Quakes Shape Up

The past week has been fruitful for the Quakes as the team steadily takes shape for the new season.  According to Centerline Soccer, Aki Riihilahti is the newest signing.  He is a holding midfielder with Premiership experience (at Crystal Palace), with his most recent action coming in the Swedish league.  At 32 years of age, he should provide some veteran grit and composure in the center of the field, though there are some question marks about his ability to stay injury-free.  What it does do is allow Corrales to move to the left back spot, which is the upgrade over Denton that I have been pushing for (sorry, Eric).  In other news, the Quakes are having a torrid start to the preseason, defeating Seattle and Houston before decimating the Fresno Fuego 6-0.  Now calm down everyone, preseason means absolutely nothing in any sport, but it does seem as if our old friend Ryan Johnson has grabbed a starting spot and is refusing to let it go, with Cam Weaver as his most likely partner.  While Weaver will be the de facto set-up man, both Johnson and Weaver possess strength and are good in the air, which will give us an aerial dimension and presence up front which was sorely lacking last year.  Rookie forward Amarikwa has done enough to earn a contract, and will provide a nice burst of pace off the bench.  Or at least, that’s the idea.  With Pablo Campos offering another option at forward, it looks as if Cunliffe’s days at the club are numbered.  

Here is the most likely formation for the Quakes if the season started today (based on what the coaching staff and John Doyle have said thus far):

               Weaver-Johnson

Huckerby-Riihilahti-Convey-Alvarez

Corrales-Garcia-Cochrane-Hernandez

                      Cannon

Not too shabby.  Our biggest strength is clearly our midfield, with the forward line having the most question marks, as they have yet to be truly battle tested.  The defense looks to be fairly solid, but the right back position is still up in the air.

 

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