Quakes Quickie: Flexing Formations Against Underdogs
There may not be a lot to learn about this team in their victories against a couple of USL-level sides: a 3-1 victory at Sporting Kansas City and then a 2-0 Open Cup win over Phoenix Rising. However, the San Jose Earthquakes tried out a couple of new things that are worth keeping an eye on as they head into a clash with their fellows on the top of the Western Conference, LAFC, this weekend.
First, a note on the season so far: 7 matches is about 1/5 through the 34-game season. These fifths can be roughly broken into the following:
- Get your basic concepts down
- Build out of those concepts for when your team is in a tricky spot
- Survive the dog days of summer and prove your depth
- Buy some reinforcements
- Sprint and have momentum into the playoffs
The Quakes have historically not really cared about #5 or, to be honest, #4. We'll get there (even if, as Matt Doyle said in his recent mailbag, the purse strings are characteristically tight this summer).
San Jose has started this year hot thanks to their discipline and energy: a 4-3-3 attack that makes space for killer passes across the box, as well as a 4-at-the-back defense with an intense press and dominant centerback pairing.
Every team that gets 60+ points in MLS needs to change it up a bit, either because they're playing into the teeth of an opponent or because injury/fatigue rotations mean you have players that don't fit the initial system. But instead of reinventing the wheel, a good team is flexible and uses their same concepts in a different form.
Trying out the 4-2-2-2
Against Phoenix in the Open Cup, San Jose came out in a 4-2-2-2. This was a defensive midfield of Jonathan Gonzalez and Ian Harkes; Noel Buck and Nick Fernandez on the wings, and Timo Werner playing underneath Nonso Adimabua. Unlike the 4-3-3 where wingers Jamar Ricketts and Ousseni Bouda are trying to beat their markers to the endline, in the 4-2-2-2 San Jose has Buck and Fernandez playing with their stronger feet to the inside, cutting in to play off of Timo's space Nonny's frame.
Quakes fans may be a bit scarred by the 4-2-2-2, as it was used by Mikael Stahre for some of the most dire soccer played in the Bay Area. A talented opposing #6 can carve it up in transition: since play is through the channels, there is nobody either in the middle or on the wings to stop an opposing counterattack. But talented opposing #6s don't really exist at the USL level, and the Fernandez/Werner/Buck interchange led to a couple of quick goals on Wednesday (that said - Phoenix was able to get some good counterattacks going, which led to Jonathan Gonzalez picking up a very not-smart second yellow less than 40' in).
While it wasn't perfect, the formation was good enough to comfortably move forward in Open Cup play by getting players like Noel Buck into their favored spots without compromising backline solidity. Werner in a second-forward role is probably the best fit for him - and then the question is where he fits in with Niko Tsakiris and Preston Judd. But having formational flexibility in these next several congested games before the World Cup break will be key.
Nick Fernandez's Coming Out Party
The man of the match on Wednesday was Nick Fernandez, with 1g/1a (and after a solid 30' against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday). He had a great strike and a very nifty assist - and interestingly, Coach Bruce Arena said in his postgame comments that Fernandez's "more comfortable natural position would be as a 10, but he's very versatile."
Fernandez played as a 6 in college and has been more of an 8 in the second team (letting higher-touted prospects like Cruz Medina and Rohan Rajagopal take the 10). He played as a mezzala on Wednesday. Generally speaking, "gets locked in defensively, makes smart passes, can hit the ball from distance" is a good resume for an American trying to get minutes on MLS no matter how far they're playing from goal. He game in on the wing against San Diego and SKC, but doesn't really have the speed to be anything more than a backup there.
Fernandez's progression this year will be key: If he can not just soak up minutes but thrive in any of the five midfield roles between Ronaldo Vieira and Preston Judd, the Quakes have a better chance of progressing in Open Cup and nabbing points in May and August. Without guys like him, Gonzalez, Buck, and Jack Skahan, you have a lot of staring at an exhausted Niko soaked in sweat and wondering when he's going to get a chance to play in Europe instead of Texas.
Fernandez is 24, so older than most true "prospects" in their second professional year. But he was a Barca Academy teammate of Diego Luna, a youth national teamer, and was by some statistical measures the Jude Bellingham of MLS Next Pro in 2025.* All signs point to a perfect fit of player and system in San Jose - it will be up to him to capitalize on it.
* Fernandez's 5.05 Goals Added, according to ASA, led all MLSNP. The next closest was Sam Sarver, with 4.62 in 800 more minutes. He also had huge positives in all five categories: dribbling, passing, interrupting, fouling, receiving, shooting.
