2009 Recap: The Quakes suffered from a sad sophomore slump in 2009. Even though they finished in the cellar in ’08, they showed signs of life at the end of the season and Darren Huckerby (aka “The Sheriff of Nottingham”) looked like he could lead them to respectability in 2009. But, Yallop’s youthful side looked terrible this season, and they finished second to last. SJE fans should be thankful for the Red Bulls. At least the Quakes were not that bad, right?
Top Players: It is tough to give props to any SJE player due to the squad’s poor performance. But, if I must name names, I will throw out Ryan Johnson, Arturo Alvarez and Chris Leitch. Johnson led the Quakes in goals with 11, Alvarez played admirably at times (though I think he could have done better), and Leitch was the squad’s most consistent starter. In fact, the defender played so well that he even managed to notch a team leading 7 assists.
Symbolic Stats: There are many numbers that reveal why SJE was so sad in ’09. For instance, the number 1 signifies their sorry amount of road wins. The number 50 stands for the total goals they gave up (highest in MLS). The most telling number of all though deals with their longest winning streak of the season: 2. If you can’t string together more than 2 wins in a 30 game season, you don’t have any chance of success. SJE didn’t just struggle in ’09, they took a step backwards.
2009 MLS Season Review:
