If you ever met someone who did not think that coaching matters in professional sport, you need only point them to the 2019 San Jose Earthquakes to prove them totally and utterly wrong.
Last season, the Earthquakes were the worst team in Major League Soccer. They won just four games all season, amassed only 21 points in 34 games, and had a goal difference of -22. That is historically bad.
This offseason, then, the Quakes made changes, the most significant of which was hiring Matias Almeyda as their new head coach. Almeyda made an immediate positive impact when he met fans in the rain during the pre-season, but his ideas and processes took a little time to work their way into a team that was largely the same as the year prior.