A Golden Chance

For the first time since López’s injury, Bruce Arena opted to start Niko Tsakiris in place of the Argentine. After rotating through various options, Arena chose to go with the player most similar to López.

In the first half against D.C. United, the offense seemed back to normal.

Many fans felt concerned about the development of Tsakiris and other youngsters upon the appointment of Arena. For the most part, those fears felt correct in the early goings of the season.

Especially after the injury to López, Arena’s reluctance to play the youngster highlighted fans’ fears. Going for more experience, the manager dropped Arango back to the midfield hoping he could match López’s production. By refusing to play a real number ten, the offense dried up.

Tsakiris’ Quakes career continues to be a bit puzzling. Despite the flashes he shows every other game, the youngster is still yet to solidify his place in the squad. Perhaps this offers him the best chance, given the number of top-tier vets surrounding him. 

Weeks of uncertainty left the team desperately needing a change.

With the squad struggling to score, Arena was forced into giving Tsakiris a chance.

A long-term injury to a player of López’s importance can push any team into a stall. For the Quakes, however, this sent them into a death spiral.

While he played well, López still wasn’t setting the league on fire. However, his importance came from his position. Playing in that number ten spot, he allowed Arango to focus only on attacking rather than creating chances.

With the correct decision, the Quakes should have survived this period without any real difficulty. Instead, Arena went a different route by placing more responsibility on Arango.

Placing Arango behind the partnership of Bouda and Judd worked for the two strikers, but not Arango. The Colombian found himself in a sort of no-man’s land where he was neither a danger in the buildup nor the attack. For as good as Bouda and Judd worked together, teams won by not having to game-plan for Arango. 

Additionally, other attempts to use Pellegrino in that role ultimately failed, given the forward’s inability to play make. As last season and Saturday proved, the Swede plays best when in a more central role with the freedom to cut in on his right foot. Outside of Arango and Pellegrino, only Mark-Anthony Kaye saw time in the López role.

Any attempts up to the game against D.C. United struggled to fully replace the Argentine because of the lack of a clean fit. Dropping back any striker nullified the offense, while pushing up a midfielder failed to bridge the gap between the phases. Only Tsakiris seemed able to fill in for López, but Arena didn’t give him the chance. 

Since the injury to the team’s best creative force, the Quakes have lacked a creative spark to help Espinoza.

Arena attempted to fill that void but was reluctant to give the closest fitting player a chance.

Saturday’s result proved to be the best game played by the Quakes in recent memory. While Tsakiris didn’t light up the pitch, his presence allowed the partnership of Arango and Martinez to succeed.

Playing Tsakiris against this weaker D.C. side allowed for the youngster to play with less pressure on his shoulders. Especially with Martinez back from international duty and ready to start, there was no reason to drop Arango. This game provided the best chance for Arena to evaluate the youngster in this role.

Arena allowed the creative talent to control a good part of the game. While the talent he faced on Saturday was below average, there’s enough to suggest that he should get another chance against better sides. 

Arango benefited the most from Tsakiris’ presence, as Martinez can find ways to score regardless of the team’s makeup. By giving the Columbian the freedom to just focus on being a threat, this forced D.C. into almost doubling him. Martinez capitalized on this, but so did Leroux, who was able to collapse into the box when threatening crosses came in.

One of the issues presented by the Bouda-Judd partnership was the need for Arango and Espinoza to spoon-feed them. While both players bring different skill sets, neither fits this current team’s makeup. Perhaps a healthy López is the piece that makes this partnership work, but Arango is too important to see his role diminished.

Having Tsakiris in that central role allows for Arango and the youngster to swap roles when necessary. This movement opened the game up for Tsakiris to set up Martinez and created a fluid offense. The makeup of the team when López or Tsakiris starts gives them the best chance at being a competitive side.

D.C. United presented a good test for Tsakiris in this role. He allowed this team’s offense to be fully unlocked to the best of his abilities.

While the team was impressive against United, Arena must get the team to perform like this against a better side. By reverting back to the style that saw the team come flying out of the gates, Arena knocked this team out of their recent lull.

Until López returns from injury, the manager needs to trust Tsakiris.

PHOTO: San Jose Earthquakes