June 15th, 2009
Chivas USA has lost it's last three of four games and has looked tired and fatigued in the final minutes in it's last few matches. In it's latest loss against the Columbus Crew the absence of Jonathon Bornstein, who's with the US National team, has really been apparent and the Chivas USA defense has looked really porous at times. There's just been too many deep attacks into the Chivas USA zone lately for Zach Thornton to continue stopping them all and leaving the leagues leading goal scorer wide open in front of the net probably isn't a good idea as Guillermo Barros Scheloto torched Chivas USA for two goals in the second half of the match.
Chivas USA has now been out played by two of the top tier teams in MLS in the Columbus Crew and the Houston Dynamo and now they're headed into SuperLiga against Mexican Teams that weren't allowed to compete in the Copa Libertadores because of the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico.
I still think Chivas USA has what it takes to compete for the league title but to beat teams the level of the Dynamo and Crew will require a much stronger effort from offensive players who have struggled this year in particular Sacha Kljestan and Maykel Galindo.
Eduardo Lillingston scored his sixth goal of the season to lead Chivas USA and continues to be a good surprise and a prime scoring threat for the goats but he needs help up front and he hasn't been getting much lately...
Ante Jazic played his first few minutes for Chivas USA and while he may be a big pick up for them down the road, he's not yet in game playing shape and he got burned a couple of times on Sunday...
Chivas USA will play Tigres of the Mexican League on 6/20 in the opening round of SuperLiga. Chivas will take three weeks off from MLS play but returns on the 11th of July to a SuperClassico against the LA Galaxy.
Tags: Chivas USA Soccer, MLS, MLS major league soccer, SuperLiga
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April 20th, 2009
In the past few seasons Chivas USA Soccer has cemented their place as one of the more dominant teams in MLS soccer but for all of the success they've experienced in the regular season that same success has evaded them in tthe playoffs. 2009 has to be a year where Chivas USA Soccer ( Get your discount Chivas USA jersey here) takes it up a notch and finally has some success in the playoffs. With the veteran leadership of mid fielder Jesse Marsch, the outstanding play of mid fielder Sacha Kljestan and the return from injury plagued seasons of stand out forwards Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo should hopefully put Chivas bacvk into the playoffs to make a run.
The big question marks facing Chivas USA this season is whether or not their top players can stay healthy. Already they are starting the season out with forwards Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov and Attiba Harris either injured or recovering from an injury. One more injury marred season from Maykel Galindo and I think yuo just have to label this guy as injury plaqued and unfortunately Ante Razov is just getting older and Chivas should probably consider reducing his playting time during the regular season to preserve him for the playoffs. While they do boast some of the more dynamic forwards in MLS it's no secret that Chivas USA could use a couple of more talented forwards to relieve Razov and Galindo should they go down to injury.
The other big question mark is the future of mid fielder Sacha Kljestan... will he stay or will he follow in the footsteps of former Chivas Goalie Brad Guzan and leave to play in Europe? Kljestan clearly has the skillls to play in Europe the obvious questions are does he want to play iun Europe and will a European team pay enough to pry him away from Chivas USA. It would be sad to see Kljestan go and it would send a bad message to the fans.
As it stands this team is still in dire need of a big name marketable player and it would be great if he were also a dynamic goal scorer. Chivas USA is already one of the best teams in the league so I'm not sure what type of motivation there is for any big spending on big names players for the sake of marketing though. It'd be great to see some team step up and be the New York Yankees of Major League Soccer though...
The Chivas USA defense is anchored by standout Jonathan Bornstein in the back, Goalie Zach Thornton in net and defensive mid fielders Jesse Marsch and Paulo Nagamura. Marsch and Nagamura don't receive much fanfare but those two guys help Chivas USA win soccer matches by winning the battles for the ball that take place at mid field.
The Chivas USA roster is also filled with a number of quality veteran role players that make this one of the best teams in the league. Players such as forwards Alecko Eskandarian who is a steady and consistent performer but not flashy and Eduardo Lilingston who was brought in this year to add a scoring punch. Defensively Chivas USA has a number of qulaity veterans in Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas and Carey Talley. In Goal they also have the luxury of experience with Zach Thornton.
Chivas USA has a great opportunity to become an elite team in this league and on winning their first MLS Cup this season and then maybe the SuperLiga. I hope they have what it takes to sign a big name forward and scorer who can take them to the next level of teams in MLS.
Tags: chivas usa, Chivas USA Soccer, MLS major league soccer, MLS Soccer
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November 1st, 2008
Chivas USA Soccer begins their first match of a two game playoff with Real Salt Lake today. The main story going into the match today is the red card suspension to starting goalie Dan Kennedy. Well at least Kennedy has been the starter recently...
