PHOTO: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As Mikael Stahre observed his men partake in an intrasquad scrimmage, moderately strong South Bay winds helped scatter a handful of grey colds, allowing for sunshine to flood the San Jose Earthquakes’ training ground two days prior to their match against the Houston Dynamo. A fitting scenery for a team who looks to shrug off the gloominess from their previous two bouts behind, specifically their first 25 minutes in the City of Brotherly Love.

“First of all, I think the first 25 minutes against Philadelphia was a disaster,” Quakes manager Mikael Stahre said five days removed from his side’s draw against the Union. “We hardly crossed the halfway line, and evertyime we crossed the halfway line, we have some chances, actually.”

“So, I think we’re still really good when we cross the halfway line and play in the last 30, 40 yards of the field,” he added. “But I think we played too slow, too many passes backwards and too many mistakes in the first 25 minutes.”

The inability for the Quakes to break through the opposition’s high-pressure has resulted in three-straight games without a victory, plummeting the team to tenth in the Western Conference table after four fixtures.

As Saturday’s crucial match approaches, several of the players admit that the final product on the field hasn’t been enough. “With a bit of luck, yeah,” Magnus Eriksson said of the Black and Blue’s chances of winning against the Union. “With a bit of luck we would have won the game against New York, also. We played good, but we need to play in more minutes of the game — not have those dips that we have had. Like against New York: we conceded two goals in ten minutes. That’s tough.”

Aside from their extraordinary first 70 minutes against Minnesota in the season opener, Stahre’s side has collectively dulled out, failing to retain possession, lacking successful ball distribution and appearing vulnerable in the back, to name a few. As they headed into the second half against Philadelphia, in a feeble position, Stahre opted with a five-man backline.

That willingness to alter his tactics payed enough dividends to earn San Jose “a really important point”. However, it has also convinced the Swede that making additional changes might optimize the Quakes’ chances of earning three points on Saturday at Avaya.

“First, of course, we look at the first four games and we’ve had small, small changes so far,” Stahre said. “Of course, I know, the coaching staff knows, the players know the MLS more and the opponent more…I’m open to change formations. I’m open to change some players, and I think that’s necessary to win games. It’s necessary also to keep the team warm and also keep up the energy level. But the most important thing is to find a way to win the next game.”

But what exactly is it that the Quakes have to do in order to avoid another “disaster” like the one in Philadelphia? To Nick Lima, a fixture in Stahre’s XI, the key to overturn the lackluster play is in the team’s preparation and mentality in the days leading to the match and come game time.

“We have to go in, and it (effective play) has to happen from the start,” Lima told Quakes Epicenter. “There’s been games last year at the beginning of the year — the Vancouver game — where we gave up two in the first ten minutes.

“Even Philly, we go in and we got lucky to not give up a few away in the beginning of the game. It starts, I think, whether it’s on a flight, here today — two days out — [at] training with that intensity.

“Just being ready from the first minute, ’cause we’ve had good moments in games, good spans of 20, 30, 40 minutes, but we need to play a full 90,” he added. The most important is to set that standard from the first minute.”

Certainly, Stahre is the last person who wants to relive that domination. Luckily, his willingness to morph formations as well as having the players to do so, injects a sense of hope. But even then, it’s difficult for the Swede to decide who to add and drop from his healthy squad. “It’s hard for the coach [at] the moment,” Stahre said. “We have many good players and all of them are fit. In soccer, you can expect to have some players injured, and we are, knock on wood, very happy with our situation for the moment.”

Surely, whichever changes Stahre implements in efforts to help negate a pacey, counter-attacking Dynamo — aside from Harold Cummings, who is ineligible for selection due to suspension — will be first-choice rather than situational.

“We have worked on different formations, so we will see what’s going to be best on Saturday,” Eriksson said of the team’s preparations. “We have a great squad and good numbers of great players. So, whatever fits the formation and the team that’s [playing] on Saturday and the best team that is going to win the game for us is a decision for Mikael (Stahre).”

Everything indicates that tactical change is forthcoming, and the Quakes hope results come with it, too.

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