Football Season Guide

After a fairly average 2017 campaign, the San Jose Earthquakes would scrape their way into the final playoff position in the Western Conference, finishing the season with a modest total of 46 points. Unfortunately for them however, they wouldn’t get too much further. Thrashed 5-0 against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first round knock-out stage, the Quakes have now gone 14 years without making it beyond the semi-final stage. The Californian side would struggle when it came to both scoring and defending goals, conceding the large number of 60, while only finding the back of the net 39 times. With the Earthquakes stuttering in mid-season, head coach Dominic Kinnear would be relieved of his duties. During the off-season period, it was confirmed that Swede Mikael Stahre would take charge of San Jose for the 2018 season, so it will be fascinating to see how he performs. The forty-two year old has only briefly experienced management outside of his home country, and has little experience when it comes to Major League Soccer, so the pressure is most definitely on. When it comes to transfers, San Jose have parted ways with a large number of players from last season, with considerable amount of fresh faces coming in. Victor Bernadez, Marc Pelosi, Kofi Sarkodie, Andres Imperiale, Cordell Cato and Darwin Ceren are just a few names to have left the club. With former designated player, Simon Dawkins, also leaving on a free, along with Marco Urena, who joins Californian rivals LAFC. Perhaps the most exciting arrival at the club is that of twenty-seven year old striker, Magnus Eriksson. Eriksson joined for a fee thought to be around $1.7 million, and comes into the side as their newest designated player. Having scored 17 times in 46 appearance for Djurgardens in the Swedish league, he could help provide some support to fellow striker, Chris Wondolowski.