I am about to leave the UK after spending the offseason here and I’m excited to be returning to California just in time for the MLS season starting again. Whilst back home in my native Scotland you wouldn’t have known what stage the MLS season was at if it wasn’t for certain LA Galaxy players making news down south in England. This, as well as handshakes (or lack of) and alleged racism overshadowed any sort of coverage we would receive of the upcoming season. The offseason therefore has seemed a lot longer than it actually was. However, Chivas USA needed that time to rebuild and sort things out. They needed to bring in some new faces and freshen up the squad. Robin Fraser also needed more time to try and get the team playing the way he wants them to. So, with another 8th place finish in the Western Conference last year, preseason 2012 was going to be incredibly important.
With a busy preseason schedule (reviewed in an earlier article) results have not been great for Chivas USA. However, at the time of writing, they still have time to redeem themselves. Whether or not The Goats actually manage to win more games in preseason is not really anything to worry about. Not for me it isn’t anyway. Preseason 2012 was more about strengthening the roster and improving the quality of football that Chivas USA could produce. This was echoed by Robin Fraser in many of his post-match interviews recently. He also did not fret too much on the results of preseason games but was focused more on cohesion and experimentation. These games were described as a ‘learning experience’ and were about allowing new roster additions time to get to know their new teammates.
The offseason has seen a few players leave the Chivas ranks and quality replacements were needed. In response to this, Robin Fraser has made some shrewd additions to the roster and also brought in numerous trialists. With preseason almost over it’s now time to look at the current roster and see what the 2012 season could hold for Chivas USA. (Current active roster as shown on Chivas USA’s official website)
Goalkeepers
Dan Kennedy
Tim Melia
The position of goalkeeper, in my opinion, was not an area of great concern for the coaching staff. Dan Kennedy is more than likely to start the season with the number 1 jersey and rightly so. After 4 years at the club Kennedy finally got his chance at being the main man between the sticks and has gave a good account of himself. Tim Melia, on the other hand, is there to be Kennedy’s understudy but this still leaves a spot open for a number 3. Despite being unlikely to see any action this season a third goalkeeper is still needed in the event of injury. Preseason has seen a couple of trialists used but they failed to impress Robin Fraser and they have now departed without signing.
Defenders
Ante Jazic
Heath Pearce
James Riley
John Valencia (new signing)
Jorge Villafaña
Rauwshan McKenzie (signed after trial)
David Junior Lopes
When analyzing the Chivas USA roster it was clear to see an area in which Chivas USA was lacking was defense. Not just in quality but in numbers also. Victories were few and far between for the Rojiblancos last year and the defense was often the root cause of that. Players such as Pearce and Jazic return for another season and others have departed. But those who have stayed will need to be more consistent this year if they want to challenge for a starting position again. Not surprisingly, there have been a few additions to the defense recently in order to add a bit more depth to the back line.
John Valencia was brought in from the Colombian League and quickly impressed in his first game of preseason. At 6’4’’ the 30 year old from Medellin looks like a tough, no nonsense defender. Reports from the club suggest the coaching staff were instantly impressed with his style of play and expect good things from their new signing. Another defender added to the roster was Rauwshan McKenzie who originally arrived at Chivas on trial. The 25 year old center back has been one of the stand outs of the preseason games (so far) and is also a player who has previously worked with Robin Fraser at Real Salt Lake. His solid, physical performances in scrimmages were praised for bringing a calming influence to the defense.
An area of concern last season, the defense has had another preseason to find their rhythm and work with some new additions. Despite promising reports, however, these new additions have yet to be tested in a competitive MLS game so the jury has to remain out on them. I just hope that a regular, consistent backline can be formed that can see us through the season. Chivas USA will, undoubtedly, come under a lot of pressure in games and the defense is vital to any success in 2012.
