SAN JOSE, Calif. – After struggling to maximize the value of their wide play in 2014, the San Jose Earthquakes went out this offseason and secured a new option for the left wing.
And yet, Leandro Barrera still hasn’t played a regular-season minute with the Quakes this year.
Instead of Barrera, the 24-year-old refugee from Chivas USA, or incumbent Shea Salinas, who has 23 assists over the last three seasons, Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear has positioned new Designated Player Innocent Emeghara in front of left back Shaun Francis for the last two matches.
It’s a matter of maximizing the talent on the field, even if it represents a major change for Emeghara. The 25-year-old has historically been a front-runner at his previous stops in Switzerland, France and Italy, but Kinnear needed to mesh Emeghara with fellow DPs Chris Wondolowski, and Matias Perez Garcia, who have been the two primary attackers in the middle of the pitch thus far this season.
“Is it playing 100 percent to his strengths? Probably not, and we’ve had that conversation,” Kinnear said. “In talking to him, it’s like, ‘For us to have all three guys on the field, this is the formation that we need to play right now. And this is the position for you. I think you’re going to be successful at it. I really do.’ So far, I think he’s done it and done it well.”
Certainly, there’s no quibbling for San Jose about the results – a pair of high-profile victories, at Seattle and against Chicago in the debut of Avaya Stadium heading into Saturday's away match against the New England Revolution (3 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“I think he understands it,” Kinnear said of the request to put him out of position. “I’m sure if you were to ask him, he’d say, ‘God, I want to play center forward.’ But right now, this is what’s best for the team.”
To be fair, Emeghara said nothing of the sort when asked by MLSsoccer.com, instead taking a philosophical bent.
“At the moment, the team needs me there,” Emeghara said. “I’m doing my best to help the team. That’s the most important thing. It doesn’t matter where I play, really.”
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Kinnear credits the success of Emeghara’s unusual placement to his willingness to work on the wing.
“It all comes down to the player’s attitude,” Kinnear said. “If he didn’t want to do it, I think you’d see a different player out there. … It’s different runs, and he’s attacking the goal at a different angle. But he’s still a threat. The main thing is, you want him to be a threat. Now, if he wasn’t a threat, then we have to probably try to do something else.”
Kinnear said he still wants Emeghara to try to stretch defenses, which was one of the biggest needs San Jose hoped to address with his addition. The payoff could be something like what happened in the 70th minute of the Quakes’ 3-2 win against Seattle on March 15. Emeghara fed a ball from the left wing to center forward Adam Jahn and broke free to collect an immediate return pass. A cutback dribble shed Sounders defender Brad Evans, and Emeghara curled his shot to the far post past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
“The goal was very nice,” Emeghara said. “It’s not in every season you make one or two goals like that. It’s not a goal that happens often. Football is a crazy game. In every game, I try to do my best to help the team. The most important thing is for the team to win. What does it bring me if I score many goals and our team lost?”
