SAN JOSE, Calif. – To help bolster a team that has been held to a total of three goals in their last five league matches, the San Jose Earthquakes announced a deadline-day deal to acquire a pragmatic midfielder who’s scored once in his last two club seasons.
Panamanian international Anibal Godoy might not boast a history of prodigious goal totals, but he brings other qualities that could be even more valuable to a San Jose side that was often hurt in the center of the pitch while enduring a winless July.
“[Godoy] brings a good bite to his game, but he’s also a good passer of the ball and calm under pressure,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear told reporters Thursday. “I think he’s going to definitely help our midfield out.”
The Quakes too often found themselves unable to quickly advance possession outside their defensive third or committing costly turnovers in dangerous positions as San Jose lost seven times across all competitions last month, including four MLS games.
“Winning balls in midfield sometimes turns a game in your favor, just by being aggressive,” Kinnear said. “I think he adds that to our team. … He’s not a negative player. I think he has an eye for looking to play the ball forward, whether it be the first [pass] or the second one [after regaining possession]. I think it’s important to have that in your game, rather than just a guy who’s destroying and then knocking it backwards or sideways.”
Godoy, a 25-year-old mainstay for his country who went the distance in Panama’s third-place victory against the US in last month’s Gold Cup, was brought in on a 2 1/2-year deal using Targeted Allocation Money, Quakes general manager John Doyle said. Godoy first alighted on Doyle’s radar at the 2011 Gold Cup, when the youngster partnered Gabriel Gomez in Panama’s midfield.
“At that time, Godoy was the player who … covered a lot of ground, did a lot of dirty work,” Doyle said. “I was very impressed then.”
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But Godoy left his home country in 2013 to join Honved Budapest, who turned down Doyle’s overtures last year. The GM got word at this year’s Gold Cup that Honved would be more amenable to a deal and moved to bring in the left-footer.
“I thought, ‘Great, rather than bring him in at the start of next year, if there’s an opportunity to bring him in now, let’s bring him in and add him to the team,’” Doyle said. “I think we could use another body in [midfield], another good player.”
Kinnear said he’s hoping Godoy will arrive in San Jose next week and be available for the Quakes’ home match against Colorado on Aug. 14.
Godoy could slot straight into the backline shielding role that rookie Fatai Alashe has been manning for much of the season in San Jose’s 4-1-4-1 lineup. His arrival might also spark a tactical shift in which Alashe and Godoy team up and Kinnear shuffles his four attacking slots to include some combination or Quincy Amarikwa, Matias Perez Garcia and Chris Wondolowski, who have been the Quakes’ three most potent offensive forces this season.
“You could play him next to Fatai, and that does free up Matias, Chris and Quincy,” Kinnear said. “You could play him in there on his own. … In speaking with him, he’s really dying to come to MLS and San Jose in particular. So you’re getting a guy who’s really motivated to do well.”
