SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Frank Yallop has spent hours of late poring over video footage from his team’s 2010 home matches. And if there’s a recurring reason why the San Jose Earthquakes didn’t have much of an advantage at Buck Shaw Stadium last year, Yallop can’t see it.
What he can see, however, is that the Quakes need to improve on their 7-5-3 mark if they hope to repeat as MLS Cup Playoff participants.
“Our form at home was poor,” Yallop said. “For whatever reason, we’d go on the road, get two or three great results and then come home and really play poorly. I think all the teams that do well in our league are very strong at home, and we need to make sure that we are one of those teams.”
The Quakes get their first chance to put themselves in that class Saturday, when they open their 2011 slate by hosting Real Salt Lake at Buck Shaw. This is a rematch from the 2010 opener, when RSL spanked San Jose 3-0 on the same field.
“Well, I hope it’s not the same result we had last time,” Yallop said. “We have high expectations of this team, for this season, and whoever you play, you’ve got to play well against.”
The Quakes will be missing several potential participants Saturday. New acquisition Simon Dawkins, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, didn’t arrive in time to play. Target forward Steven Lenhart, the team’s biggest offseason acquisition, is out after undergoing arthroscopic surgery March 3 to repair a slight tear in the meniscus of his right knee. Right back Tim Ward is out with a right hamstring strain, and rorward/midfielder Scott Sealy will also be sidelined due to a right groin strain.
Ryan Johnson will sub for Lenhart at the point of the Quakes’ attack. Chris Leitch should start at right back in place of Ward.
Yallop charged his second team this week with the task of trying to mimic the fluid play of RSL’s midfield, which features Javier Morales, scorer of two cracking goals against San Jose last year.
“We’ve tried to make sure we don’t get overrun in midfield,” Yallop said. “I think a lot of teams now play with a withdrawn forward. We’re doing the same. ... What we don’t want to do is end up in a 4-5-1 with Ryan alone up front, trying to battle away. We won’t do that. We want to get our wide guys forward, and we want to get the two attacking midfielders going as well.”
Geoff Lepper covers the Earthquakes for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at sanjosequakes@gmail.com. On Twitter: @sjquakes
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