SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes’ backline injury bug is switching fields on head coach Dominic Kinnear.
Where Kinnear was plugging a hole at right back last weekend before hosting Real Salt Lake, he’s spent this week in search of a replacement on the other side of the pitch before facing Vancouver at Avaya Stadium.
Veteran Jordan Stewart is expected to miss his sixth straight match to open the season due to a calf issue, and incumbent starter Shaun Francis has not been cleared to play after a head-to-head collision with RSL’s Jordan Allen forced him to the sideline after 37 minutes last Sunday.
“Yeah, no doubt about it – we’re a little thin in that area,” Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com on Friday.
Possible starters on the outside include winger Cordell Cato, midfielder JJ Koval and center back Ty Harden. Cato would seem to have the inside track, having slid over to replace Francis upon the latter’s exit from Sunday’s match.
“I thought he had a good game,” Kinnear said. “He didn’t look out of place.”
Koval came on at right back in place of Cato, giving the second-year player another chance to showcase his versatility as the Quakes’ utility man of choice.
“There’s always been guys that you look at and maybe [observers] are always asking, ‘What’s their best position?’ that kind of thing,” Kinnear said. “But on the other side of it, you know that that player can do a competent job in many other positions. That makes him valuable to the squad, especially when that player’s healthy.”
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Things could have been worse for the Quakes, who should have regular right-back starter Marvell Wynne and center-back newcomer Paulo Renato returning from hamstring strains. Wynne has arguably been San Jose’s best outside back in 2015, and along with center backs Victor Bernardez and Clarence Goodson, should give San Jose three-fourths of their first-choice defending quartet.
“You like guys playing to their strengths,” Kinnear said. “Cordell did well last week [at right back], but if you look at the team as a whole and have guys healthy, you like having Marvell over there. He’s played good for us this year, so far, and I just think it adds a balance to the team that’s better for us.”
