SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear describes himself as anything but the type of person who compulsively checks Twitter or reads message boards. So the Internet’s lavish praise for the ball-handling skills of Quakes homegrown attacker Tommy Thompson is not really going to cut any ice with the man who won four MLS Cups as an assistant or head coach.
“I understand, he’s a [fan] favorite, but if I were to play everybody’s favorites, we would need 25 positions on the field,” Kinnear told reporters this week. “You’re not going to please some people.”
Kinnear presumably mollified Thompson’s fans – at least slightly – by giving the 19-year-old his first minutes of 2015 last weekend. Thompson came on with 10 minutes left to replace Matias Perez Garcia and help San Jose close out a 1-0 victory against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.
“I was glad to get over that first obstacle of breaking in, and I’m hoping to continue to contribute in the future,” Thompson told MLSsoccer.com this week. “Coming in in the 80th minute, when you’re up 1-0, your primary job is to close out the game, to kill it off. And when I was on, I thought we did a good job of preventing them from having any serious chances, and the game ended in a win. That is always the ultimate goal.”
Thompson has drawn attention with his YouTube-ready individual skills, but he’s been stuck behind a number of more veteran players. In training, Thompson primarily lines up in the same spot as Perez Garcia, one of San Jose’s three Designated Players and one of our four men to start each match in 2015.
“He trains well,” Kinnear said. “It’s just a position where Matias is getting the minutes right now.”
There’s a similar situation on the wings, where Thompson has been roaming of late with the US Under-20 national team.
“Right now, Shea [Salinas] has been playing well,” Kinnear said. “Sanna [Nyassi] has been playing well. I know Leo [Leandro Barrera] can play there, and Innocent has played well for us there. There’s a glut of people for some of these positions.”
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As a rookie, Thompson spent parts of last season on loan to USL side Sacramento Republic FC, a stone’s throw from his suburban high school in Granite Bay. At this point, Thompson sounds like someone who would rather fight his way through the Quakes’ logjam of attack-minded players rather than getting more game experience elsewhere.
“I’d much rather have a talented team like we do this year, and be constantly competing for a spot, rather than walking onto a team and not be challenged,” Thompson said. “I’m grateful to be challenged every day in practice. All it’s going to do is make me a better player. With guys like Matias Perez Garcia, Innocent Emeghara and Chris Wondolowski playing the midfield and forward spots, it gives me a lot of players to learn from.
“If that means I need to work hard for my minutes, then so be it. I know it’s going to make me a better player, so I’m not upset about it.”
Thompson will presumably be getting plenty of action in the next couple of weeks with the US U-20 squad. Thompson is flying out of New York following the Quakes’ match Friday night against the Red Bulls (7 pm ET; UniMas, UnivisionDeportes.com) to join the Americans in Austria, where they’ll train before facing Qatar and Croatia in exhibition matches. It will be another chance for Thompson to bolster his case to be part of the US squad for the U-20 World Cup, which begins May 30 in New Zealand.
“It’s exciting,” Thompson told reporters. “Things are coming to fruition, and it’s great to see.”
