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Matias Almeyda is out as manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert was the first to report the news.
The decision was made to part ways with the Argentine hours after the Quakes tied Nashville SC, 2-2, extending San Jose’s winless start to the season to seven games, and making it the only team in MLS without a win. It isn’t clear the extent to which Almeyda will be paid the remainder of his contract.
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Sources told ESPN that Almeyda told the team after last week’s 4-3 loss to Houston that he was “done” as San Jose manager and that he would talk to the team the following Monday. But when Monday came there was no further clarity as to his future. Those sources also said that this is something that Almeyda had said to the team more than once over the years in the wake of difficult losses.
Almeyda concludes his three-plus seasons in San Jose with a regular season record of 31-42-25. He was signed to great fanfare and high hopes just prior to the end of the 2018 regular season. Almeyda’s man-marking system was expected to turn around the fortunes of a team that had qualified for the playoffs just twice in the previous eight seasons.
While the team played some exciting soccer at times during Almeyda’s tenure, the team lacked consistency, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Once the rest of the league became more familiar with his tactics, the team’s results suffered. San Jose did reach the playoffs during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, but that was done with the benefit of MLS expanding the playoff field in the Western conference to eight teams, with San Jose sneaking into the final spot.
For his part, Almeyda has on multiple occasions criticized San Jose’s lack of spending in comparison to much of the rest of the league.
Names already being suggested as possible replacements include El Salvador manager Hugo Perez, as well as former Quakes player and assistant Ian Russell, who managed the team’s affiliate in Reno for four seasons.