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March 18, 2008

Soccer America: Yallop in no hurry to fill roster

There's one more story from today's news. Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney spoke with Frank Yallop and reports that the coach is in no hurry to fill the team's roster.

"We could sign players, but I want to make sure they're good signings and what we actually need," says Yallop, who has former San Jose and D.C. United striker Jamil Walker with the team for the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston. "We have enough players to field a team. We will fill the roster as we move along."

Yes, that's the other news. In addition to Trinidand & Tobago striker Conrad Smith, Yallop has invited former Quake Jamil Walker to try out for the team. Walker, who is recovering from a severe Achilles tendon injury, was recently cut by DC United.

Oh, and there's one other thing: the Washington Post's Steven Goff says that the Quakes may be looking at Argentine forward Facundo Sava, who Wikipedia says is 34.

Posted by Jay at March 18, 2008 09:21 AM

Comments

Hey Everyone,

I have a couple of tidbits to share here. Check out Melissa's Offside season preview, it's an excellent read.

http://www.theoffside.com/leagues/mls/mls-season-preview-san-jose-earthquakes.html

Also, though I love the Ives Blog almost as much as this one but...look at his answer to my question on how he thinks the 'Quakes will do this year below. I couldn't disagree with him more. (I'll make sure and remind him what he said after the Quakes beat the Metro Bulls... twice!! )

"IVES- I think the Earthquakes are going to struggle badly. I know there are plenty of good vibes because of the success San Jose had the last time around, especially since Frank Yallop is back, but I'm having serious doubts about how the Earthquakes are building their team and I think they are in for a terrible first season."

What????? Huh?????

Posted by: Zungazan at March 18, 2008 02:55 PM

Wow - thanks for the kudos! I think guys like Ives and Luis Bueno (he said similar stuff at his Sideline Views blog) are going on the information they have access too which is basically the expansion draft and a few trades. They don't have the opportunities like many of us do in the Bay Area to see one or a few Quakes pre-season games and track the team's progress. I don't think the Quakes FO are disallowing journalists to go to practice/games and interview the staff/players, I just think not a lot of journalists in this region are actually doing it. Ives has been writing great pre-season reports on NY and Bueno on Chivas and the Gals but are there real soccer journalists here to do that for the Quakes? Maybe its enough to convince guys like Awipi to start their own blog (speaking of, when will centerlinesoccer be ready?)

Posted by: Melissa at March 19, 2008 10:16 PM

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the coverage that will be offered at centerlinesoccer.com once the site launches, which will be in the next week or so. (There will be an announcement here.) I'll be the site's managing editor and we'll have photos from John Todd and his gang at ISI Photos, video from Harvey Rañola and Embele Awipi (as you have probably seen already), and a group of writers including Jeff Carlisle, Embele, and former Quakes assistant coach Tim Hanley. We've got a couple other tricks up our sleeves as well. We're all pretty excited about having the opportunity to give Quakes fans a news outlet they can be proud of.

Posted by: Jay Hipps, SSV at March 19, 2008 10:25 PM