How to Build a Backline

Credit: San Jose Earthquakes

For all the Quakes’ improvements this season, none stand as impressive as their defensive record.

Without any massive moves in the back, Arena built one of the best backlines in MLS. A team synonymous with leaky defenses in seasons past now rests its laurels on stopping goals.

Coming into the season, most expected that the addition of Werner would make the Quakes an almost purely offensive team. Essentially, the hope was that the frontline would carry the option.

Instead, player development at the center-back position and midfield balance changed the team’s fortunes. Daniel Munie showed flashes last season of being a starting-caliber center back, but this All-Star jump came out of nowhere. Additionally, with a full preseason under his belt, Ronaldo Vieira gave the team a completely different look.

After playing with a 3-4-3 last season, the shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation helped build a fantastic defensive unit. Arena struggled for most of last year to balance this side, but the formation change finally gives the Quakes the much-needed balance. As mentioned earlier, Vieira’s rise as the ball-stopper in midfield unlocked this formation’s success.

Even as the frontline slowed down as the World Cup break neared, the backline stood strong.

For the first time in over a decade, defense is now a strength for the Quakes.

By not bringing in any defensive reinforcements, especially after losing so many options, a repeat of the terrible defenses of seasons past seemed in the cards again. Instead, Arena trusted that player development would make up for the lack of moves.

Thus far, the defensive improvements this season prove Arena correct. Almost every player in the backline and midfield made strides defensively from the disaster class of last year. None more so than Daniel Munie.

As the season fell apart for the Quakes last year, Arena finally decided to give the defender a chance in the summer. Despite glimpses throughout that period, his performance against a red-hot SDFC showed that he could be a top-class defender in MLS. 

Finally given the chance to lead a backline, Munie transformed into an All-Star caliber defender in the first half of this season. An elite tackler, Munie reads opponents so well that he’s able to position himself well to stop attacks. That ability to position himself and his partners to best suffocate attacks is perhaps the biggest improvement one could ask from a young center back.

Losing DeJuan Jones meant that Arena would be forced into finding some sort of replacement for such a well-balanced player. To his credit, after showing defensive lapses last year, Jamar Ricketts settled well into life as the team’s starting left back. While he still struggles with tricky wingers, Ricketts no longer acts as a traffic cone on that side of the ball.

After rough, injury-laden seasons over the past two years, Daniel returned to his best form this season. With the best backline that he’s played with in San Jose, the Brazilian no longer needs to worry about cleaning up mistakes. This, in turn, allows Daniel to remain one of the league’s best pure shot stoppers.

The front office made a big bet that this side could compete defensively without making any defensive transfers in the winter.

Players continuing to develop and mesh well with Arena’s new system showed that this was a good bet.

One imagines that the majority of the past offseason revolved around getting players used to the new system. Last year’s disaster necessitated a complete overhaul of Arena’s system. 

Using a 3-4-3 last year prioritized the potent front three, but ultimately sacrificed the team’s structure. Defensively, the team relied on a mishmash of defenders who either never played in a back three or were asked to do too much in the role. Additionally, none of the midfield pairings ever truly helped the team’s defense.

Moving back to a 4-2-3-1 better balanced the team, giving equal emphasis on both sides of the ball. However, Arena found more success defensively with this shift than most expected.

Vieira joined the team way too late last season to have any real impact, but his role as a pivot in the center changed the midfield. Mostly playing alongside Leroux, the former Sampdoria man acts as another center back in the midfield. This presence gives them much-needed strength in the midfield and a pivot to spring counters once the ball is won back.

One of the strengths of this roster, and last season’s, comes from the glut of talented wingers. To feature these players while still balancing the team, he broke up the responsibilities. Rather than having the fullbacks overhelp in the attack, the wingers are given complete freedom while the fullbacks act as support.

In turn, breaking up the responsibilities in this clearer way gives them multiple lines of defense. More clearly defined roles further enable the team to understand their defensive responsibilities and to challenge opponents to break them down through the middle. Rather than constantly reacting to opponents, this Quakes’ team anticipates their attacks, acting to stop attacks before they can fully take shape.

Changing formations and giving his players more clearly defined defensive roles allowed the team to finally achieve some defensive prowess.

Rather than giving in to the chaos of last season, the decision to play a more traditional formation made life easier for the roster.

Since their slide began over a decade ago, the San Jose Earthquakes have been the worst defensive team in MLS. Almost every manager, Arena included, attempted to make up for this pitfall by leaning into creating a potent attack.

After last season’s failures, the team decided to return to some sort of normalcy by building a playoff-caliber backline.