There's no pulling out of this death spiral for the San Jose Earthquakes.

Nineteen games into the season, the Quakes have accumulated just 12 points, the fewest in the league. They've managed to beat just one other MLS team in league play this season -- Minnesota United, twice -- and are in the throes of a 11-game winless streak in all competitions.

Captain Chris Wondolowski, ever the diplomat, told ESPN FC that there was "enough blame to go around" for this disaster of a campaign. Fans are calling for the head of manager Mikael Stahre, especially in light of a very public sideline spat he had with midfielder Fatai Alashe during last Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Montreal Impact. Alashe was subbed out at the beginning of the second half, having only just come on for Anibal Godoy with five minutes remaining the first half. He made his displeasure with Stahre's decision clear, and it looked like it might boil over.

The exchange also appeared to hint at a fractured locker room. Multiple sources within the organization insisted to ESPN FC that the team is still playing hard for Stahre, although one source indicated that was limited to those still getting steady playing time under the Swede, which isn't all that unusual on a last-place team.

As for Alashe, a statement from the club indicating that he was injured invited plenty of skepticism, but a Quakes spokesman confirmed that the midfielder suffered a groin strain and will now miss two weeks.

General Manager Jesse Fioranelli (who through a team spokesperson declined to be interviewed for this article) told the San Jose Mercury News that Stahre's job is safe. It makes some sense. Stahre's brief, eight-month tenure means he can only be assigned so much blame, although he's constantly changed formations and personnel in a futile attempt to right the ship. Rather, this debacle is mostly down to the actions of one man, that being Fioranelli himself.

It was Fioranelli who put this roster together. Go down the list of names, and only forward Danny Hoesen has had a good season. Wondolowski remains a club legend, but looking at the rest of the squad, the assessments range from "OK" to "awful".

Even the players know it. Defender/midfielder Florian Jungwirth told Quakes Epicenter that, "If I see the other teams, we have to be honest: most of the teams are better than us. It's simple this year." While that comment didn't endear him to his teammates, he wasn't wrong either.

Nowhere are Fioranelli's missteps more obvious than in the construction of the Quakes' defense. In the midst of a 2017 campaign in which his club conceded 60 goals, Fioranelli began revamping the center of defense. He brought in Francois Affolter in the middle of last season and acquired Yeferson Quintana on loan from Uruguayan side Penarol prior to this campaign. Yet the Quakes have actually gotten worse in this area, and are on pace to ship 69 goals this season. Their current mark of 39 translates to 2.05 goals allowed per game, second worst in the league.

Neither Affolter nor Quintana have proven capable of locking down one of the center-back spots. Jungwirth has seen time in the middle, but prefers to play in midfield. Of late, Stahre has relied on Harold Cummings and Jimmy Ockford, with no improvement. Now yet another-center back, Guram Kashia, has been signed in the hope that he can singlehandedly add some steel to the Quakes' defense. A source familiar with Kashia from his time at previous club Vitesse describes him as "a great leader, but he makes mistakes." That said, he can't do much worse than what's already there.