I've watched parts of 3 of their games, and I like how they play as much as any MLS team. They play (somewhat) the Mexican style of committing numbers forward, skillful ballhandling, a willingness to take players 1v1, and flourish on their finishing...along with sometimes/too often loose, questionable defending.. OK, so they haven't totally come together yet, and maybe you lose more than you win committing to offensive football when you are under or even talented. But I think its more appealing to watch, and it is more "convert some fans friendly". Given I've had a chance to watch 4 or 5 other games this year....most of those game (large, large portions) were absolute snores. Dreadful. I've enjoyed the Chivas games. Really. They are entertaining. Isn't it- at this stage of MLS- about entertainment and not trying to be the Italian 1st division? After all, Italy can play boring soccer for 50 years, and there is enough goodwill/lack of competition in which the sport would survive. In the US, we still need more followers, and boring, uninteresting soccer could hurt, even kill the sport here. Chivas makes me proud.
Chivas have looked pretty good on the field. Especially in the game versus the Earthquakes. However, they've been disappointing at the gate. Maybe two teams in LA wasn't such a good idea?
With the SSS, even a smaller revenue stream may be enough to break even for the ChivasUSA. Plus, it gives Vergara a chance to sell a few Ramon Ramirez shirts and give his back-ups and minor leaguers additional exposure.
They need to start scoring more goals. Why doesnt Isaac Romo play? I thought he was a hotshot striker?
If Wrongen can't see by now Romo should be the starter over Torres he never will. Torres just doesn't have it..perhaps he'll get better as the season progresses but right now he needs some bench time to gather himself and address his difficancies.
I thought the fact that so many fans booed Ruiz was telling...obviously, Chivas have siphoned off quite a few fans from the Galaxy. Or at least there's significant overlap between the two fan bases.
Not really, I mean Ruiz is well known in the western hemisphere because of Guatemala's run for the WC. What you see him do in MLS is what he does with the nat'l team. I am not sure about the, Chivas USA can break even thought. Most of those fans are sporting Chivas jerseys, but not Chivas USA jerseys. And with attendance like that, the real possibility of Rongen screwing up as usual, and the fact they are paying rent, I don't see Chivas breaking even.
But I don't get why ex-Galaxy fans would boo Ruiz - and I think you might be misreading the boos as well. From where I sat, the sound was "RUUUUUIIIIZ!" in tribute. It's like when Laker fans would cheer for Tyronn Lue, and it would sound a bit like booing, - LUUUUUE! Cause there was a lot of cheering when Ruiz scored the PK. Lots in L.A. still love the Fishy. Landon's going to have to outscore him, probably to win any of those folk over. As far as Chivas, they are aggressive, they play with heart, and their fans who are still there are the true Loyals.
Sounds like at their tickets prices, they can generate $4m+ in revenues from ticket sales.. I'd think that is competitive with what other teams are doing. Chivas has to be on the high end (highest?) in average ticket price received.
People keep wringing their hands over Chivas' attendances as if there's some sort of crisis. From MLsnet.com: TEAM ATTENDANCE REPORT HOME GAMES (DATES, TOTAL, AVERAGE) Chicago Fire, 1, 12,907, 12,907 CD Chivas USA, 2, 31,190, 15,595 Colorado Rapids, 1, 9,253, 9,253 Columbus Crew, 2, 26,807, 13,404 FC Dallas, 1, 10,504, 10,504 D.C. United, 1, 19,052, 19,052 Kansas City Wizards, 1, 13,484, 13,484 Los Angeles Galaxy, 1, 27,000, 27,000 MetroStars, 2, 24,956, 12,478 New England Revolution, 1, 9,727, 9,727 Real Salt Lake, 1, 25,287, 25,287 San Jose Earthquakes, 2, 20,249, 10,125 MLS Totals, 16, 230,416, 14,401
I've been to 3 Chivas games at the HDC now (Osasuna friendly, DC United, FC Dallas.) Chivas fans are definitely not Galaxy fans. I've gone to do some reporting on the fans, and they were all (generally) Chivas Mexico fans before they were Chivas USA fans. No one in the Legion1908 went to Galaxy games. All (generally speaking again) the people with replica jerseys have Chivas Mexico jerseys, not Chivas USA jerseys. Ruiz got all the harsh treament from the fans last night because of the way the hispanic press hyped his home-coming. The Chivas fans (who know more soccer than most other fans) knows he's a diver and devious.
They made a bad choice when they hired" Wrongguy" as coach so as the Rapaids for hiring the Moron. I heard alot of good things about the RSL's coach but I don't know, the jury still out on him. So far I am not impressed at these choices. Then again the season just started.
However, it appears that they rent from AEG, so a low breakeven point like the Galaxy's is probably not possible. I wouldn't plan on selling too many Ramirez shirts until he actually does something. So far, he's pretty unimpressive, and Taylor and Torres are pathetic. Vergara needs to bring in some real talent.
Rongen is a great guy, and was a great player, but he nearly ruined DC United, and although he speaks several languages, his accent is very thick and he is hard to understand. Lord knows how good his spanish will be (which he is learning on the fly). At some point, people will remember that Dave Dir knows how to coach hispanic teams that get results. I still can't believe the guy doesn't have a coaching job. Vergara screwed up in picking Rongen, and he's going to pay the price for his mistake.
Well yeah-- I think it is because he's Guatamalan, not because he's from the Galaxy. According to press reports, there were Guatamalans in the crowd who supported him and booed Chivas (hopefully they still come to Gals games for Pando). I think the national rivalries had a tremendous amount to do with how the matchup was hyped in the Spanish-speaking press.
Balboa and Davis on HDNet said there was a lot of pre-game trash talk going on in the papers (La Opinion) between Chivas USA players and Ruiz. One of the Chivas players said that they would be eating grilled fish Saturday night. Ruiz countered that goat would be the meal for the night.
Ruiz devious? Ruiz a diver? Thanks for telling a cracker like myself that exquisite insightful piece of information--who woulda thunk it? I certainly have never seen BigSoccer posters talk about it.
why would they boo cuz he's a diver? they should be well used to seeing that all the time in the mexican league