GM reflects on team’s rapid rise
An unforeseen hot streak. A reinvigorated fan base. A dormant franchise suddenly catapulted into playoff contention.
No, we’re not talking about the San Francisco Giants. The Bay Area’s hottest pro team this summer has been the San Jose Earthquakes, a former laughingstock that needed mere weeks to morph into one of the strongest clubs in Major League Soccer.
The Earthquakes have lost just twice since May 11, rallying behind firstyear coach Matías Almeyda to establish themselves as legitimate contenders with less than two months left in the regular season. Last weekend’s 21 defeat in Colorado dropped San Jose (1185) to fourth place in the Western Conference, but that leaves the Quakes firmly in the playoff hunt with a game at Sporting Kansas City on tap Saturday night.
Last week, Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli sat down for an interview with The
Chronicle. The 39yearold Switzerland native is enjoying his club’s resurgence after enduring a disastrous 2018 campaign that saw the Earthquakes finish last with a 4219 record, the worst mark in franchise history.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: That 2018 season must have been brutal for everyone involved. Had you ever experienced anything like that before in your career or your life?
A: I think all of us didn’t experience something like this, whether it be a player, a person in the front office, a fan. We were all in a very vulnerable position. That was tough because it’s not about me — it’s about the people that I work with day in and day out that are exposed to questions, to criticism and so on. What I’m grateful for is the trust that I think we received from ownership throughout the process to stick this out. When we went into the 2019 season, we only made four signings. We kept the group intact. Both Matías and I were convinced that was a group of players that will turn around. Nobody could have known that we would be trending the way we are trending right now.
Q: Do you think it was in part a lack of MLS experience from the front office that contributed to the poor season?
A: It could be that being familiar with MLS could have helped in 2018, by having players that were American throughout that period of time . ... Not only was I new to MLS, but (former coach) Mikael Stahre was new to MLS. I think we were very vulnerable for the fact that if I now compare to Matías ... Mikael did not fall back onto a coaching staff that he had worked with previously. In hindsight, I think knowing the coaching staff members and the people that we were working with, we firmly believed in them, and I know how committed they were. But I do believe that with the decisions that I took, I certainly put us in a position where we were exposed.
Q: What do you think attracted Matías Almeyda to the Earthquakes?
A: I met Matías a yearandahalf ago. We had very open conversations. He was not just known for what he had done in Chivas (Guadalajara) but also in Argentina. He had taken on a club in Mexico that at the time when he took over had big difficulties, big challenges, a halfempty stadium. They didn’t have a game identity and certainly didn’t have titles . ... I think he saw in us a similar challenge to Chivas, and he said MLS is growing. One day it might even outcompete Mexico, but for the time being, he has a club with values, a club that wants to invest in him and believes also in every single coaching staff member that joined us.
Q: It was important that you allowed him to bring on whoever he wanted? A: Yes, they’re a family. He takes care of the guys, and his wife is very close to all the wives and the kids. Together they move. They don’t split up.
Q: So it’s the exact same coaching staff he had in Guadalajara?
A: Eighty percent, yes. Matias kept every single coach who wanted to continue this ride with him.
Q: Did Matias know anything about the Earthquakes when you met him?
A: He knew about the Earthquakes. He was back then in the midst of a season. These were very open conversations without us making any commitment to each other. There was interest, but more importantly, I think we hit it off from Day 1.
Q: On June 25, you signed Chivas winger Carlos Fierro, the Earthquakes’ most celebrated Mexican acquisition in years. What special qualities does Fierro bring to the team?
A: I think that Carlos is a player that has experience on a high level, but most important he has a quickness, a technical ability and also a quality to be able to attack the space. In Matías’ game, the ability to attack deep, to stretch the defensive line and at times also not only try to veer towards the center but to go deep on the wings is something that has proven to be very valuable as to how we produce goals.
Q: For a team in an area with a sizable Mexican American population, the Earthquakes do not have a history of signing many highprofile Mexican players. How much did that play into pursuing Fierro?
A: We don’t sign a player just because he comes from a specific country. We sign a player in general because he will reinforce the team . ... With Fierro I think what really drew our attention were a few things, and it’s similar to Andrés (Ríos): the fact that he’s very invested in the style of play that Matías has, and he came here also because of Matías. It’s not about your name or your origin or your age . ... When it comes to identifying talent, I think that we have over the last 2½ years since I’ve been here, we have paid a lot of attention to the Mexican market. But the fact of the matter is it has to fit in with the team, with the position, with the criteria, with the (salary) cap.
Q: Unlike the LA Galaxy, the Earthquakes have seldom been a club that pursues highprofile stars. Will you be looking to change that dynamic in any way?
A: We will never exclude the possibility to sign a topname player, in the same way we didn’t exclude the possibility to sign a toptier coach. Matías has said it a couple of times: He doesn’t like stars that much because they are too far to be able to reach. I really hope that the Earthquakes will never have to rely on one single player to win a game.