The Argentine manager and his interpreter are making sure everyone knows what’s expected to turn around last year’s worst MLS team
The San Jose Earthquakes provided a window into their locker room this week.
A video showed new manager Matias Almeyda, the Argentine who took Chivas to titles in Liga MX, Copa MX and the Concacaf Champions League, spitting out instructions at halftime. As the 45-year-old lets the instructions flow, Agustin Zalazar cuts in. The interpreter – his official title is Head of Coaching Communications – hasn’t finished his translation before Almeyda starts the next line. It’s a beautiful chaos of language, but is the message getting across?
Absolutely, say members of the Quakes.
“It’s very clear. We talk so much, and he’s very open to talk and answer all the questions we have,” center back Guram Kashia told Goal. “Sometimes I have a lot of questions, but we don’t have an issue with that. Everyone is trying to help. There are a lot of guys on the team who can speak Spanish and translate for me, so it’s not an issue. We have meetings with video, replays, everything, all the small details which are important in soccer and it’s very clear. It’s very clear right now, but with so many new things we have to perform.”
Last season, whatever message previous coach Mikael Stahre was trying to transmit didn’t seem to be getting through. The Quakes were the worst team in MLS, racking up just 21 points. That was the fewest since D.C. United’s 2013 campaign. The offseason saw the club bet big on Almeyda, who fell out with Chivas’ directors last summer and was a candidate for jobs all over the world before settling in Northern California.
Hiring Almeyda was a coup for the Quakes, with rumors already flying that one of Liga MX’s biggest clubs will make an attempt to pry him away from the MLS team. For now, San Jose’s players looking to adjust to his unique style of play. Zalazar was needed, however, with Almeyda and his staff speaking only Spanish. The transition wasn’t immediate, but the group bonded during a grueling training camp in Cancun, where Almeyda had taken Chivas for preseason workouts in the past.
“At first, it was really awkward, but when we spent those 17 days in Mexico it became kind of fun,” long-time Quakes midfielder Shea Salinas told Goal. “Everyone downloaded the app Duolingo. All the guys are trying to learn Spanish, all the Spanish-speakers are trying to learn English. We have these Spanglish conversations that are funny. It’s worked out well.
“And Agustin, our translator, does an amazing job of keeping up with how fast Matias talks and how fast he coaches. It’s been a much smoother transition than I had expected.”
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