San Jose Earthquakes fire head coach Almeyda, Wondolowski returns as assistant

Almeyda's final record in San Jose: 31-42-25.

The Earthquakes announced Monday they have formally parted ways with head coach Matias Almeyda, whose tenure ends with San Jose as the only team in the MLS that has yet to win a game this season.

The man tasked with turning the fortunes of the San Jose Earthquakes instead turned on the team, as ESPN reported Almeyda told players he was “done” with them following last week’s 4-3 loss to the Houston Dynamo.

Alex Covelo, who has served as head coach for Earthquakes II in MLS NEXT Pro, has been named the interim coach with the organization promising to begin a search for Almedya’s replacement immediately. Covelo will bring a familiar face alongside him to the sidelines when he debuts on Tuesday night at PayPal Park as MLS all-time leading scorer Chris Wondolowski will be an assistant coach.

The Earthquakes announced that Almeyda’s entire staff including assistants Omar Zarif, Carlos Roa, Daniel Vega, Guido Bonini, Fabio Alvarez, and Agustin Zalazar will also leave the club.

Almeyda was in the final year of a four-year contract, but neither he nor the Earthquakes appeared excited about the prospect of him continuing on as head coach.

Almeyda arrived in San Jose in October, 2018 with the expectation that his reputation as an agent of change would help bring new energy to a downtrodden Earthquakes franchise. Instead, San Jose has remained one of the worst-performing clubs in MLS while Almeyda has publicly criticized the team for its unwillingness to spend to attract proven talent.

Despite having Wondolowski anchoring the team from 2009-21, the Quakes have finished higher than sixth in the Western Conference just once since the franchise returned to San Jose in 2008. The club did make the postseason in 2020 under Almedya, but only because MLS expanded the playoff field during the pandemic-shortened season.