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Earthquakes hope to right ship at Union

Apr 29, 2011 - 6:35 PM Chester, PA (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Union end a two week break in Major League Soccer play when they host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at PPL Park.

Philadelphia hopes it picks up where it left off, which is toward the top of the table thanks to the best defense in the Eastern Conference.

"The ball hasn't come to me a lot, but that is because of a very good job of my defense," Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon told his club's website. "We need to be very concentrated from the first to last minute. Anything can happen and the ball can get through the defense."

The defensive strength is a big change from a year ago, when the team struggled in the backline and in goal in its first season in MLS.

"I think it's a 180-degree turnaround from last season," Union midfielder Kyle Nakazawa told his club's website. "Two goals from set pieces [allowed] in five games is pretty good. ... I think defensively, we're playing with a lot of confidence from the backline to the midfielders and so on. I think we're going to get better as the season goes on. I think we have to be pretty pleased so far."

Not good news for a San Jose Earthquakes team that currently sits in last in the Western Conference table. The team is on a four-game winless run that prompted a players only meeting this week in an effort to straighten things out.

"I've been playing sports since four or five years old and this is one of the tightest groups I've been a part of," San Jose center back Bobby Burling told mlssoccer.com. "It's easy in that setting to come in and say, 'okay, we need a meeting.' It's hard to call a friend out, but to get it off you in the right setting is what you need to do."

So what is wrong with the 'Quakes?

To put it simply, they aren't scoring goals and they are allowing too many chances to the opposition, which could be a case of a team not putting in the effort in the early going this season.

"I don't want to keep being repetitive, but we've got to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we need to do as individuals to come together as a team and get these results," San Jose defender Brandon McDonald told mlssoccer.com. "When you lose games and lose them [while playing] hard, then it's not as bad. When you lose games where you don't play well and don't have the effort, then it's bad."