2932 miles, 4 time zones and 3 goals between SJ and NY.

In November 2010, Red Bulls arena was the scene of the second-most famous comeback playoff win that the San Jose Earthquakes have ever executed.  The Quakes were behind down 1-0 after the Saturday evening home leg, when they left for the mid-week game in New York (well, as with so many New York teams – New Jersey).  Despite the disadvantage I was illogically optimistic, and left work early for the 5PM Pacific Time kick off.  My optimism was rewarded with two Convey goals that put the Quakes ahead, though it was dented again when Angel scored just one minute later.  At half time I’d thrown something vaguely edible in the oven, so when the timer rang in the 76^th minute I missed Convey’s inch perfect cross onto Wondo’s head for the go ahead goal.  I chewed through the dinner (and my fingernails) for the remaining fifteen minutes of the game. 

I was looking forward to the return match, but travelling to away games is inevitably expensive and time consuming for the fans, so most games are viewed at home or at a local watering hole such as Danny Coyle's or The Britannia.   We watched this week’s game at home on MLS Direct Kick on a sunny Saturday afternoon in California – while the game kicked off in New York under driving rain.   

It didn’t take long for NYRB to score – the second minute in fact – and pretty soon it was apparent that this was the ‘Evil-Twin’ version of the San Jose Earthquakes.  The Red Bulls dominated possession, ably assisted by the Quakes giving the ball away, and their defense was burned horribly down the wings.  At one point things looked so bad that I actually counted the players on the field as the Quakes looked hopelessly outnumbered - a combination of New York playing well, and the Quakes playing badly.  The second half was notable for the end of Thierry Henry’s 694 minute goal drought off an assist by Rodgers, and the debut of Rooney (Minor) in the 89^th minute (I don’t recall him getting his feet on the ball).  Final score 3-0. 

A drubbing like that will happen from time to time, but this early in the season it throws into sharp relief all the missed opportunities earlier in the season.  This was only the fifth game of the 2011 season, but the missed scoring chances in the home opener against RSL and the defensive error against Seattle suddenly take on more significance.  There are 29 games to go, so we can hope that the good midfield play we’ve seen so far will reveal itself once again, and the effect of the a few badly executed plays will be diluted out by October.

Sleep improves soccer performance

Without making excuses for the Quakes poor performance – okay maybe just a teeny bit – travelling from the west coast to the east coast can take its toll.  Tweets from the players indicated who scored a window seat, and who got the chubby middle-seater – so it’s obvious that these guys are not travelling in style; economy all the way. The large travelling distances also presents the phenomenon of circadian advantage – scientific research had previously shown the negative effect of coast to coast travel on the performance of baseball teams.  Teams with a three hour time-zone disadvantage to their home rival are likely to lose 60% of the time, compared to 50% of the time when they are equal.  The same research shows that for every time zone crossed, synchronization to that time zone requires one day.  Since the Quakes left northern California for Red Bull arena on Thursday afternoon for the game on Saturday they should only have been disadvantaged by one hour, minimizing the advantage to NYRB to 51.7%.  However, disrupting circadian rhythms can cause such short-term effects as irritability, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, disorientation and gastrointestinal disturbances – I know I experienced four of these five symptoms just watching the game. 

Still - it could have been worse, it could have been raining…again.


The Center Line Soccer match report can be found here.
Also posted at MLS_UK in the Eurosnob-free blog at www.majorleaguesocceruk.com