The San Jose Earthquakes make their way south to face LAFC at Banc of California Stadium for the first time on Saturday.
Its been a tumultuous few weeks for San Jose. They became the first team in MLS to be eliminated from playoff contention. Then they fired their coach. And on Wednesday, they played in one of the weirdest matches in MLS history.
Now they face an LAFC team that is undefeated in its last five, but seething a bit after dropping points late at home to the New England Revolution.
And with all that swirling, who could forget that these two teams slugged it out in a wild 4-3 win for LAFC in the seventh minute of stoppage time back in June. Let's not waste any more time on the past though and get right into the Toyota Keys to the Match for LAFC vs. San Jose Earthquakes:
Expect The Unexpected
New Earthquakes head coach Steve Ralston is just one match into his professional career. The former midfielder had been an assistant under multiple coaches in San Jose. Now at the head of the table, Ralston is doing his best to change the Earthquakes on the fly.
Against Atlanta, he put out a motivated side that seemed intent on passing its way up the field - a real departure from San Jose's more direct approach most of this season. But could he change once again as he figures out what formation and tactics he is most comfortable with? LAFC will have to be prepared to see a mix of the previous approaches and possibly even more variation over the 90 minutes on Saturday.
Work With Width
Assuming Ralston uses a similar setup to what he employed in midweek, San Jose rolled five in the midfield and one up top. With Valeri Qazaishvili and Magnus Eriksson on the wings, Ralson had two players that tend to tuck in more than hug the touchline. This leaves a direct path for attackers like Diego Rossi, Carlos Vela, and, at times, Lee Nguyen to get at the Earthquakes backline.
LAFC's ability to play from outside to inside should see their attackers with time and space on the ball. They should also be a natural outlet for LAFC when San Jose pushes forward. It will be up to those wide players to start attacks and look to work the ball behind the San Jose backline or through them by combining with LAFC's midfield trio.
Track Back
One of the more dangerous elements of San Jose's attack against Atlanta was the use of late runs by midfielders.
Forward Danny Hoeson is excellent at holding up the ball and a decent passer. He also has the strength to engage center backs, forcing them deep into their own box. This opens up space just in front of the opposition's penalty area for the likes of Qazaishvili, Eriksson, and Aníbal Godoy to run into. The rotations of the LAFC midfield need to be executed in the right moments to not allow these runners to go free. Players like Eduard Atuesta will need to be cautious in balancing LAFC and when to make runs going forward. While goalkeeper Tyler Miller will need to urge his center backs not to get caught sagging too deep, opening up areas centrally for San Jose to pop up and take shots or create.
