Joe Cannon isn't about to sleep on these San Jose Earthquakes, this new reshuffled and revamped version of the club that started the 2009 season.
After a week of two trades and a signing, the Quakes goalkeeper sees things fitting together for a late-season run.
That's even after a 2-1 loss at Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday at Qwest Field.
Cannon, who made three outstanding saves in the first half and finished with four, thinks the new group can move forward positively despite losing defensive mainstay Nick Garcia via trade. The return of midfielder Darren Huckerby, a former English star, is one big reason for encouragement.
"I think we're going to get on a roll, I really believe that," said Cannon. "I like our guys and really think our back four is coming along.
"I think we've got some good things coming in the future. I think tonight some individual mistakes were uncharacteristic."
Huckerby, who played his first 90 minutes since an injured quadriceps muscle put him out for more than two months, showed why he was named 2008 MLS Newcomer of the Year. Huckerby cut Seattle's lead to 2-1 on a smashing goal in the 68th minute.
"I think we can score from almost nothing, so it's really important we shore up our defense right now," Cannon said.
Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop isn't ready to throw in the towel, but was upset with the mistakes made on defense by his squad.
"Just a frustrating night," Yallop said. "We were just getting punished for sloppy marking on set plays and mistakes. Jason [Hernandez] steps on the ball for the first goal and [Fredy] Montero gets an easy goal at the back post.
"You can't do that at this level."
Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg scored on a 1-on-1 situation in the 42nd minute to put San Jose in a 1-0 hole.
Yallop thinks there could've been a different result if the two teams went into halftime scoreless.
"[Cannon] kept us in it," Yallop said. "But just to have them score right before halftime is the killer. You go in nil-nil and you can re-group. I thought the second half we played quite well most of it."
Cannon echoed his coach's thoughts.
"I felt they really didn't create much [in the first half], but a couple saves kind of came," Cannon said. "I mean they had a lot of pressure and a lot of possession, don't get me wrong.
"Tonight, the first half it just seemed to take forever to get out of there. We needed to hold the ball a little more to kind of weather their storm. We were unfortunate not to go in at halftime 0-0 with Ljungberg scoring so late."
Cannon sees some promise, but realizes this club needs to change direction quickly to add wins to its 2-8-2 record.
"Right now, with the guys we have, the stats aren't doing us any justice," he said. "It's just individual errors."
Matt Massey is a contributor to MLSnet.com
