The San Jose Earthquakes officially introduced new general manager Jesse Fioranelli to members of the media, club and some of the supporters at Avaya Stadium on a rainy Tuesday in San Jose, California.

“It’s a conscious decision that I chose to come to San Jose,” Fioranelli said in his press conference. “San Jose has a strong foundation to build on.

“We’re also noticing, as we’re coming here to Silicon Valley, that it’s a hub for innovation and that stands for direction. That’s something I would like to do: give a new direction for a club that has a foundation.”

Fioranelli joins a San Jose club that’s struggled and underperformed for the most part since their 2008 return to MLS. The Quakes have reached the playoffs just twice since returning to the league – winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2012 – however, they have missed out on the postseason in the last four years. San Jose has finished in ninth place in the Western Conference table in two of the last three years and last year won just one of their last 11 matches en route to an 8-12-14 record, ninth in the West.

The struggles that the club has encountered hasn’t fazed Fioranelli that much. In fact, he’s as confident as anyone that the Quakes can turn things around.

“I will tell you this much. In 2017 we will send a message and that will be strong enough,” said Fioranelli about the Quakes aim to return to the playoffs. “I’m 100 percent sure. I’m very optimistic. I saw a lot of film, that’s what I used to do a lot. I saw the direction we could go.”

Fioranelli’s impressive resume includes stops at Turkish club Samsunspor, then Italian clubs Lazio and, most recently, AS Roma.

His current star shines brightest in his work with Lazio and Roma.

From 2012-15 at Lazio, Fioranelli was the head of analysis, overseeing player and match analysis along with scouting and recruiting efforts. He also worked closely with Lazio’s academy. In his time with Lazio, the club won the 2012-13 Coppa Italia, qualified for the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League and finished third in Serie A in 2014-15, qualifying for the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League.

Last year, as a member of the Roma’s Sporting Direction unit, he played a part in installing “The Roma Way,” which utilized player scouting, match analysis, player development and recruitment for success. Roma went 23-4-11 last season, third in the Serie A table, earning a spot in the UCL. The four losses were the least by any Italian club last year.

Currently, Roma sits second on the Serie A table with a 13-4-2 record and 41 points,  trailing league leader Juventus by just four points but with a game in hand.

Fioranelli said that while “The Roma Way” was successful in Roma, he won’t exactly be bringing it to San Jose.

“I read a lot about ‘The Roma Way’ in the press,” he said. “But all I will say is that ‘The Roma Way’ is a specific way that applies specifically to Roma, and especially to a specific identity that Roma represents as a club in a particular city.

“San Jose will represent the very same value for which is stands on the field. There are reasons why you win and reasons why you lose. So we are going to try to find all of the constants for why you can impose yourself on attack and commit less errors on defense so that we will be well equipped going into next season.”

Fioranelli has a lot of work cut out for him. San Jose ended last season with a minus-8 goal differential, scoring a league-low 32 goals. The Quakes’ struggled on the attack as they missed chance after chance, or were unable to create anything within the 18-yard box.

San Jose forward and captain Chris Wondolowski started the season hot, scoring seven goals in his first eight matches of the season. However, without any viable help on the attacking front especially when forward Quincy Amarikwa went down for the season with a torn ACL and LCL, the load became too much as Wondolowski scored just five more times in the remaining 23 appearances with the club.

Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear also attended the press conference and seemed to have a renewed sense of energy going into the season with Fioranelli on board.

Since returning to coaching San Jose for the 2015 season, Kinnear is 21-25-22. With a weak roster compared to other MLS clubs, Kinnear hasn’t been able to establish an identity with the Quakes, something he was brought in to do.

“Every club wants the identity of being a winner,” Kinnear said. “That’s your main identity whether it’s playing good soccer, entertaining, the fans, but you want your identity to be a winning identity.”

Going into the 2017 season Kinnear and Fioranelli will both be tasked with finding and shaping the identity of the Quakes. One of their goals this offseason was to get younger, which they did upon signing homegrown defender Nick Lima from Cal and, recently, 24-year-old Panamanian center back Harold Cummings that Kinnear addressed both as needs.

“I think we have a good foundation,” Kinnear said. “Our team’s getting a little bit younger. It’s good to have that youth and energy to start that camp off with.”

Fioranelli spoke on the importance of a solid academy system and homegrown players over big-name signings. He called the academy a “key source for growth and sustainability.”

Although there were no updates on the recent rumors of San Jose signing Club America attacker Darwin Quintero, the Quakes are looking to add another attacker before camp, whether it comes through Friday’s MLS SuperDraft or another signing.

The Earthquakes are hoping for the turn-around to begin when they open their season at home against the Montreal Impact on March 4.

“For me, I want this year to be the year,” Kinnear said of the Quakes turning things around. “I’ve been involved in MLS playoffs before and I know how home games feel and I want our fans to experience a playoff home game for sure.”