Sounders FC(ddD) vs Chivas USA(DdL) Saturday 6/6; 7:30 PM (Pacific) @ The Home Depot Center TV: Kong 6/16, MLS Match Center (live) Radio Stream(with Pre-game): 97.3 KIRO FM ===== The Sounders should especially want to win this one because a)the 2-0 loss suffered to Chivas USA last time b)playing the number 1 team c)we haven't won a league game in over a month
No Marshall, so that probably means Wahl will slide over to Marshall's position and Sturgis at left, or Alonso will have to go to Marshall's position and Vagenas will be at Alonso's position again. Either way, not good for the Sounders. I'm hoping for a tough 1-1 away tie, but expecting 2-1 Chivas win.
Keep an eye out for the SoCal Sound! We'll be dominating the corner section on the right side as the camera sees the field. If you want to join us, there's still time - send me a message!
well, at least we'll be facing a weakened chivas side that'll be without 3 key players (2 callups and one redcard). so that should play in our favor. and yea, no marshall hurts, but if we can get alonso back, i think we'll be okay defensively.
Interesting stat to keep an eye on: Chivas is #1 in MLS in fouls committed Seattle is #1 in MLS in fouls suffered
Here's the pre-match plans: Map of Home Depot Center Meet in lot 6, starting at 3pm, on the eastern side farther from the stadium. We’ll have our own BBQ and you’ll be responsible for bringing your own burgers (goat meat or veggie), buns and beer. The SoCal Sound is NOT responsible for feeding you or getting you drunk. However, they will help. We’ll be trying to fly some sort of ECS or Sounders flag or a scarf above the car, so look for that. We will have a CD of the songs we’re bringing to this game to practice, so get ready! We will be including the roll-out of WASHINGTON MY HOME- this song has special meaning for us displaced WA natives - wherever we may roam! *If you are able* please bring a few bucks to contribute to the cause of our so-cal sound chapter of ECS! Funds donated now will go toward designing/purchasing shirts, the purchase of our drum and mallets, and the creation of a rail banner, and other things we come up with. Note that we should have some ECS membership packs for sale including an ECS shirt and a membership card. Recap: Saturday’s pre-match party begins at 3pm Lot 6, HDC, Carson, CA 7:30 pm PT kickoff
Chivas are a nasty tackling team, that the league is desperate to see succeed. They also play clever defense and are decent at maintaining possession. They are a poster-child for MLS-haters in some ways: they play gritty, boring soccer, their fans are paltry in number and they have little to no heritage. I wanted Chivas to work, when it was first announced. I thought the idea of Goats USA was a clever one. When I saw how many Club America fans show up to games in LA just to boo Chivas and cheer Blanco however, I suddenly realize I don't think this franchise can ever truly work. It's like they've split the Mexican population down the middle, while the Galaxy caters almost exclusively to the Anglo crowd. Still, you have to admit Chivas has played successful soccer this year, and would be even further ahead than they are now, if it were not for the fact the referee jacked them in their last game, in yet another shameful performance by our officials. Maybe this is the season they need to save their franchise, if that is the case, then I wish them well, because I do want this experiment to work. Still, typical MLS, they take their best franchise and punish them with an idiot referee. This is turning out to be a most embarassing season for the MLS - but you wouldn't know it, they are so knee-deep in expansion money and so giddy over a team in America's Siberia wearing bridemaid's green that they don't see the gangrene spreading. I predict an ugly, awful, dreadful game that will test my patience and once again have to apologize to my relatives who scoff at this league. The Sounders are playing like dung. They are no fun to watch right now. The red cards and injuries destroyed whatever little chemistry we had coming out of pre-season and we have no sizzle or style. We squander scoring opportunities and on most attacks, we can't complete more than 3 passes without turning it over. The good news is, I think we're reaching the bottom of the barrel and I believe that the tide will turn in the weeks ahead and we will play the type of soccer we're capable of. This game won't be that "turn around" game, it will be the game that will test our patience and write threads about what to do to "fix" our team. The truth will be, nothing will "fix" our team more than just time and patience, and I do believe in the weeks ahead that very tactic wil pay off nicely, just not this week. Here's hoping I'm dead wrong, and this is the game people point to as the catalyst for a championship run...
