WHITECAPS: SET TO CLASH WITH NOT- BAAAAD ‘ GOATS’
L. A.’ s lesser- hyped squad excited about fresh start and stiff test against Whitecaps
Since its arrival in Major League Soccer, Chivas USA has played in the shadow of the L. A. Galaxy, much as the Clippers did for years in a Southern California sports market where the Lakers held sway.
When the Galaxy’s stars come out to play — Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan — so do the fans. Not so with Chivas. The basement tenant at StubHub Center — the park in Carson, Calif. shared with the Galaxy — Chivas has failed to win more than eight games ( the MLS season is 34 games long) since 2009. And so, Chivas ( Spanish for “Goats”) has become something of a punchline.
In 2013, the Goats went through two head coaches and finished last in the Western Conference ( 6- 20- 8), ended up 19th in attendance in the 19- team league and surrendered an MLS- worst 67 goals, even though Dan Kennedy is considered one of the league’s better goalkeepers.
Drafted by Chivas and in his seventh season with the team, the former University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara Gaucho is mindful of not getting caught up in the recurring adversity.
“I guess, as a goalkeeper who’s played a long time, I’ve learned to keep a short memory,” Kennedy said in a telephone interview. “I take my experiences week- to- week. You have to prepare yourself as if you’ll have a massive impact. You can’t allow yourself to dwell on the negative.”
And there has been plenty of that: the Goats have gone 29- 70- 33 over the past four seasons. Still, Kennedy suggests this year’s version is not your father’s Chivas.
Indeed, Chivas and the Whitecaps enter the second week of the MLS schedule with identical 1- 0 records, Vancouver having blitzed the Thierry Henry-less New York Red Bulls 4- 1 and Chivas regal in a 3- 2 win over the Chicago Fire.
Vancouver and Chivas kick off the first of three meetings this season at 4 p. m. Sunday at StubHub Center.
“This is a fresh start for us,” Kennedy said. “It’s not about the last three years. It’s a completely new team, with a new coach ( Wilmer Cabrera, a former assistant with the Colorado Rapids), new staff, players and a new set of goals and expectations. Our goal is to be very competitive. Short term, we’re preparing as well as we can. On Sunday, the Whitecaps are the priority.”
In February, MLS decided to purchase ownership of the team from Jorge Vergara, the Mexican billionaire businessman and film producer who owns the Mexican League parent, Club Deportivo Guadalajara, also known as Chivas.
The initial concept of having a U. S.- based version of a Mexican football giant, built around Hispanic talent, and drawing from a large Spanishspeaking population in Southern California, had some moderate success. Chivas USA made the Round of 16 playoffs for four straight seasons from 2006- 2009 before the rot set in and attendance plummeted to embarrassing levels.
The plan now is for the league to administer the team under its existing branding while MLS hunts for a new owner and stadium in the Los Angeles area. Once that happens, a re- branding will begin. Chivas USA will be no more.
“To be honest, we ( players) didn’t have any interaction with the last ownership at all,” Kennedy said. “It’s not something with which we concerned ourselves. We went through three tough seasons, fighting on, just trying to do the best we could. I’m optimistic that we’ve turned a corner.”
The roster churn has seen potential impact players joining the club in midfielder Mauro Rosales, a muchneeded playmaker from Seattle Sounders FC, defender Andrew Jean- Baptiste from the Portland Timbers and forward Luke Moore, who brings experience from the English Premiership with three teams.
Moore is expected to partner with exciting 21- year- old Mexican Erick ( El Cubo) Torres, who was acquired on loan from Chivas of Guadalajara, in the middle of last season, to give the Goats much- needed striking power.
Torres, who made his professional debut at the age of 17, has scored eight goals in 16 MLS starts, one of them a sensational bicycle kick strike that he placed behind Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted in a 2- 2 draw last September. Torres scored twice in that game.
“Erick is a special kid,” Kennedy said. “He’s got a great personality. He fits into a lockerroom really well. Whether expert tap- ins or spectacular goals, his talent speaks for itself. He’s a player you’d like to have for the long- term.”
Una problema: Torres is contracted to play for Chivas USA only through the month of June, at which time he is expected to return to Guadalajara, with puppet master Vergara pulling the strings.
“I’m working with the team ( Chivas USA), and I don’t know what will happen at the end of June,” Torres said Friday in a telephone interview through a translator.
“Coming here really marked a turning point in my career as a footballer.
“I’m not only maturing on the field, but off the field. Players like Dan Kennedy and ( defender) Carlos Bocanegra, who have a lot of experience, helped me adapt, to be better in all aspects of the game.”
For Chivas, replacing El Cubo could be more problematic than solving a Rubik’s square. CORNER KICKS — Midfielder Sebastian Fernandez ( foot) was included in the Whitecaps’ travelling party Friday after being held out of training earlier in the week as a precaution. On loan from Uruguay’s Boston River, Fernandez’s rocket past Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles in the Whitecaps’ 4- 1 win over New York last Saturday was named the MLS Goal of the Week ... Whitecaps defender Johnny Leveron ( concussion protocol) was ruled out after injuring himself in a training session on Monday.