The good.

Alecko Eskandarian. Four goals in seven games, only four of these seven games were starts.

Maykel Galindo played. Even injured and rusty, the guy is awesome. His attacking runs and style of agressive play is missed. I can’t imagine what this season would have been like with a healthy Maykel. Things are looking up. Besides the 15 minutes he played with the first team, the talented striker played 30 minutes in the reserves against the Galaxy on Sunday and netted a goal.

Alex Zotinca. I forgot how good he was. I took him for granted last year and I will never do it again. His confidence and ability to move the ball up and down the field at his first game back. Again, imagine the season with a consistent Zotinca.

Midseason acquisitions are doing well. Preki’s ability to pull players in from other teams and get the best out of them is second to none. Case in point, Paulo Nagamura, Shavar Thomas, and Carrey Talley. Preki’s latest addition, Sasha Victorine, added to this list by adding the game winning goal and adding another victory to the end-of-the-season run.

While we are on the subject of midseason acquisitions, a certain Brazilian that wears Red and White got his first assist. Dejair fed Keith Savage the ball for a goal against the Galaxy reserves. Check it here.

The Bad.

Ante was pulled early in the game against the wizards due to a calf strain. Hopefully he will be around for the playoffs. Please. Word on the streets says Ante was just being cautious. Let’s hope.

Attiba Harris is a funny guy. He is never perfect, but most of the time he is out there winning balls and making runs. Something was off on Saturday.

Playoff bound?

The team holds second place in the Western Conference, Nothing is for sure yet. Points on the rode the next two games are very important. We might not need full points, but points.

Good news is we are four points from the Houston Dynamo. A couple of wins combined with a team that is focused on the Champions League could see Chivas USA on top of the conference. On the same note, fifth place is only three points behind the Red and White.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwNDshFOY5o&feature=user

Tough one to predict. On a normal day, I would caulk this up as a victory, but this hasn’t been an ordinary season.  Chivas USA are still seriously depleted. Some players have elevated their status to questionable, including Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Claudio Suarez and Maykel Galindo. Hopefully this mixture of hungry youth and veteran talent can get three points.

Games in Colorado are exceptionally tough, primarily due to the weather and altitude. This one should be no different. Add on the talent of Christian Gomez and this makes one tough match.

Here’s a clip of the team practicing in the community earlier this week. Sacha has skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUKWuDLazLw

The Chivas USA hosted 2005 expansion rivals in a thrilling 4 goal affair. The Red and White weathered the storm even though the were missing several starters, including captain Claudio Suarez and star strike Ante Razov.

Real Salt Lake assisted the Red and White by supplying two of the three goal scorers. Both Atiba Harris and Alecko Eskandarian played for RSL last year and each striker scored a goal in Saturday night’s game.

The Opposition.

Real Salt Lake stepped on the field with intent. The team has made some significant upgrades to the roster and coach Jason Kreis has made it clear that he plans on attending the playoffs this year. His team played with intensity and quite honestly outplayed the Red and White for portions of the match. The upgraded squad played with heart and intensity.

Some bright spots for their squad were Robby Findley, Nat Borchers and Dema Kovalenko. Findley burned through the back line several times. Borchers kept RSL in the match and Kovalenko proved to be worth his price.

The Chivas USA.

They say a great team wins even when they don’t play great. This may have been the case at the HDC. Out of action for the Red and White included Ante Razov (calf strain), Claudio Suarez (bereavement), Lawson Vaughn (hamstring), and Alex Zotinca (MCL). Players still not at 100% include Maykel Galindo (hernia), Alecko Eskandarian (groind), and Raphael Wicky (ankles). Some of the new players that made a debut for the team include Alecko Eskandarian, Chris Pozniac, and Eric Ebert.

Offense

Maykel did well, his best showing this season. The striker terrorized the RSL defense, taking defenders on and creating opportunities. The defense double teamed the Cuban, sometimes triple teaming him and he stilled peeked at goal. Atiba showed up as well. The target forward was marked tightly, and still found the back of the net in between two RSL defenders. Alecko came on the field for Maykel in the 77th minute. The new striker has been dealing with injuries to his groin. However he managed to walk the ball into the back of the net from a perfect pass delivered by Raphael Wicky.

