"Any Club Except Seattle" and LA of course
It is only Tuesday the 9th, but the first game of the Heritage Cup this Saturday is fast approaching. As some of you may know, we have organized a fairly large trip (relative to the distance to Seattle) to watch our beloved Earthquakes take on the Orcas of Seattle. In a stadium that fills up at 28,000 constantly, there will definately be a noticable and rabid section filled with black and blue. This is what we are about. Showing support for our boys on the pitch wherever they may be. With the coming additions of Vancouver and Portland into the MLS, that brings the total of Pacific Coast teams to 6. This will most definately mean that the 1906 Ultras will make every trek possible to Hell-A (twice a year), Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. There are many questions surrounding expansion in this league, but this “Going West” trend is great for supporter’s to be able to travel and show their support…something this league has had too little of for too long.
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My game preview:
Now I am never one to predict a certain score for a game. That is just too damn hard and you just NEVER know. Who thought we were going to lose to the Pink Cows 4-1? Seattle will be missing Nate Jagua and Jhon Hurtardo with red and yellow card accumulation suspensions, respectively. This means many things. Seattle loses their two most played players, their leading assist and second-leading goal scorer in Jagua, and their arguably most solid defender in Hurtardo. They lose all this while on a six game winless streak. This could be a recipe that can lead to a big win for the Quakes in a hostile environment.
The Quakes have some troubles of their own. They have obviously not been in their best form as of late, but have been staying in games and playing better in the past couple of weeks. With the return of Huckerby (likely as a sub for this game) and all other injured, suspended, and national call up players (minus Simon Elliot and Bobby Convey), we will be fielding an almost-full strengthed side.
It is definately going to be a tough game in front of 28,000 fans. But with better performances, Seattle’s slip in the league lately, their suspensions, and with friendly support, I am optimistic that we will come out of Seattle with at least a point.
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According to the Houston Chronicle and confirmed by Center Line Soccer, the Quakes have traded Cam Weaver to Houston for Chris Wondolowski and a conditional pick for next year. I share the same view as Center Line Soccer’s Jeff Carlisle, in that I don’t see how this trade is truely helpful.
“At first blush, I’m not sure how this really helps the team, other than to give them around $38,000 more in cap space. Wondolowski is versatile in that he can play in a wide midfield role as well as forward, but I don’t see him as being better than the group of attackers the team already has. It’s not that he’s a bad player, far from it, but I certainly don’t see him supplanting Ryan Johnson or Cornell Glen up top, nor do I see him taking minutes away from Shea Salinas, Arturo Alvarez, or the soon-to-return Darren Huckerby.”
I do see that this will be more of a depth kind of thing. If i remember correctly (I was a noob to the Earthquakes back in 2004 so I don’t have the same sort of knowledge that many of you may have), Wondo can play attacking mid, wide mid, and of course striker. If the first position is true, then I think that is where he will play. I still think that we should have traded for a defender (not from Houston necesarily, from anywhere). Defense has been our destruction so far this season. We’ll see come the summer transfer window
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This will be included from here until the last week of the season:
The 1906 Ultras are planning two trips to Hell-A for the last two weeks of the season to see the Boys in Blue take on the Goats and the much much much much much hated Fallacy. Please go to our Events section to view more details about the trip and to book your ticket and bus ride.