SAN JOSE, Calif. – Since bursting into the San Jose Earthquakes’ starting lineup in 2010, Chris Wondolowski has scored 112 of the club’s 284 goals, a rate of 39.4 percent. When you include the 22 times he recorded an assist, Wondolowski has played a direct role in nearly half (47.1 percent) of San Jose’s scores this decade.
The raw numbers are impressive, but they have left back Jordan Stewart a little worried as the Quakes try to chase down their first playoff spot since 2012.
“We’ve had a problem scoring goals this season, and obviously a lot of pressure is on Wondo,” Stewart told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “He’s our top goalscorer for the past seven years and we kind of like, score one goal and then try to hold on for a 1-0 victory. For me, we need to take the pressure off Wondo and all chip in ourselves.”
The Quakes could certainly use the help. With 27 goals in as many matches, San Jose are dead last in MLS in scoring, even though Wondolowski is tied for 12th-most individually with 10 tallies.
In this past Saturday's 1-1 draw with Seattle, San Jose coach Dominic Kinnear switched out of a 4-4-2 formation, which has been the Quakes’ predominant norm for the past year or so, and into what was listed as a 4-5-1. Fatai Alashe and Darwin Ceren formed the base of the midfield, and Simon Dawkins slid in from the left wing to fill the space underneath Wondolowski, who was pushed up to lead the line by himself for only the third time this year.
Wondolowski hasn’t been stationed that far forward with regularity since the first half of 2015, when he played atop a 4-1-4-1 setup and had middling results. The tactical change bore fruit in the first half vs. the Sounders, as it put Wondolowski in a position to pounce when a long ball from Quakes center back Victor Bernardez was misplayed by Sounders defender Tyrone Mears.
Mears’ failed attempt at intercepting the ball put it on a platter for Stewart to swoop in and deliver a low cross on the play. Wondolowski, running off the shoulders of Seattle’s center backs, won the sprint to the ball and side-footed it home.
“Once you get the ball wide, it’s the same movement in the box,” Wondolowski said Saturday of playing above Dawkins. “You always have to be smart and find space wherever it may be, whether it’s underneath or over [the top].”
Kinnear – who was indirectly criticized for playing a “boring” style by team president David Kaval last month in the wake of general manager John Doyle’s dismissal – said formational changes depend in large part on the personnel available. With Amarikwa still coming back from a right ankle injury suffered against New England on Aug. 24, one could read that to mean that Kinnear was forced into the move.
Whatever the motivation, the change seemed to give the Earthquakes more possession in dangerous areas, especially in the first 20 minutes when they bossed the game and scored the opener.
“I think you just [need] to have better possession of the ball, and I think we had that throughout the game,” Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com. “Chris found himself in the box quite a lot. The goal obviously comes from a good switch of play and going at them with pace. It gives Chris a good tap-in.
"But even on top of that ... he always seemed to be in and around the box. You watch the video, [with] a little break here, a little break there, he’s finding the ball at his feet. But he found himself in the box quite a lot, which is how we wanted it to happen.”
With Amarikwa on the mend – he is expected to come off the Quakes’ injury list this week – it remains to be seen what look Kinnear will use in a critical trip to Colorado on Saturday (9 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
“You always want to put out what you feel could be your best team that day, personnel-wise, formation-wise,” Kinnear said. “It can change. Everyone says, 'Oh, I’m just a 4-4-2 [coach],' but if you look back in the past, I’ve played with a single forward quite a few times, in Houston and here. It just depends on personnel.”
