SAN JOSE, Calif. It is tempting to link the change in San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Tommy Thompsons productivity to the ascension of new coach Chris Leitch. Since Leitch assumed control last month, Thompson has started all five of the Quakes competitive matches, providing two assists in U.S. Open Cup play and his first MLS goal after starting his career with a 63-game drought.

Yet the 21-year-old Thompson points to a moment during the reign of former coach Dominic Kinnear as the turning point for his fortunes: Late in the second half against Orlando City onMay 17, Thompsons ball to the back post turned into an assist on team captain Chris Wondolowskis game-tying goal.

Thompsons first career point in league play helped secure a critical point for the Quakes in their quest to regain a playoff spot, and gave him a sorely-neededboost in morale.

Its crazy how much one stat can mean, but it inspires confidence," Thompson told MLSsoccer.com last week."Since then, I think its been all downhill. ... I knew once I got the monkey off my back, the rest would come.

Regardless of the genesis of his surge, its undeniable that Thompson has finally begun to unveil in games the kind of tools that have long made him an object of fascination in skills challenges over the years. As the Quakes have become more entertaining and assertive under Leitch even in a situation such as the 5-1 loss San Jose suffered against the New York Red Bullson Wednesday Thompson has perhaps been the fullest representation of that change.

I think we can be the team that puts teams on the back foot and outscores teams, Thompson said. Thats what we did [in a 3-2 win against theLA Galaxyin the US Open Cup quarterfinals].Yeah, they scored two goals on us, but we put three in the back of the net. It feels good.

The biggest observable difference regarding Thompsons game is a level of decisiveness that seemed lacking at times previously, and this is not by accident. As Leitch made it clear in his initial press conference after taking the job, his vision of the Quakes affords them more chances to fail and to learn from that process.

With certain players, especially the attackers, youre going to ask them to take risks to change a game and to beat your opponent, to try the final pass, to attempt a shot, Leitch told reporters after San Joses 4-1 exhibition romp over Eintracht Frankfurt last week. And so if youre going to ask those players to do that, then you have to know within that risk, those things arent always going to come off, and so you have to be OK with that, so that those creative guys can have the space to be creative and to express themselves and try those things.

That theory of allowing young players to make mistakes seems to beworking for the Earthquakes. Rookie Jackson Yueill, who spent much of the year buried on Kinnears depth chart, has been a key cog for Leitch. And Homegrown defender Nick Lima, who moved straight into Kinnears lineup as a rookie this season, has been deployed as a wingback when the Quakes utilize a 3-5-2 formation, giving him license to roam forward even more freely than in Kinnears usual 4-4-2.

Even [Valeri Qazaishvili] is a great example of the Quakes shift to wanting young, talented players before theyre in their prime, Thompson said, citing the recent addition of 24-year-old attacker. Its exciting to be a part of. This locker room has changed drastically since I signed when I was 18. But I think were going in the right direction.

"Young players have the ability to show well on the biggest stages, if theyre given confidence. I think Jacksons shown that. I think Nicks shown that.

That is a sea change for a Quakes team that is still finding its way under Leitch, who previously had front-office experience but no coaching reps at this level.

Winning is always fun, but winning with style is all the better, Thompson said. I would say this is the most fun Ive had as a pro. I think part of that comes from getting assists and getting a goal.

I said at the beginning of this season: this is the most talent weve had in this locker room since Ive been here. And I think were only getting better. Were only getting more and more confident with each other, with the coaching staff. Im really looking forward to whats going to come with the rest of the year.

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San Jose Earthquakes' Tommy Thompson making progress under Leitch - MLSsoccer.com