Last week as I was watching the Chivas-Fire game with my Neighbor he asks me "How come Chivas USA has so few Mexicans now?" and I told him that the new coach brought reinforcements that he knew would be able to compete in the MLS. But after the game It got me thinking, how would CDCU be if we had more quality Mexican players on the team, and I came up with this: -------------------------------Guzan-------------------------------------- ------Bornstein-------------Claudio Suarez----------------Pirata Castro---- ---Tilon Chavez---------------Manuel Sol------------------Ramon Ramirez-- --------------------------Juan Pablo Garcia-------------------------------- ----Paco Palencia-----------Ante Razov---------------Luis Alonso Sandoval- So, how would this team do in the MLS, would they be able to compete for the MLS Cup? Or would they struggle like last year?
Do you really want someone as slow as Ramon Ramirez manning your left flank with no wide defender behind him? Against Freddy Adu, Ronnie O'Brien, Brian Mullan, Clint Dempsey, Chris Klein, Terry Cooke, etc... No, those aren't world class flank mids, but against someone as slow as Ramon Ramirez is these days, that's a recipe for disaster, especially with a three-man back-line. To be clear, in his prime, Ramirez was better than all those guys are now. But we all know he's no longer in his prime and pace ain't exactly a strength.
Pirata, Tilon, Sol are all over 25 so they'd all need to take up an SI spot. Already we've got Paco, Loco, Ramon and Claudio so we couldn't have those guys. Sandoval would fit but that guy's a chump so he can go to hell. You forgot to metion Panchito, who I'd rather have on the left side anyway. If Chivas had stuck to their Mexican filosofia, we'd have about four total wins this year again. They'd have to fill the roster with young Mexican players, and we all know how that went. coughRomocough coughBeginescough coughLoeracough coughCuadroscough coughMatutecough Cuadros was actually decent. The rest were shit.
Well, since Ramon is practically retired now, I guess panchito would get the spot. But you have to admit that Sandoval is a good player. you also missed the part where I said we get quality Mexican players, everybody knew the guys we had last season werent gonna cut it here. I would of easily taken Sergio Avila and Omar Esparza over half the roster we had last year.
If Chivas USA had kept with its true Mexican Philosophy. They would be more fans in the stadiums they play this season. That is for sure. Mexican Futbol Teams mean much more than winning or losing team and Cue was so panicked last year that he just didn't understand that. C'mon Chivas Guadalajara have not won a championship since 1997! Do you see the team being abandoned by its fans in favor of Pachuca? Not at all, because Chivas is more than a soccer futbol you root if they are winning and abandon if they are not. Yes Chivas USA needs to win, but more importantly Chivas USA has to mean something to the fans, much more than entertainment, there are a TON of entertainment options in any given day in L.A. Chivas USA can't compete in being the best team with the biggest star in their league (like the Lakers) or being a historied team (like the dodgers) or being the funnest place in SoCal (Like Disneyland!) and until that happens their success on the field will be phirric victories, since it feats and failures do not connect with the larger population the way Chivas Guadalajara does. Personally -and this is something I have heard around in L.A.- I would like Chivas USA to be a team that mirrows the "parent" club as much as possible, with its greatness and shortcomings. Most importantly Chivas is the "Mexican" Team of Mexico, with a solid unique Mexican-underdog identity. And that at this point is something Chivas USA is not. While I understand that the ethnic composition is somewhat of a sticky issue in the U.S. since people can use the "nationalism card" to acuse the team of being ethically exclusive, it can definitely be done in a way that it attracts the loyal Chivas fans and people that like soccer with a "Latin Flair". The problem is that Chivas USA is in a tough position in regards to acquiring players that fit this model. The outstanding, national-team quality Mexican players in their prime are off-limits to Chivas USA (and even Chivas) since the big clubs are willing to fork out millions to sign them. Then, the outstanding Chivas players are not going to be let of Chivas Guadalajara, because they are needed over there, and well it is a limited talent pool that Chivas USA can pouch from. Also there's the player's willingness to come to the USA. "Hard to believe" but most Mexican players do not want to come to the USA to play on astro-turf in semi-empty American football stadiums. Now on the other hand, the MLS is a league that lacks international interaction and it seems like a self-contained league with the same 10 coaches. The MLS and its coaches prefer to use the procedures used in other American sports to fill their ranks: the college system. And well we know that Latinos are not represted in higher education, so who can they pick? Mostly middle-class suburban players. That is the model of the MLS and it works fine for them, but that is not they way soccer players are produced in the rest of the world, from the Barrio, from the teams own youth leagues. I understand that Chivas USA is working on this to happen but allas it will take a while, will fans that are turning off now come back when this happens? I, for one have stopped going to the games, I still watch them on TV. And I know Romo sucked, Cuadros tried but couldn't, Begines sucked (but hey he helped Queretaro gain promotion to the Primera) but they were lovable lossers that were products of Chivas. Now we only have Panchito as a Chivas product, Palencia started in Cruz Azul, Ramirez and Garcia in Atlas and Suarez in Pumas. And even the four Mexican players sometimes don't get to end the games. Which is the weirdest image, a bunch of Blonde guys playing with the Chivas Jerseys! Until Chivas USA does not get the balance between the Latino (U.S. born) players, Mexican-American players and of course American players of other ethnicities, Chivas USA will be just another MLS team playing in front of thousands of empty seats (except in the Clasico and the double headers) that just can't inspire the passion that it could.
Well you'd have to get young, quality players. You can only have four Mexicans 25 and over on your team. The rest would have to be under 25 unless guys like Paco and Loco were to get residency then you could bring in other guys. So then you'd have to spend a lot of money to get quality players 24 and under because teams don't just give those kinds of players away. Bottom line is quality, young, Mexican will cost a lot of money.
Implacable That was a great post on Chivas USA's evolving philosophy, but that's exactly what it is, it's evolving. I want this team to be the equivalent to Guadalajara as much as the next guy, but as an expansion team you can't expect that right away. I don't want this team to be a place where CDG's players come to retire or the team that receives CDG's throwaway players. I want this team to be it's own entity and not just be a knock-off of CDG. It's been weird for me as well to see non-mexican players in the Chivas jersey, but it also opens the doors to a whole new audience that the Guadalajara team hasn't been able to reach. The fan base is already there, all you need now is a competitive product on the field to get the crowds in, and break the MLS stereotype of half-empty stadiums. Fans are still hesitant to take in this team due to last year's results and it'll take a good season or a few good seasons to generate the support that this team is capable of. I'm here for the long run, anyone else is welcome to join regardless of ethnicity.
...and that's what's all about. The long run. This teams is barely in it's second season. But. Man. It's already a lot things at the ground level (sponsorships, academias,etc.).