The Chivas USA Soccer season began with probably the best goalie in MLS in net for the Chivas with Brad Guzan tending goal but all the rumors of Guzan leaving to play in Europe finally materialized about mid way through the season and Guzan was traded to Aston Villa in July.
Zack Thornton was acquired from the New York Red Bulls and we was to bring Chivas a veteran goal tender with playoff experience. Thornton was in goal for the Chicago Fire when they won the MLS Title in 1998. So yea he's experienced meaning he's a little older and sometime in September Thornton went down with a hamstring pull and Dan Kennedy has been Chivas USA starting goalie since then compiling a string of six starts and four wins.
Unfortunately for goalie Dan Kennedy he was issued a red card in the last match of the Chivas USA Soccer season and that brings us to today where Zach Thornton, who was originally brought in to replace Brad Guzan and was then replaced by Dan Kennedy, will be again starting in net for Chiavs USA. Zach Thornton definitely has the experience and playoff experience to boot that you're looking for in your goal tender this time of the year but at this stage of his career can he be the same tender he's been in the past?
The spotlight on goal tender Zach Thornton will be even brighter since Chivas USA is missing it's biggest scoring threat in Maykel Galindo and offensive mid fielder Raphael Wicky. Figure on a low scoring game so goalie Zach Thornton should be instrumental today.
Tags: chivas soccer, Chivas USA Soccer, Major League Soccer, MLS Soccer
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October 12th, 2008
If you're a fan of Chivas USA Soccer then last nights win over the San Jose Earthquakes was big for you because it cemented a spot in the playoffs for Chivas USA for the third straight year.
Chivas USA is hot right now winning four straight matches and six of their last seven. The victory last night over the Earthquakes featured a goal by Chivas rookie forward Justin Braun. It was Braun's fourth goal of the season and although Justin Braun may not be the most graceful out on the pitch he does give Chivas USA soccer something that they can use up front and something that is generally lacking in MLS soccerr...
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The other highlight of the night was from the pass to Justin Braun from Alecko Eskandarian who seems to be finding his groove after taking the first half of the season off due to an injury.
The goal by Braun was scored in the 7th minute of the match and the rest of the match pretty much featured the Earthquakes controlling the tempo of the game and attacking the Chivas defense all night.
With Chivas USA in constant flux due to call ups and injuries and let's not forget losing our all-star goalie Brad Guzan, head coach Preki seems to be focusing on team defense and it's a good way to approach the game with so many players in and out of the lineup.
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Tags: chivas soccer, chivas usa, Chivas USA Soccer, Major League Soccer, MLS Soccer
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June 5th, 2008
Early in the MLS season Chivas USA could not buy a goal and Chivas USA Soccer was also giving up goals at an alarming rate due in large part to a number of injuries to many of their key starters...
But a strange thing happened in the process...
As some of the younger got more playing time they began to blossom and now Chivas USA Soccer is on a winning streak of 3 games and it is large part due to the play of some of these younger players. Players such as:
18 year-old Jorge Flores who has scored 3 goals in his last three games and just seems to be in the right place at the right time... the ball just seems to find this guy on the pitch some times and most importantly he's putting the ball in the back of the net... I'm sure his hustling all over the field has something to do with his being in the right place at the right time... Should be interesting to see who Chivas USA Coach Preki starts at the forward position if Jorge Flores continues to score.
Then there's Justin Braun... this guys a big guy from Canada, he's 6'3 and 195 lbs but he's an absolute beast on the ball... he has 1 goal and 2 assists in 9 games played but I don't see the Braun as much of a goal scorer unless he develops better finishing skills. Like I said though he's a big guy and he uses his size to shield defenders from the ball and he's starting to deliver the ball to the guys in the front of the net and he continues to do that it'll be hard to keep him off the pitch... I see him delivering the ball to someone like Ante Razov who can put the ball in the back of the net in a heart beat... Look out if Justin Braun learns how to finish.
Lastly, Carey Talley was added to the back line recently and he's made an excellent addition and improved what was probably one of the worst back lines in the league after being decimated by injuries. Talley is great in transition and has done a great job of clearing balls out of the defensive zone and he's particularly adept at moving the ball up the field and passing it into the offensive zone... something Chivas USA Soccer sorely missed from any of it's defenders prior to the addition of Carey Talley.
Chivas USA plays the New York Red Bulls tonight who just lost their best goal scorer (Jozy Altidore) to a team across the pond (ughhh) and who's biggest goal scorer from a year ago (Juan Pablo Angel) is struggling this season. Chivas USA is also going for a franchise record fourth consecutive victory tonight.
Tags: Chivas USA Soccer, Major League Soccer, MLS Soccer
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