Back to the Bay

Last weekend I was back in the Bay Area to meet with some friends from my alma mater, and I decided to go see the San Jose Earthquakes play the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.  The last time I saw the Quakes play the mood was a mixture of glumness and uncertainty, because of the team's elimination from the playoffs and the almost certain departure of the organization.  This time the mood was much happier.  I saw a lot of Quakes fans wearing hats saying "Back in 2008".  And the fan groups were as festive as I had remembered (the Ultras group make more of a visual show).

I had not been to Buck Shaw Stadium before, but I had known that it was used mostly for soccer by Santa Clara and baseball before that.  The Quakes have done a very good job of renovating and expanding the stadium, and the result is well worth the money they spent.  In my opinion, Buck Shaw is the best of the interim stadiums in MLS -- it's the best size for the fan base, the sightlines are good, the surrounding scenery is beautiful, and best of all, there are no gridiron lines.  I don't feel the same way about the Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland, but with Wolff's ownership of the A's and the Quakes playing there for big matches makes sense.

As for the game, the Quakes play like an expansion team.  It seemed that they had given up on playing the ball through midfield and decided to pump long balls from the goalkeeper or the back line to the strikers.  It would have been nice if the strikers were able to create a scoring opportunity, but that task seemed to be beyond them.  In the end, a set piece was the only way that San Jose was going to score.  Toronto FC last season showed how difficult it is for a new side without effective scorers, and San Jose is finding this out as well.

The Crew started slowly but took over the game once they were able to successfully link their midfield to their forward line.  Guillermo Barros Schelotto was drifting from one side of the field to another and made life difficult for the Quakes back line.  His corner kicks were also a threat with Ezra Hendrickson hitting the crossbar on one occasion (he was also a handful for the defense with his deep overlapping runs).  But the goals that Columbus scored occurred in the run of play.  Two well-weighted diagonal passes from Ekpo and Moreno found Robbie Rogers alone against Joe Cannon, and he finished clinically both times.  Schelotto sent through Brad Evans a couple of minutes later, and he finished high into the net.  San Jose got a goal back to make stoppage time interesting, but in the end the Crew had obtained a very good road win. 

I left Buck Shaw very impressed by the Crew's play.  If they can stay consistent (easier said than done in MLS), they have an excellent chance of being title contenders.  Robbie Rogers is a young striking talent the USA needs, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto is a player who can lead the side and demand consistent play.  I haven't seen Schelotto play in person since I went to a Boca Juniors game seven years ago, and I was able to get a smile out of him after the game when I chanted "Guille!  Guille!" as he was leaving the field.

Sorry I wasn't able to see my Quakes friends in the Casbah or Club Quake, but I had fun nonetheless.