SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes requested and received an early release for Fatai Alashe from the US Under-23 national team so the rookie midfielder could return from Toulon, France in time to go the distance in the Quakes’ scoreless draw with FC Dallas on Sunday.
It’s less likely that they can so easily duck what would be a more lengthy and potentially painful call-up: That of team captain Chris Wondolowski to the US Gold Cup squad.
Wondolowski is the only Quake to score more than once this season, netting eight of San Jose’s 14 goals. And with forwards Innocent and Steven Lenhart both out with long-term injury issues, any absence for the club’s all-time leading scorer could be felt all the more keenly.
Wondolowski is no sure thing for the Gold Cup, but he has been a favorite of coach Jurgen Klinsmann and had a memorable turn in the tournament’s 2013 edition, scoring five goals in the Americans’ first two group-stage matches to share Golden Boot honors.
If Wondolowski makes the final US roster, it could imperil his presence for a critical July slate packed with four league matches against Western Conference opponents, three of them away from Avaya Stadium.
“Yes, you’d like for other people to be scoring goals,” Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “But seeing that Chris has eight, you’re happy with that. [It’s] not for lack of chances. We’ve had some good chances where some other guys could have more than one goal. Sometimes goalkeepers have pulled off good saves; sometimes it’s lack of execution at the final moment.”
The Quakes rank 13th in the league in shots per game at 11.6 and 17th in shots on goal at 3.6 per match. Only 30.7 percent of San Jose’s attempts are finding the target, a figure that ranks 16th out of 20 clubs.
Kinnear said he’s not having long chats with players about finding more sources for goals, surmising that they already know all about it.
“I think they’re under enough pressure as it is,” Kinnear said. “If a guy’s missing a chance, he maybe starts thinking too much about it. For me, all in all … if we were getting no chances, it’d be a heck of a lot worse. Our record would be a lot worse, too. On the other side, you look as you go, ‘We’re getting chances where we should be getting more goals.’ So it’s just execution, at times.”
One player who might fill the void is midfielder Matias Perez Garcia, who leads the team with three assists but also has eight shots on goal, second behind Wondolowski’s 16. Perez Garcia was having an influential game Sunday before being sacrificed in the 59th minute to shore up the Quakes’ set-piece defense and hold-up play after forward Mark Sherrod’s ejection. Perez Garcia reacted by slamming down a water bottle in frustration at being forced to come off.
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“You look at him, he’s starting to look more confident and playing better, I thought,” Kinnear said of Perez Garcia. “Until the red card, he was one of the better guys on the field. He’s more of a passer than a finisher of plays, but in the Columbus game, he was getting on the end of some good things. And that’s why the message from us is, ‘Vary your play. Sometimes drop back and get it, but always remember we do like you up close to goal,’ because he does have that ability to either make the pass or consistently get the ball on target.”
To some extent, San Jose can be heartened by the fact that they sit at 5-5-4 despite not yet finding a consistent second option behind Wondolowski. A true second option could give them the push needed to get above the clot of teams currently fighting for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“As long as we’re scoring and winning, that’s what we want to be doing,” said forward Adam Jahn, one of the six players with one goal thus far in 2015. “Wondo is one of the best forwards in the league, so it’s great that he’s producing the way he is.”
