When the San Jose Earthquakes dropped a 2-1 decision at New York City FC last weekend, Cityzens’ head coach Dome Torrent wasted little time in calling Matias Almeyda’s group the best they’ve faced at Yankee Stadium.
Those comments drew some headlines, and Almeyda recently spoke to a similar topic in a story with FIFA.com. He feels a revamped club that’s now viewed with more esteem.
“At the start of the season if you had asked any other MLS team who they'd most like to face, they would have said San Jose,” Almeyda said. “I'd like to know how they’d answer that question today. Many teams would think twice before naming us.”
The about-face is quite remarkable, as San Jose head into Week 29 of the regular season in position to make the Audi 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs. They hold the No. 6 seed in the West, though end with four matches against teams currently in postseason positions, starting with a trip to Atlanta Unitedthis Saturday (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter, TUDN).
It’s a stark contrast to 2018, as Mikael Stahre was dismissed in mid-September and Steve Ralston took over on an interim basis. The Earthquakes struggled to a league-worst 21 points, with their 71 goals against tied for second-most in MLS.
How things change.
“I try to make each and every player feel joy in what they do, and that they should take things in their stride and understand that mistakes are part of the process,” Almeyda said. “I treat everyone equally regardless of their ability. There are no such thing as stars.”
You can check out the full interview, as Almeyda speaks to the Concacaf Champions League, personal aspirations and much more.