Midfield

The midfield stepped up to the plate. Jesse Marsch captained the team in Claudio’s absence. Jesse was active and vocal, leading the team and running the midfield. Paulo Nagamura combined well with Marsch in the middle of the park. Kljestan managed to knock the ball in at the 32nd minute and worked his magic on the right. At the 69th minute, he moved to the middle of the park to make room for Wicky. Wicky’s touch and placement was spectacular. He seemed surprised at the physical level of play, but he was also nursing an injury. Mendoza had trouble connecting any passes, but made up for it with his defensive duties.

Defense

The defense was on. Everyone did well, Curtain lacked a little pace and Findley exploited it, but Shavar Thomas was there to clean up. Solid performance from Jonathan Bornstien. Chris Pozniak played calm and cool. I’m not sure he left a big footprint on the night. Eric Ebert came on for Chris late in the game and showed potential.

All in all a victory for the Chivas USA. The HDC had over 17,000 Chivas USA fans and two supporters groups making noise. The Home victory is hopefully just the first of many to come.

Bruno Marioni to Chivas USA. Read it for yourself.

The Argentine Striker has played …. everywhere.

The guy has talent and can score. 32 years old. Hints have been dropped by Shawn Hunter and Don Garber himself about the team landing a FMF star, adding fuel to this speculation.

Is he worth a DP spot?

Chivas USA defeat San Diego State 2-1

Chivas USA defeated the San Diego State Aztecs in a heated match 2-1.

From the team “Chukwudi Chijindu put the team ahead just seven minutes into the game when he received a ball from Ante Razov and hammered home a shot to the near post from 12 yards. Chivas USA continued pushing up for goals throughout the first half, and were caught on a quick counter attack by San Diego State in the 27th minute, when Steven Beitashour’s shot was deflected to Daniel Ortega, who finished for the Aztecs to tie the game.

The match went into the half tied at one, but Chivas USA quickly took the lead once the second session started. Razov’s free kick from 25 yards was saved by the Aztec goalkeeper, but the rebound fell to Erasmo Solórzano, who finished easily. The Red-and-White had a number of chances in the rest of the half, with forward Anthony Hamilton hitting the post and Solórzano seeing his header bounce over the net, but the game ended with the 2-1 scoreline.”

The team used the 4-4-2 during the game, but Flores pushed up late in the game for a 4-3-3. Here is the line up.

————————- Ante Razov——Anthony Hamilton——————————–

Justin Braun (Jorge Flores 46)-John Cunliffe – Daniel Paladini – Chukwudi Chijindu (Erasmo Solórzano 46)

——-Gerson Mayen – Bobby Burling – Jim Curtin – Eric Ebert (Arnaldo Salazar 46)———-

————————————–Lance Parker————————————

Chivas USA played a majority of the reserve squad. However, the team is becoming very deep, and the quality on the pitch has stepped up this year. There were several stand out players.

John Cunliffe. John played very well in as a central midfielder. He distributes the ball well and created several opportunities. He is always ready to pull the trigger, and will take shots from outside the box.

Chukwudi Chijindu. The Southern California local is strong and quick. He is able to explode at any moment.

Jorge Flores. Sueno is finding a nice home as a left midfielder. In many ways he plays very similarly to Pancho Mendoza in his attacks. Plus the kid shows a lot of heart.

The team is headed off to Fresno to compete against the Fuego. Fresno is one of the strongest teams in the PDL, and they come equipped with a Brazilian trio. The scrimmage should see most of the first team.

More to follow, including more notes from the scrimmage and ChivaFest.

This preseason has been plagued with injuries (and other issues). Here’s the latest.

Maykel Galindo. Maykel underwent a sports hernia surgery on January 10. He was expected to be out for six weeks (February 21). Maykel has been jogging laps and is conditioning for the season, but has yet to participate in a scrimmage.

Lawson Vaughn. Lawson went under the knife on January 25th. The surgery took care of some issues with his left ankle. He was expected to be out six weeks, which puts his potential return at March 7. The Law is attending practice, but mostly observing.

Raphael Wicky. Wicky had surgery on the knuckles of both feet on December 2nd. The surgery was performed in Europe and was required to deal with a ongoing problem the midfielder had. The original return date was two months, which put us at February 2nd. Wicky is currently jogging and training with the team. His official work visa was cleared on Tuesday, so we should expect to see him soon.

Jonathan Bornstein. Jonny B had arthroscopic ankle surgery on December 24. Scar tissue was removed from his left ankle. He was expecting to be back in the fold sometime in February. Bornstien has yet to play in a scrimmage.

