Ronnie O'Brien leaves turf in Toronto for grass in San Jose

The San Jose Earthquakes have added two-time Major League Soccer All-Star midfielder Ronnie O'Brien to their roster. Last season O'Brien was one of the first big signings of expansion side Toronto FC.

He had a decent year when playing, however a knee injury kept him out for more then half the season. This injury is one of the reasons he decided to move to California, as San Jose will play their home games on grass instead of the turf used in Toronto, which should be less of a strain on his body.

O'Brien was attracted to the Quakes because of the grass playing surface at Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium. He had complained about the field turf in Toronto.

O'Brien is a quality player when he is happy, however if he feels jilted, his play can drop (see FC Dallas 2006). With O'Brien, the 'Quakes finally have a decent attacking option in their lineup. So far coach Frank Yallop has focused more on defense, which is important, however you can't win if you don't score. Although O'Brien is far from a goal-scoring machine (12 goals in 6 MLS seasons), he is good at starting plays. The question for San Jose now becomes who will O'Brien feed?

Toronto received San Jose's first round pick in the 2009 draft plus an undisclosed amount of money for O'Brien.