Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch Speaks to Media

June 24, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes hosted a virtual press conference with general manager Chris Leitch today after announcing they had parted ways with head coach Luchi Gonzalez and elevated assistant Ian Russell to interim head coach.

EARTHQUAKES GENERAL MANAGER CHRIS LEITCH

Opening statement:

“First and foremost, I’d like to start by thanking Luchi for the time he spent at this club for the last year and a half. Luchi has worked tirelessly with his co-workers, the technical staff, medical team, performance team, as well as individually with all our players to make them the best players and staff they can possibly be, so I really appreciate all the efforts that he put in. That being said, it was time to make a change. This is a results-oriented business. We weren’t getting the results and so we felt we needed to go in this direction. And I’m very much excited for Ian Russell to ascend into the head coaching role for the interim. I’m really excited to see his energy and see what he brings to the table. He’s a proven winner, and I know he’s going to do a good job leading this group.”

On the decision to elevate Ian Russell to interim head coach:

“We’re giving up way too many goals. I think we’ve given up over 50 goals already this year. That’s more than what we gave up all of last year. I’d say we’ve also been competitive in a lot of games though, too. We can’t forget that. I think 10 of the 19 games we’ve held the lead. Unfortunately though, we’ve dropped 20 points from winning positions, so we need to change some of those things. We need to turn losses into ties, and ties into wins, and those are things we weren’t able to do. And so the hope with Ian, with his experience in changing some things here, is to get this group over the hump so we can do those things that I speak of. Ian is a proven winner. He knows how to win. I think it’s going to approach some things differently. Maybe a little more practicality, simplifying some things.”

On if the Quakes will be active in the next transfer window:

“When you’ve given up that many goals, I think the first thought is along the back four and the goalkeeper. I don’t think that’s the case. Defending is a whole team effort, so by the time the ball gets to our back line, as Ian said this morning, that back line should be at times only picking up the scraps. So it’s not just on the defensive part to your question about…