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.

Will Chivas USA get healthy? This may be the biggest question. Chivas USA have been playing short handed and stealing results. The team is not healthy. Helping to illustrate the condition of the team is this graph.

There were some assumptions made*
Red cards were taken into account**

The key to any team performing is health. Preki has been forced to put together interesting line ups. The biggest issue has been in the back. Chivas USA played without several starters in the rear and this left a hole. The team has a great starting four in Bornstein, Thomas, Suarez and Vaughn, and even Zotinca. However, Curtin has had trouble adjusting and Pozniak does not seem to be at 100%. These players make great substitutes, but nothing can replace the starting line up.

We’ve been found out. Chivas USA are not a surprise this year. Everyone in the league knows who Chivas USA is, the Western Conference Champions. They all know how we play, possession football. The last three game have shown that other teams will no longer allow the Red and White to control the game. The midfield have a steep task ahead of them.

Officiating? The match was spectacular, and had potential to be even more exciting. However, no better way to kill a match like a red card. I’m going on the record and saying “Chivas USA had AT LEAST one more goal in them” I’m not saying either player didn’t deserve a card. Pancho Mendoza probably didn’t deserve his first yellow, but he did deserve his second. He went into the tackle knowing he had a yellow, so in that regard, he deserved a yellow. Where on earth would Sacha Kljestan get a red card for that? Where was the intent? Maybe he deserved a card, but that? Wow.

What good came out of this match? The answer in short… A lot. First off, the strikers on the team, even as injured as they are, are scoring. And the goals are coming from everywhere. Three of the four midfielders have scored, and the same goes for the strikers. HUGE step in the development of the Chivas USA squad. Jesse Marsch is another bright point. The co-captain is pushing his squad as hard as he can. The midfield belongs to him, and it is strong. Lastly, Shavar Thomas is looking better than ever. He has been adjusting to different players and picking up slack in the back. He looks solid.

Did the Chivas USA deserve to lose? Let me know wat you think.

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.

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.

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.

Battle of the midfield: Our midfield general Jesse Marsh will battle with playmaker Christian Gomez for dominance on the pitch. This may be the battle that determines the outcome of this match. These two have met several times before.

DCs Strike Force: Luciano Emilio will try to penetrate the back four. Look for a combination of Bornstein’s speed and Suarez’s knowledge to tag team this lethal striker.

The Stealthy Cuban: Look for intelligent play from Ante Razov to meet Maykel Galindo’s speed. This team effort will be required in order to brake the defense full of experience.

The men between the sticks: Who is the better keeper? Your guess is as good as mine. Brad Guzan has been strong all season, but since he returned from Copa America, he has added confidence and keeps coming up big for the club. Can Perkins keep his form?

Chivas USA will need to contain a team with talent all over the field. We should expect shots from all over the field, a strong defense and world class goal keeping. Both teams play a quality style of football, both will try to hold the ball and control the midfield. Look for a late injection of quality play with the insertion of Ramon Nunez.

My prediction……. 2-1 in favor of the Red and White.

Disagree? Post your prediction.

Now with Dynamo’s win, we fall down to 3rd place in the Western conference and will probably fall down to 4th place if Colorado wins. This is moot compared to the over all MLS standings, we’re not getting any closer to the top 4. Remember, the top 4 teams at the end of the season qualify for the SuperLiga tournament. Regardless of our woes, I’ll continue to wear the red and white proudly. =]

Preki had his team prepared yesterday, as he moved around the starting line-up so as to accommodate for the loss of Kljestan, Bornstein, Guzan, Marsch and Razov. Chivas was down in the first 12 minutes of the match and at first it looked that they were going to loose to the Sounders. That was until Claudio Suarez crushed a penalty kick in the 12th minute to start off Chivas’ rout of Seattle. The two other goals were scored by Galindo and John Cunliffe respectively, proving once again that Cunliffe needs to have a greater role in the Chivas line-up.

So there you have it, Chivas was able to find a team they could beat, now if only they could produce that kind of result against a true competitor, Preki might still deserve to keep his job.

I was writing a post ripping into Garber and Preki, but now it is not worth much as Saturday does not really count. Thus I will provide you with a taste of what that post would have been like:

The rosters for the US v. China match came out yesterday, and five Chivas USA players are being called up (Jonathan Bornstein, Brad Guzan, Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan and Ante Razov). This is something to be happy about, as it shows that Chivas has talent on the team and is being reconginzed on the national level. But, in reality this is really fucked! And we can thank Don Garber for this.

Following the shutout of FC Dallas on Saturday, Chivas USA is being rewarded by loosing almost all of its major players. This would not be so much a problem, if Preki had spent the season preparing all of his players for this situation. At the moment, this is quite a detrimental situation as Chivas was just barely getting into a rhythm and finally looking like a team that could be competitive.

What a tasty morsel that I was going to provide you, but alas it is now lost and just a memory of my steaming madness and stress. One thing still stands, my growing disdain for Preki.

With the little bit of progress that had been made, it was sad to see that being ripped from us by the national team. However, it is not so bad, as Saturday’s game can be used by Preki to test players and play with the roster. The problem: Preki cannot coach.

Preki has shown throughout the season that he lacks an ability to utilize his player’s talents and create solid formations. But that can be changed, as the win over FC Dallas was a step in the right direction. Preki the ball is in your court (stupid clinches) and it is time to show us why are a coach and not just another person who likes to sit on the backs of benches.

Yesterday’s game was a step in the right direction, yet the team was very unorganized and very disjointed. If you were watching the game, it was very frustrating to see the midfield struggle. Nags is still a slow player and at times non-existent. However, he is a definitely better then Guevara who proved to be a cancer on the team.

The two goals that were scored came when FC Dallas collapsed and their defense opened up. Especially the second goal, where the Dallas keeper came out almost mid-field and stood there mouth agape as Razov chipped the ball into the goal. I will have to give it to Galindo for a beautiful strike, but that was the only solid strike in the entire game. Chivas’ attack looks like they did during the first season, when they would try and set up a play and then not be able to execute. I was always under the impression that Preki was an offensive minded manager; yet, last night’s game did not show this.

The other problem: where the hell are the fans? I understand it is Memorial Weekend, yet that was the least amount of fans that I have seen all season.

We pulled off a win last night, but we still have a long road ahead of us.

As for this blog, I am back. I will be posting daily now and I apologize with the huge drop off. Now I know I most likely lost all of my readers, but we can slowly try to gain them back.

So let us get this party started.