of a coachās tenure],ā Wondolowski said. āIt was a dogfight last year [under Mikael Stahre]. I think thatās the great thing about this team, is that weāre deeper than we have been, in all positions. Danny Hoesen is one of the best No. 9s in this league.ā
Almeyda didnāt indicate if the Hoesen-for-Wondolowski switch will continue this weekend when the Quakes face unbeaten Houston (Saturday, 3 pm ET | Univision, UDN, Twitter in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada).
āItās difficult when we are not getting the results we want and we need to change players and positions, but the players know they are all important and I will use them all as the season goes on,ā Almeyda told reporters Wednesday at his weekly press conference. āChris will surely will his achieve his dream this year of becoming the league's all-time top scorer. I felt he had a lot of pressure on him and I wanted to let him rest and not let all that pressure fold him because we are a team and not just a single player. It was good for him.ā
In the meantime, Wondolowski will keep chasing that top spot.
āI feel I can be successful coming off the bench, but at the same time, the competitive nature I have, Iām going to fight for every minute,ā Wondolowski said. āThatās the thing thatās not given here. It doesnāt matter if youāre [15-year-old] Cade Cowell or myself, youngest guy or oldest guy, youāve got to fight for every minute.ā