Quakes Drop 3rd in a Row

Yallop had hinted that he was going to make some wholesale changes to the starters in response to the dispirited games against New York and Chivas USA. Well, Saturday’s lineup saw 5 different starters than against Chivas last week and Yallop went back to the 4-4-2 the team used to great effect last year.

Lineup Changes

Justin Morrow for Ramiro Corrales at left back.
Bobby Burling for Brandon McDonald at right center back.
Anthony Ampaipitakwong for Bobby Convey at left mid.
Brandon McDonald for Sam Cronin as the defensive mid.
Brad Ring for Simon Dawkins as the attacking mid.
Steven Lenhart for Ryan Johnson in attack.

McDonald started against Chivas but he was playing as a center back. He inherited the position last year due to team injuries and did well enough for Yallop to keep playing him there this year. McDonald is a natural defensive mid but he and Cronin have different abilities. Cronin is a better distributor and McDonald is a better tackler.

Morrow played well at left back. There were several times when he headed off runs by Le Toux. Morrow is fast, really fast, and I don’t think Philly had that info in their scouting report.

Ring doesn’t have the same vision and passing abilities as Dawkins has shown. I’m not sure why Yallop kept him out of the game yesterday. He seemed to be one of the better players against Chivas.

When Ampai came into the Chivas game on the right side of midfield he provided a spark for the attack. I can understand why Convey was benched for the start of the game but Ampai is better suited to the right side.

I was excited to see Lenhart get the start and was surprised to see him go a full 90. He played well when he had the ball. He was able to hold onto it and distribute to Wondo and Sealy. I think Dawkins, Lenhart and Wondo will make a great team once they get familiar with each other.

Burling and Hernandez partnered okay together. There were stretches of the game where Philly were attacking a lot but the defense held firm. It reminded me of last year’s defense, scrappy but able to keep attackers out of the goal.

Harvey’s Red Card

I don’t think this was a red cardable offense. Leitch and Harvey both deserved yellows, like the double yellows to McDonald and Mondragon a few minutes earlier. Harvey does step on Leitch’s stomach, but Leitch kicks out at him while he’s walking away.

Le Toux’s penalty conversion

It was very unlucky for Hernandez to be called for the handball in the box. You can see when he goes down to stop the cross his arms are in front of his body. But this is more of a bodily reaction than anything. YOU try deflecting a cross like that without covering yourself. Few people could probably make themselves keep their arms away from their body. Unfortunately Le Toux converted the penalty for his first goal of the season. Penalties are a crapshoot. No matter how much research you do it’s still a guessing game.

Le Toux converts the penalty against Busch

Game Highlights

Despite 5 new starters in 6 new positions and a familiar formation, the Quakes were still unable to halt their skid. The team played with more fight and vigor than last week against Chivas, but there was still something missing. The Quakes need to work on their one touch passing. I don’t think the Quakes were able to string together a passing combo of 5 consecutive short passes. Dawkins’ ability to drive at the defense and distribute was plainly missing. Ring just doesn’t have the same qualities. Cronin is also better at moving the ball from the back through the middle of the field. But the defensive changes seemed to work. There were stretches of game where Philadelphia was dangerous in the Quakes’ final third, but they were able to keep them off the score sheet. A tie would have been a positive result for a wholesale change to the starting lineup, but the results the last two weeks have been just out of reach.

While the defensive changes were better than last week, the attack left much to be desired. The Quakes were playing against 10 men for 59 minutes, plus stoppages. But in the second half it looked more like San Jose was down a man and Philadelphia had 11 players on the field. Peter Nowak must have said something right in the locker room because Philly played better than in the first half.

I don’t think the subs for the Quakes were right. Bringing in Convey for Sealy allowed Wondo to move up top and Ampai to slide over to the right. Cronin for McDonald should have helped by allowing him to distribute to the wings and attacking mid. But Johnson’s entry for Ampai was completely wrong. Ampai is the attacking spark on the right, like Convey is on the left. By taking out Ampai Convey becomes the sole organizer of the attack. Ring was invisible for most of the match and Johnson was running around all over the midfield hindering the attack more than helping. If Johnson had to come in, send him in for either Lenhart or Sealy up top. Dawkins was not available for the match, but switching out Ring for Stephenson or Johnson might have given them more options in the attack.

The Quakes’ record for the month of April was a disappointing 0-4-2 with a three game losing streak. Next game for the Quakes is the US Open Cup play in round against Portland on Tuesday. The Quakes’ next MLS game is Wednesday May 11 at Vancouver.

GO QUAKES!

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