If by gritty, you mean dirty, then you might have a point with the rest of your post. There is a reason why Chivas is the #1 fouling team, they go in cleats up every time and if the refs don't call it early and often, the game often turns into an all out foul fest as the other team starts retaliating. Problem is, MLS refs aren't used to that kind of game and they don't tend to respond quickly enough to it to make sure the game doesn't spiral out of control.
And looks like I was overly optimistic about Alonso making it back for this weekend's game. According to Sigi (in a Seattle Times article) he's 50/50, which generally means not a chance in hell. So if Alonso is out, Vagenas will be the defending mid. Wahl will probably be in Marshall's place and Sturgis at left back. If that's the case, I'm even more sure of either a very tough 1-1 tie or a 2-1 loss. Also predicting a yellow card for Hurtado as he tries to compensate for the lack of Marshall, Scott, and Alonso, which means he'll be missing the San Jose game for getting his 5th yellow of the season.
They are a poster-child for MLS-haters in some ways: they play gritty, boring soccer, their fans are paltry in number and they have little to no heritage. What do you base this on? Could you define "boring" soccer? Compared to who? Isn't this subjective? Paltry fan attendance? We usually struggle to market to English speaking fans becuase our FO refuses to invest that market. We still manage. Have you seen these numbers: http://www.mls-daily.com/2009/04/2009-mls-attendance-figures.html No heritage? Are you sure about this? We got branded after one of the most famous clubs in Mexico. Sure we had to borrow from a pre-established tradition, but to say we have NO heritage is an oversimplification. I'm not a troll, just curious about your declarations.
Not to steal West's thunder, but here's my thoughts... I've only seen two Chivas games, so they may not be representative of all their games. Chivas tends to be a defense/ball control oriented team. This can results in long periods of standing around watching the ball passed back and forth between Chivas players with very little movement forward. There will be moments of excitement because the reason why they just pass it around is they are waiting for an opportunity to make a quick break up the field and a shot on goal. This obviously is working for Chivas, but they can be a bit boring to watch for those of us used to quick pace soccer. By MLS standards, Chivas is successful in the attendance arena. My main issue is that in the market they are in, they could be much more successful. Your FO is too focused on the Spanish speaking market, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering how many Spanish speakers there is in LA. The problem is that the Spanish speakers aren't Chivas Guadalajara fans, they're watching Club America, so the brand name Chivas is hurting you there. If your FO would invest in the English speaking market and continue their current marketing in the Spanish speaking market, they could make the LA Galaxy the second team in LA. I wouldn't say no heritage, but more no heritage of your own. By coopting the Chivas name and heritage from the Guadalajara team, Chivas USA is limiting the creation of its own heritage. It's kind of like a subsidiary of a big company. Sure you can develop your own history, but the big important stuff is handed down to you and you'll always be second fiddle to the home office, so to speak.
On the bright side Kljestan won't be playing. From the few games of his I've watched this year that will mean a substantially less number of blatant fouls. Montero will also not be playing. From the last few games I've seen that increases the chances that the midfield and forwards will be on the same page. Jaqua and Ljungberg have hooked up nicely on at least two separate occasions now. I'm hoping whoever takes Montero's place (Le Toux?) will work well up there with the others. Montero is a great talent, but he seems to play a different style of game than the rest of the team. I'm hoping for Ianni to start in place of Vagenas (one can always hope, even if it is faintly so). The team seemed to play better once Ianni was substituted in. I'm not ready to say this was Vagenas' fault, it just seemed to be (and I could be wrong on that). I'm still pretty hopeful about this game.
Montero wasn't called up by Colombia.. Or at least, the team wasn't notified last week that he was called up, so unless there is something else preventing him from being at the Chivas game, he'll be there...
The team was playing better from the start of the second half, not from when Ianni replaced Vagenas.. I'm guessing Sigi tore them a new hole during halftime and that was responsible for the improved performance, not the substitution.
