This, what we just saw today, is why the San Jose Earthquakes went out and hung a shiny DP tag on Matias Perez Garcia, the diminutive Argentine who – for months and months – didn't seem to quite fit anywhere on the pitch.
He fits now. Dom Kinnear has pulled him a little deeper into midfield, and is making sure more of the game plays through MPG, and as a result the Quakes are stringing together some good soccer.
Let's take a quick look at their well-deserved 2-0 win over Seattle:
1. The Goal
Perez Garcia scored the second goal of his MLS career midway through the second half, and it was a doozy. You'll almost certainly see it nominated for AT&T Goal of the Week:
Admire the first touch. Admire the footwork and the balance. Admire the understanding of momentum – both his and the defenders'. There's no better time to go at a defense than when they're flat-footed because the angle of attack has changed so rapidly, and in this case that's exactly what San Jose got to work with.
Seattle were expecting Cordell Cato to push to the endline, then try to pull a cross back across the area, and sold out to protect against that. When Cato squared it early instead, MPG didn't just have time & space to take advantage of, he had an unprepared defense. Which he proceded to slaughter.
One other thing to understand is that while this isn't how the "third-man run" usually looks (Check out Federico Higuain's goal from last week if you want a peek at the way it's drawn up on the whiteboard), it's nonetheless a true midfielder's goal. Perez-Garcia isn't at his best just underneath a lone forward, and isn't often goal-dangerous. He's much better in the current set-up, a 4-3-3 that pushes both wingers up into the play while working off a center forward as a fulcrum.
2. The Assist
Part of what made Perez Garcia's adjustment so difficult is that he's not really a Higuain-esque goalscorer, nor is he a pure creator in the Javier Morales mold. His usage rate remains fairly low for a central midfielder, and he doesn't create a ton of chances.
He is, however, a problem solver who thrives in overloads. Part of what Kinnear has done really well this season is compress his team's game along one sideline or the other, and in so doing give MPG the chance to get on the ball in tight quarters with options around him. It's less about winning the entire game in that fashion and more about creating individual moments in which San Jose's most talented natural midfielder can draw multiple players to him, then cut them out of the play even without playing the ball forward.
Like so:
Perez Garcia isn't the first man into the play, and his final ball leaves Sanna Nyassi with a ton of work to do (which he does – brilliantly).
But he's part of the group that forces the initial turnover, and then once he gets on the ball his patience is extraordinary. By the time he releases Nyassi he has six Sounders all completely focused on him, including both the left back and left midfielder – the guys who should have been tracking Nyassi.
This is a pattern of play that's been repeated often so far in 2015. The Quakes try to turn you over along the sidelines, and then when they do, they don't dawdle. They just try to get you to overcommit.
3. The Role
So what is Perez Garcia's role, then? He's a ball circulator that doesn't get a ton of the ball; he's a playmaker who doesn't make a ton of plays; he's a goal threat who doesn't score many goals. He's a guy who constantly manages to open up the field, but doesn't play many long balls.
The passing map of San Jose defensive midfielder Fatai Alashe, provided by Opta and accessible in the matchcenter, actually tells more of the story on how the Quakes use their No. 10 than MPG's own map does:
Alashe mostly shuttles the ball to the flanks in order to let the fullbacks or wingers carry it forward. Once that happens, then MPG drifts to one side or the other and starts to combine in those channels, daring the defense to step into the overload.
It's a lot of fun, and not entirely replicable with different players pulling the strings – though subbing Tommy Thompson in for Perez Garcia perhaps tips Kinnear's hand a little bit in terms of what he sees as the future role for the US U-20.
What's clear, though, is that this Quakes group that were considered rank outsiders at the start of the season very much aren't. The defense continues to be steady and while the attack isn't exactly purring, they've been finding enough answers to stay above the red line. As they get more and more familiar with each other, and with the little Argentine who stirs the pot, those answers will come both more quickly and more emphatically.
