From: Goal.com
The Galaxy and Chivas USA have combined for countless unpredictable moments in the five-year rivalry.
That the first-ever playoff edition of the SuperClasico series produced even more such moments was no surprise to either side.
Normally a pair of solid defensive teams, the Galaxy and Chivas USA committed mistakes that led both sides to scratch their heads as the two teams finished the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinal series with a 2-2 deadlock. (more...)
Chivas USA is mired in a nasty slump going 1-4-2 in their last 7 league games and losing 7 of their last 9 matches in all competition.
They're still scrappy up the middle with Paulo Nagamura and Jesse Marsch typically defending the mid-field and their defense was better against the Galaxy most recently with the return of Jonathan Bornstein and Zach Thornton has been stellar in goal all season so what's been the problem?
Scoring.
Maykel Galindo has to shoulder some of the blame at some point. He has 2 goals in 11 games he's played in and he doesn't seem to be creating any seperation on the pitch this season which was a trademark of his a few seasons ago in his breakout year.
Sacha Kljestan is another player who has been largely ineffective this year and his ineffectiveness has been particularly hard because there was such high hopes for him this year. Hea was to supposed to break out this season and instead he has 0 goals and 1 assist.
Ante Razov hasn't played all season but he's in his mid-thirties and Chivas USA would be foolish to depend on this guy as a consistent scorer this late in his career. He's been injury plaqued the past few seasons...
Eduardo Lillingston is the guy who started off really hot for the red and white and who has also really cooled off as of late. He currently has 6 goals but lately really seems to have a problem holding onto the ball.
Attiba Harris has been nice at times scoring 2 goals and dishing out 2 assists... Michael Lahoud has shown flashes... but Chivas USA lacks a play maker up front and they desparately need one.
Chivas USA lacks a guy that can both finish off crisp passes and create his own shots on the perimeter. Maykel Galindo was that guy a couple of years ago but it seems like we haven't seen that Galindo in ages. You can't count on Razov anymore and Kljestan has been a disappointment.
It almost seems like Lillingston and Paulo Nagamura, who has already scored un uncharacteristic 4 goals this season, hid this big gaping hole in the Chivas USA team early in the season by carrying the team offensively.
They're having all kinds of trouble scoring goals right now and at times they're just looking out of sorts offensively. They need a playmaker that can pull everything together because there is some talent on this team.
They need to acquire a playmaker and somebody needs to wake Sacha Kljestan the hell up because that's guy's been sleep walking for I don't know how long now...
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.
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.
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.
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