So Serie A/Latin soccer is "boring". It can't all be EPL long pass soccer can it? Two games in 2009 doesn't seem like the most accurate account, but whatever. Last year we had to play long ball due to so many injuries. If anything, Preki is pragmatic. He's an evil genius. Flaws and all. Can't argue with your second point. I agree. However, I would say that most LA-Mexican fans are not just Guadalajara or Club America fans, they are FMF fans. LA is diverse even within fan subgroups. As far as the last point, all I can say is most Chivas USA fans would prefer to have its own identity/heritage given that Guad fans ARE NOT going to show up in great numbers anyways. We're getting a bump in attendance this year, but really our true heritage is that we are the anti-Galaxy. Most true soccer fans in Southern California are NOW coming around to the realization that Chivas USA is a better TEAM than the Galaxy (which is really boring team unless you like ties) AND its much more co$t effective. If you don't believe me, check this out: http://chivasusafans.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/thats-the-money-you-could-be-saving-with-chivas-usa/ You can count ex-Gal fans as the true base of Chivas USA fans. After 5 years, who has "heritage"? The Sounders name has been around since the 70's right. You have history. We ALL hate the Galaxy and right now, that's enough heritage to sustain an MLS franchise.
Like I said, it's working for Chivas, so why change what isn't broken, eh? That being said most US soccer fans are into EPL style soccer, not Serie A/Latin soccer. No denying that, just saying that if the team were called Club America USA instead of Chivas USA your attendance would be higher. I'm not sure how this proves you have your own heritage. Heritage is not "anti-someone else" (Take that Portland!), it's having a clear identity of your own. The Galaxy have entered a new stratosphere of suck the last few years (Thanks AEG! You rock!!!), but if Beckham and AEG hadn't made their fans bend over and take it up the poop shoot at the beginning of the year, they'd be kicking your asses in attendance even more than they do now. They'd still blow on the field mind you, but a lot of the anti-Galaxy sentiment out there wouldn't have come about if Beckham had showed up on opening day instead of at mid season.
Interesting. I had heard he was called up (which surprised me to be honest). Well, let's hope for progress then. Currently the Sounders are the bottom of the league in shots on goal. This will hopefully change.
Anti-Galaxy, great posts, and I admire your defense of your favorite team. Well done. MLS needs more reasonable, but passionate fans like you. Count me in as a fan of what you are trying to say here. To answer your questions directly from what I posted: What do you base this on? Could you define "boring" soccer? Compared to who? Isn't this subjective? It is indeed subjective. I think defining what is and what is not entertaining for a sports fan, will always be largely subjective. Personally, what I find boring about Chivas this year is tight defensive structure of the team, the heavy use of the offside trap and the habit of playing "keep away" even with just a 1-0 lead. It is successful for your team, and congrats for that, but not the most entertaining soccer to watch. Paltry fan attendance? We usually struggle to market to English speaking fans becuase our FO refuses to invest that market. We still manage.Have you seen these numbers: http://www.mls-daily.com/2009/04/200...e-figures.html I had not seen those figures, thanks for sharing them and congrats on the 11% growth from last year. I still see an awful lot of empty seats at your games, but this is much better than I had figured it was based on how your stadium looks during broadcasts. No heritage? Are you sure about this? We got branded after one of the most famous clubs in Mexico. First and foremost: I am a big fan of Mexican soccer. I spent a year down in Huatulco, and would fly to Mexico City to watch the occasional game. In my work down there, I was adopted by some Pumas fans and "converted" to their side. While my link to UNAM is tenuous (I speak terrible Spanish), I've always considered the Mexican League a vastly under-rated league. I get very frustrated when playoff matches are not available on TV, or when Anglo-centric networks like Fox Soccer Channel ignore the Mexican league entirely, and instead spend 15 minutes on some "rumor" about a trade with Manchester City. Having said that, I don't think you get to borrow the Goat's great legacy, just because the owner attempted to co-brand your team. You team has no history in the US, and Chivas USA still hasn't accomplished much in its short tenure. 2007 was nice, but ultimately produced no trophies. This isn't to say Goats USA can't forge a very impressive resume in the years to come, but you don't get to tack on what goes on with a dynasty south of the border, just because you wear the same jersey and branding. I argue the Sounders link to history is richer, because it involves the same community (even the same fans), and we literally see second generation fans in our stadium. You are right to question my subjective view of whether Chivas is exciting to watch, and the attendance figures you posted are indeed promising. I remember not long ago, there was a serious thread on the Big Soccer boards about whether Chivas would die due to poor attendance. So you've improved, and I am pleased to hear it, as I said in the earlier post, I am keen to see the Chivas USA experiment work, but I am not convinced it will. Hopefully, I'll be proven dead wrong. I also share your frustration that your owner doesn't market at all to Anglos. I share it because I feel the other side of it, where Anglo-networks focus so obsessively on jolly-old England, and ignore the great soccer going on in Mexico, or even at times the USA. Hell, our primary soccer-dedicated cable network for english-speaking Americans doesn't even show Copa Libertadores games, and Copa Liber is in my opinion one of the top 5 cup tournaments there is. It also shuts down all there locally-produced shows (except one) when the EPL ends, as if the entire center of the soccer universe collapses when EPL is in off-season. Ridiculous. I also argue, that smacks a little of racism, or at least it smacks of this tired notion that only England truly matters. As someone born and raised in England, I can tell you that annoys the hell out of me, because it sells the game short and it elevates England to a place that I think is undeserved these days. I don't think it does England a damn bit of good either, because as this trend continues, England's national program atrophies. Anyway, your comments were well-taken.
