Many Quakes fans view the upcoming season with great optimism. Although I count myself as one who is hopeful as well, I cannot emphasize enough that our fanbase should not become blindly and overwhelmingly optimistic. MLS is a rapidly improving league, as evidenced by the increasing sums of money being paid for incoming players. Yes, Quakes most definitely improved this offseason, but so has almost every other side in this league.

The Western Conference was, in 2017, very weak, at least in comparison to its Eastern counterpart. There were five Eastern teams that racked up more points than the top western club, the Portland Timbers. Eastern Conference teams dominated inter-conference matches, as evidenced by their record against western teams. Quakes cannot expect the West to be so friendly this time around. With the addition of LAFC, twelve clubs will now be competing for the six Western playoff spots. Nevertheless, Quakes must be targeting another playoff berth, and ideally a much more comfortable one than last year, as well as a long run in the playoffs. There are a few recognizable keys that will help us achieve these ambitious goals.

Defensive stability. Securing a playoff spot last season was a truly remarkable feat, given the circumstances – countless lopsided defeats on the road, and a truly horrible goal difference of minus twenty-one. Yes, the risky strategy of very aggressive and attacking play might have worked out to some extent, but it is not a blueprint for more success. In order to prove successful in this league, Quakes must again obtain the defensive stability of the previous seasons, while still not sacrificing attacking intent. I hope and expect that we now have the players and manager to do so. A center back partnership of Quintana and Cummings should be dominant in the air, leading to fewer goals conceded, as should Tarbell, who one can assume is improving rapidly, due to his young age. However, the main point of importance here is Quakes’ tactical setup. Mikael Stahre has a track record of organizing his teams up to be compact and disciplined on defense. This was apparent in the preseason match against Real Salt Lake, in which the two blocks of four Quakes players frustrated the opposing attack. RSL had a lot of possession but found very few ways through the Quakes defense. Whether this will lead to the obvious problem of a less committed attack is a question that will need to be answered, but a newfound sense of defensive stability is a must for the upcoming season.

Jungwirth as CM. Florian Jungwirth enjoyed an impressive debut season in San Jose. Despite being played out of position at center back, the German was still effective, especially in his tackling, composure, and distribution out of the back, with his only shortcoming being his lack of aerial presence. His leadership in the Quakes team was also highly valuable. All signs seem to indicate that for the upcoming season, he will be brought back to his normal position of center midfield, to partner Godoy. This is key because he will provide the defensive presence that Ceren was not capable of, allowing more freedom to Godoy to get forward. Godoy’s best performances come when he is able to drive through the midfield, possessing the ball and controlling the center of the pitch. However, due to the defensively inconsistent and vulnerable Ceren, he was not able to do so for much of the previous season. This intelligent tactical switch should make it more possible.

Exploit the schedule. Quakes were dealt a reasonably easy schedule, but with a few noticeable trends. Firstly, the beginning of the season should prove quite difficult, with eight of the first thirteen matches taking place away from Avaya Stadium. Many of such trips include substantial travel and take place in eastern cities. Thus, it is not to be expected that Quakes enter the summer in too promising of a position. But even if Quakes do not pick up that many points from the first stretch of games, it should not be too alarming, if we take advantage of the easy late season run-in. Nine of the final fifteen matches will be at home, in the period starting at the end of July. Quakes need to come into form at this time, as these will be the most crucial matches for the playoff push, and potentially the easiest to secure points in. Without success in this stretch of matches, it is hard to see Quakes making the playoffs, given the difficulties of the first matches. A daunting trip to the defending Western champs, the Seattle Sounders, will take place on decision day. Therefore, we need to make sure to rack up enough points throughout the preceding matches to rule this match irrelevant to our playoff hopes.

Tactical flexibility. Both Dominic Kinnear and Chris Leitch were incredibly frustrating to me. Despite their obvious differences in terms of tactical approaches, they both displayed levels of stubbornness. Kinnear proved unwilling to change from his preferred 4-4-2 formation or to modify his defensive tactics, even when results were consistently not going our way. Leitch, although he seemed more open to changing the formation, was equally as stubborn when it came to his own tactics. He uniformly employed an aggressive, attacking style of play, no matter the match or opponent. While this ambitious style can rightfully be heralded in some circumstances, his failure to adapt and scale it back when playing tougher opponents on the road led to the many thrashings that Quakes were given. The new manager in Mikael Stahre seems to be quite the opposite. He describes himself as tactically flexible, especially in his formation choices. While it seems that Quakes will employ an organized and counter-attack minded 4-4-2, one hopes that, unlike his predecessors, Stahre will modify his tactics when circumstance warrants it. Perhaps, when playing easier home matches, we can look to control the match and possess. When against more difficult opponents, then Stahre’s preferred style, as described previously, will prove more adequate. If Stahre can approach individual matches in separate ways, we will undoubtedly secure more results.