Midfielders
Miller Bolaños
Laurent Courtois
Blair Gavin
Marvin Iraheta
Nick LaBrocca
Michael Lahoud
Oswaldo Minda
Ryan Smith
Ben Zemanski
Alejandro Moreno (M/F)
Peter Vagenas
The midfield area is clearly where Chivas USA have the most options especially when it comes to more defense minded midfielders. Like defense there have been some departures but I would rather focus on what the returning/new players can do rather than analyze what we have lost. With more trialists arriving and still being examined by the coaching staff the quality of the midfield is likely to improve further.
Robin Fraser has been experimenting with player positioning and assessing some trialists that were brought in. This experimentation was evident with Alejandro Moreno playing in the center of midfield in preseason. Depending on what formation Fraser uses though many of the midfielders or indeed forwards can play a variety of positions. Oswaldo Minda has arrived from Ecuador and looks a very good addition to the midfield. He has been paired with controversial signing Peter Vagenas and both have acquitted themselves well in the middle of the field. Michael Lahoud has been terrific in an attacking midfield role and arguably their best player so far. The key position this year though, I think, will be a defensive midfielder. The defense will need as much support as they can get and I believe this position is where someone will need to shine this year.
Forwards
Juan Pablo Angel
Chris Cortez
Cesar Romero
Casey Townsend
If Chivas USA are going to win more games (or avoid defeat) this season they are going to have to score more goals. I am not going to use any soccer clichés but their strike-force achieving a better goal tally is crucial. As I mentioned earlier, the midfield/forward players are interchangeable in many cases, especially in the 4-3-3 formation that has been used.
To begin with, the signing of Townsend and Romero in the offseason has added two exciting prospects to the team. 22yr old Mexican-American striker Cesar Romero has looked lively in preseason along with Superdraft pick Casey Townsend. They are young and inexperienced but they have ability and something to prove. If they continue to impress in preseason a starting place in the team is possible. Juan Pablo Angel returns to the team and The Goats will be heavily reliant on his goals and experience. Question marks have been raised over his age but, if he can remain fully fit, he has proven throughout his career he can score goals.
What is lacking this year?
The strengths of the roster have been outlined above but where is Chivas weak? The roster is not finalized yet but the one thing I think Chivas USA lack is a proven, experienced out-and-out striker. Yes we have Angel but will he return to his scoring form? There is options there for Robin Fraser to use but a lot of them are either inexperienced or not a player who will score you more than a handful of goals. If there was someone else that could be relied upon on the roster I would feel a lot better.
What can we expect from Chivas USA this season?
I am positive about this year but then I am positive every year. Firstly, if I am being honest, I would settle for anything better than last year simply to see some sort of improvement. Anything more, such as a good run in the US Open Cup, would be a bonus. What the performances in preseason have shown (especially the LA Galaxy match) is that if they are trailing in a game they won’t give up. If The Goats can take this attitude into every match I believe they can perform much better than last season. Living in the shadow of LA Galaxy means a lot of people instantly write Chivas USA off. I have a feeling this could be year they prove their doubters wrong.
Who will be top goal scorer?
If I was putting money on it I would have to go for Juan Pablo Angel. Yes he is old and perhaps coming to the end of his career but last season showed he still had it in him. The 36yr old managed 7 goals in 9 appearances last year after moving from LA Galaxy. If he can stay fit I am sure he will score goals this year. If he doesn’t, as shown earlier, younger players such as Romero and Townsend will have to step up and prove themselves quickly in the MLS.
With the roster not yet finalized and more players still working hard in preseason trying to earn their place it is difficult to give a definitive verdict on this squad of players. Robin Fraser has brought in striker Karo Okiomah this past week, as well as South American midfielders Alan da Silva Souza and José Nájera. I would imagine then that he is still looking to bolster his squad further in various positions and wants to add more depth.
It’s easy to sit here in front of my laptop, before the season has even started, make predictions and be really positive. The current roster could easily be analyzed in a few different ways depending on how you look at it. Some fans will think that we have a good squad of players going into the 2012 season. Others will believe that it is still lacking in serious quality. Whatever the case may be, we will just have to wait and judge later. I just hope this is the year where Chivas USA start challenging higher up in the league again and give their critics less to talk about. Arriba las Chivas!
(image courtesy of cdchivasusa.com)