Alecko Eskandarian. No official word, jogging with the team.

Pancho Mendoza. Mendoza is out with a adductor injury. No official word on when to expect him back (based on his progress), but it will be before the start of the season.

Paulo Nagamura. Groin strain from last season. Hoping to play some part in saturday’s game.

Shavar Thomas. Shavar is not injured, he is stuck in Jamaica. Chivas USA FO has stated that he is finalizing his visa soon.

So hopefully we will see a healthy squad before the season starts. Until then, we can enjoy some up-and-coming players as Preki finalizes his reserve squad.

The game was good. I missed the first half due to a time change. The half ended without a goal. Marsch took a mean tackle from Emilio and didn’t take it well. He didn’t attempt to kick him like he did Becks at the classico, but a gatorade bottle was sacrificed in the shuffle.

Atiba Harris looked good. Jim Curtain as well. Jim is a big dude, I’d guess at least 6′-5″. He had a great attitude and was glad to be in Southern California weather. Seems like he will do fine here with Chivas USA.

The second half, both teams played a reserve squad with the exception of Jaime Moreno. Salazar scored about ten minutes into the half. Overall the Chivas USA squad controlled the half. Keith Savage, the teams only draft pick, had a great start to the half as a left mid, but was injured and subbed with Flores.

Much of the team was still recovering from surgery or injured. The list includes Galindo, Vaughn, Bornstein, and Esky. Mendoza and Nagamura did not play as well, not sure about their status. Hopefully we will get our injuries out of the way early. This didn’t stop these guys from spending time with the fans.

Galindo spent time with every fan who asked, signed and posed for pictures. Same for Jim Curtain and Claudio Suarez. Special K, Marsch and Guzan were busy with the press for a while after practice.

Overall, great game. Lots of hope for the reserve squad. A handful of fans made it to the HDC which shows some promise.

The Cubans are missing. Both Alonso and Moore are not in Camp. The duo are no longer part of the team.

The Japanese Blonde Bomber has reported for training camp. The 31 year old Takayuki Suzuki is a 2002 World Cup veteran and has played in Japan, Belgium, Serbia and Brazil.

Local cult idol Mike Munoz is training with the team. Antonio Cue made a deal with Patty Rodriguez (Mike’s girlfriend). She dressed up as a Chiva girl and scored her boyfriend a tryout. Mike played with the Red and White their inaugural year, and was waived. He most recently played with the California Victory in USL 1.

Villa is still after Guzan. O’Neil suggested that if Brad continues his current form, an offer may be made in the summer.

Preki is not planning on making any major changes to the current roster. He plans to add one senior and seven developmental roster players.

Wicky was officially introduced today.

More news when I find it.

Several Swiss and German news articles have confirmed the move of Raphael Wicky to Chivas USA.

We should expect MLS to make an announcement in the next few days. Raphael Wicky has signed a one year deal and Chivas USA have an option for a second year. Wicky is expected to join the team immediately.

Raphael Wicky will not be participating in regular training sessions at first. The 30 year old is recovering from a surgery that took place on December first. Surgery was performed on the knuckles of both feet. Recovery time was expected to be approximately two or three months and is going well.

Wicky is joining the ranks of Maykel Galindo, Jonathan Bornstein, and Lawson Vaughn on the field and off. All of these players recently had surgery. Wicky while training with Chivas USA in August.

Chivas USA played approximately 34 games last year in three tournaments (30 regular season, 2 open cup, 2 MLS cup) not including friendly’s. Arguably, we ran out of depth up front. Next year could see the Red and White suit up 57 times. Now, that’s assuming we win everything and get the Quintuple or whatever the multiple of five equals to. We are looking at a lot of games.

Here’s a little methodology;

Regular Season = 30 (guaranteed)

MLS Cup = 4 If we make it and win everything

SuperLiga = 5 Three in the knockout stages (guaranteed), plus two elimination

Open Cup = 4 One guaranteed, entered into quarter final knock out round

Champions League = 10 Six guaranteed based on the average group stage of at least 4 to a group, home and away. With 24 teams, there may be six to a group requiring 10 group stage games. plus four knock out games.

So how does the team add ten games, possibly 20 to their schedule? That’s the question that Preki is trying to figure out. That is why his secret mission in Europe has been so …. secret. Preki has been pushing “depth” and I can see why.