Bruce Arena Warns San Jose Face 'Hectic Month' in Playoff Chase Before Colorado Rapids Trip
Arena braces for a 'hectic month' as Earthquakes eye the playoffs
Bruce Arena says qualifying for the playoffs has been the San Jose Earthquakes' target all season — and he knows a gruelling October stands between his side and that goal. The Earthquakes sit fourth in the Western Conference, one point clear of the Houston Dynamo, and return from the international break with a trip to face the Colorado Rapids this weekend.
"There are a lot of difficult games ahead. So hopefully we can win a few more and position ourselves to be in the playoffs," Arena said. "Our goal this year is to qualify for the playoffs. We're not there yet. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a hectic month."
San Jose signed off for the break with a 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers at PayPal Park, with Preston Judd and Eduard Lowen both on target. The result extended their unbeaten MLS run to six matches (W3 D3). The Colorado fixture is the first of seven games to close out their regular season, six of which fall between now and October 31, with standout clashes against Nashville SC and FC Dallas still to come.
Arena points to steady progress
Arena framed the playoff push as part of a longer-term build rather than a one-off sprint. "Our goal all along was to be better and get better every year. We improved from 2024 to 2025. We're making progress this year, and we're continuing to grow," he said.
Rapids licking their wounds after Galaxy collapse
Colorado arrive at the weekend with a point to prove after their three-game unbeaten league run was ended by a 3-2 defeat to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Donavan Phillip and Paxten Aaronson had given the Rapids a two-goal cushion at half-time, but Reggie Cannon's own goal dragged the Galaxy back into the contest after the break. Two goals in eight minutes from Joao Klauss and Justin Haak then completed the second-half turnaround.
Rapids boss Matt Wells admitted the manner of the collapse was painfully familiar. "This is probably the feeling right now," Wells said. "It's not the same movie, but it's one of the most difficult movies. I thought we were very good during the first half.
"We had a lot of players missing, so I had to change things up a bit tactically, but on the whole I think it worked quite well. I really liked the personality we played with. It was our typical intensity, and we could have had a bigger lead at half-time. There is the temptation now when you lose 3-2 from 2-0 up at half-time to make the second half a bigger deal and a wider problem than it is, but we just gave three terrible goals away."
Players to watch
Colorado Rapids – Paxten Aaronson: Aaronson (23) and Phillip (21) both scored in Colorado's defeat to the LA Galaxy last time out. Among the 36 goals the Rapids have scored this term, 28 have come from players aged 25 or younger at the time of the game, with 19 of those scored by players 23 or younger.
San Jose Earthquakes – Preston Judd: Judd recorded his third multi-goal game of the season in San Jose's win over the Timbers. The only players in Earthquakes history with more multi-goal matches in a single MLS regular season are Chris Wondolowski (six in 2012) and Jeremy Ebobisse (four in 2022).
Match prediction and the numbers behind the fixture
Opta makes the Rapids favourites, with a win probability of 41.3%, a draw at 26.7% and San Jose at 32.1%. The prediction points to a Colorado victory.
History offers the away side some encouragement: in each of the last four regular-season meetings between Colorado and San Jose, the road team has won. Prior to that run, the visiting team had won just one of the previous 20 regular-season meetings (D7) in the fixture.
Colorado's home form is a clear weapon. The Rapids have six clean sheets in their last seven home matches after recording just one in their first six regular-season games at home in 2026, and their seven shutouts at home this season are one shy of matching the team's total across the previous two seasons combined.
San Jose, meanwhile, have been prolific going forward. Their win over Portland before the international break was their ninth game this season with three or more goals, tied for the second-most games in a single regular season with 2019. The Earthquakes' only regular season with more three-goal games was 2012, when they managed 11.
With six of their final seven matches crammed into October, Arena's men will need to keep that attacking edge sharp if the "hectic month" is to end with a playoff place secured.