Storylines is ready for something new. Sure, the season just started, and it’s been great, but we knew what to expect from LAFC, and though Montréal was fun, Eastern Conference opponents don’t come back very often. I’m talking about a good old-fashioned intra-conference refresh; I’m craving a new challenge from one of our familiar foes. Luckily, that’s exactly what’s on the way this weekend in San Jose.
Last year’s Earthquakes squad was lackluster, to say the least. They tied with New England for the worst goal difference in the league (-37), allowed the most goals (78), and tied their lowest ever MLS point total (21). It was a year to forget, and sometimes, the best way to forget a historically bad season is to head in a new direction.
On November 7, 2024, long after their season ended in unceremonious fashion, the Quakes announced that MLS legend Bruce Arena would be taking over as head coach and sporting director of the club. If you’re unfamiliar with Arena’s résumé, let me help you get out from under that rock. He’s a five-time MLS Cup champion, the longest-serving USMNT manager, and the winningest coach in league history. He’s done fairly well.
Arena got straight to work after joining San Jose, bringing in 13 new players this transfer window and sending 14 players packing. He’s reshaping this roster in his own image, reuniting with four players he worked with in New England (Ian Harkes, Mark Anthony-Kaye, Dave Romney, and Earl Edwards Jr.) and making the most of his SuperDraft picks, adding starting midfielder Beau Leroux from San Jose State.
While those moves are smart and will likely prove to be invaluable as Arena rebuilds the club, it’s the two splashy signings at the business end of his 3-5-2 formation that feel most noteworthy. Do the names Josef Martínez and Chicho Arango ring any bells?
Let’s start with Martínez. The former Golden Boot winner is sixth on Major League Soccer’s all-time leading scorers list with 117 goals in 13,415 minutes, giving him a goal just about every 114 minutes he plays. He’s tallied 10+ goals in five different MLS seasons, including setting the single-season scoring record in 2018 when he notched 31 goals in just 34 games (Vela broke it a year later, but come on, I’m still impressed). He proved that he could do it away from Atlanta last season, finding the back of the net 11 times in just 23 games for Montréal, only 13 of which he started.
If that wasn’t enough, Chicho has joined from RSL. He hasn’t been in the league for as long as Martínez, but he’s managed to make quite the name for himself during his four seasons in MLS, scoring 54 goals in just 6,976 minutes (a goal every 129 minutes). He scored 14 of those goals in just 17 games in his debut season with LAFC in 2021, and after the most impressive start to a season I’ve ever seen in 2024 with Real Salt Lake, he’s proven that goals follow him wherever he goes.
These guys have been scoring at a rate that puts the top five goal scorers in league history to shame. They’ve both already gotten off the mark this season, scoring one apiece in their Matchday 2 win over Sporting Kansas City. With Cristian Espinoza sticking around to serve up assists on a silver platter to his new teammates, two of the league’s most dangerous goal threats are potentially on the cusp of a truly scary season. With a man like Bruce Arena leading them, it feels like a foregone conclusion that they’ll have more to celebrate in 2025 than they did in 2024.
Western Conference playoff teams scored an average of 59 goals in 2024. Your Loons were a single goal behind that mark, while Saturday’s hosts fell a whopping 18 goals shy of the playoff standard. The Quakes always knew they’d need to shake things up this season, and though it’s impossible to judge whether or not their moves will work out the way they hope this early in the season, the initial evidence is encouraging, to say the least. Two wins from two games, six goals scored, and leading the way in the Western Conference. I'm not saying they're going to go from worst to first, but I'd brace myself for some seismic shifts in performance this year if I were an Earthquakes fan.
