SAN JOSE, Calif. – It’s not unusual for high draft choices to come into a professional sports league with equally lofty expectations.
What is unusual is for a rookie to make believers of new teammates as quickly as Michigan State midfielder Fatai Alashe – selected fourth overall in the 2015 SuperDraft – convinced San Jose Earthquakes teammates this winter.
“We’d heard that he was a good player, kind of Ricardo Clark-like, but you never really can expect a whole lot from rookies because you just never know what they’re going to be like,” Quakes midfielder Shea Salinas told MLSsoccer.com this week. “But clearly, from the first preseason game he played, all of us knew that he was going to be a good player and a contributor.”
Alashe needed no time in establishing himself as new coach Dominic Kinnear’s first choice as a classic No. 6 providing cover in front of San Jose’s backline. Indeed, the Quakes dealt incumbent Sam Cronin just four days after picking up the 21-year-old with their highest draft pick since 2010.
And while it’s a noisy stat suffering from a small sample size, here’s something to chew on: With Alashe in the starting lineup, the Quakes – dead last in the West in 2014 – are 6-2-3 this season. When Alashe doesn’t start, San Jose are 0-3-1. And he'll likely be lining up Saturday night in the Quakes California Clásico matchup with the LA Galaxy (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“He’s just a calm presence in there,” Salinas said. “I think he finds good spaces to get the ball, and he keeps it well for us. He’s been a big part of our team this year.”
As Kinnear put it: “All I can say, bottom line, is that I think we’re a better team with him on the field.”
Better enough that the Quakes asked for Alashe’s early release from the US Under-23 team which was competing earlier this month in the prestigious Toulon Tournament. Alashe scored against Costa Rica as the Americans went 3-2 overall and took home third-place honors.
“The competition was obviously a lot different,” Alashe said. “I’ve played in some U-23 games before, but those were more friendlies. This wasn’t a major tournament, but it was a competition and you could tell there was a lot more competitive spirit going into it, from other teams and our team as well. For me, it was definitely a good experience. I definitely did learn a lot and hopefully will be able to use that here and continue growing.”
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Alashe, who scored the Quakes’ first goal in brand-new Avaya Stadium, gave himself mixed reviews to this point, calling it “a good start” but also admitting, “I haven’t been overly thrilled with the way I’ve played.”
Alashe has been happy with his ability to work with the Quakes’ backline and put up a roadblock to opposing No. 10s as San Jose has emerged with one of MLS’ stoutest defenses, allowing just 1.00 GAA through 15 matches. Many of the items on his personal to-do list have to do with circulating the ball from defense to attack.
“Just simple stuff, like on the ball, being calm,” Alashe said. “Playing forward more. Little stuff, but that’ll come. I’m not really too worried about it because I know that’s something that takes time to learn and get used to when you’re stepping up at a higher level than you were a few months ago.”
With his France trip in the rear-view mirror, Alashe can concentrate on cleaning up those areas and avoiding any kind of rookie-wall dip while continuing to give chase to overall No. 1 pick Cyle Larin in the Rookie of the Year race. In the distance are twin possibilities: the MLS playoffs and the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in October.
Given the results to date, there’s no reason to think Alashe can’t reach both.
“I think he’s more than motivated to do well here,” Kinnear said, “because I think he knows that doing well here leads to doing stuff for the Under-23s and beyond.”