Nice, civil arguments gentlemen. Regarding our "style" versus the rest of the MLS. All I can say is, look at the MLS standings AND look at our performance since Bob Bradley came to Chivas in 2006. Our football, I mean soccer, is all about going against the grain and 2-touch passing. If you look up pragmatic in the dictionary you'll know that being paractical, rather than artisitic or intellectual, is what Chivas USA is all about. We have had to adapt to an excessive numbers of injuries, multiple USMNT call-ups, and cheap owners. I know we are not alone in this category, but somehow we still make the playoffs. Something must be working right for us. Club America fans may outnumber Chivas Guad in LA, but they don't outnumber the TOTAL number of FMF fans when put together. No proof, just my opinion. I know that the Union Ultras, for example, have members who are diehard Chivas/Cruz Azul/Pumas/America/USMNT fans. Radical as it sounds, it makes perfect sense given the diversity of FMF fans and Mexican-American footie fans coming together. Furthermore, remember that ChivasUSA just began 5 years ago. We played our inagural MLS season in 2005. How much heritage can you develop in the short time? Given the comical approach our marketing department has handled English language commercialization in those first years, its no wonder why you guys would see things the way you do. I can't even hear a radio broadcast of the games in English here in LA . How ludicrous is that? I watch FSC and ESPN and they barely mention us. ESPN's Allen Hopkins is a former Galaxy employee and that guy never hides his love for the Galaxy. What a joke. Branding? What can I say? Its the team we have. The fans can't dictate what the owners should do about this. Im jealous of your club system that gives you guys a voice and a say in who runs the club. I will say this. I am finally seeing more Chivas USA jerseys than Guad jerseys here at the HDC. Believe me, we aren't a minor league franchise for Chivas Guad. In fact, we have access to their pool of players that, in previous years, wouldn't have given the MLS a sniff. This year we got lucky with Mariano Trujillo and Eduardo Lillingston. No name 30-somethings perhaps, but more technical that your usual MLS journeyman. Thank you guys for this platform. Thanks for the positive feedback. See you guys in Carson?
Totally agree. Chivas' style of play is definitely working for them and shouldn't be changed, IMHO. You play to the strengths of your players and y'all have a great D, so it would be silly to have an EPL style game when your strength is Serie A style. But that being said, successful can be boring to watch for those of us that aren't Chivas fans. I'm obviously not from the LA area, but I heard Chivas has started some marketing towards English speakers. Is this true? Obvious not enough to have an English language broadcast of the game (totally lame), but thankfully soccer is a game you can turn the sound off on the TV and still enjoy (lame if all you have is radio access though). And I wouldn't be too worried about FSC and ESPN. From what I've seen FSC is all EPL all the time. Sure they have a MLS game of the week, but other than that, non-EPL leagues in general get the shaft. ESPN.. Eh.. I don't watch ESPN, so no idea what their coverage of MLS is. Won't be seeing me in Carson, alas. I'll be getting my drink on at The Drey though. Here's hoping you don't beat us too badly. May I suggest going after our left back. Regardless of who it is, they'll be the weakest link in our D and you should be able to get some nice crosses in front of our goal at roughly head height.
Too funny Yoshou. If you think we've been BORING so far, wait 'til you see the snoozefest we have planned on Saturday. We have no Bornstein/Kjelstan and the King of fouls, Jesse Marsch missing on Saturday. We will change things a bit, I presume. I won't be surprised if we end up, 0-0.
Latest and greatest report from Jose Romero is Alonso and Scott are out for this weekend's game and Ianni in for Marshall. This probably means Montero, Jaqua up front, Zakuani, Ljungberg, Evans, and Vagenas at mid, Wahl, Ianni, Hurtado, Riley in back.