Chivas USA Hoping for Home Advantage
Houston Dynamo's Geoff Cameron (20) battles for the ball with Chivas USA's Johnathan Bornstein (13) during the first half of a Major League Soccer game, Saturday, April 17, 2010, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
After registering their first victory two weeks ago against New York at the Home Depot Center, the red-and-white then took a 3 - 0 beating in Houston a mere week later. The positives displayed against New York seemed to quickly vanish in the Houston match, leaving Head Coach Martin Vasquez searching for answers.
"This week we focused on our approach into the offensive side," stated Vasquez regarding the team's preparations for tonight's match against the San Jose Earthquakes. Vasquez is wise to invest the time in this area, as it has been the most problematic throughout this young season. In short, the team seems to lack the creativity necessary to penetrate defensive lines once the red-and-white reach the final third.
More recently, the problem has been magnified by injuries to forwards Maykel Galindo and Maicon Santos, as well as midfielder Marcelo Saragosa. Galindo suffered an injury in the New York match and although he was expected to be out 2 weeks, he hasn't yet returned to the practice field. Santos started the season in recovery mode and has taken a couple of knocks since returning. He is clearly not 100%, thus, much of the responsibility on the front lines will likely fall to Justin Braun and Chukwudi Chijindu for tonight's match.
Saragosa is day-to-day and is unlikely to start against San Jose after leaving practice early on Friday. Vasquez noted that the Brazilian's contributions in the midfield were "extremely important" and acknowledged that part of last week's problems against Houston were related to his absence. Missing the match against San Jose could prove equally fatal unless rookies Blair Gavin and Ben Zemanski adequately fill that role.
San Jose started the season with a 3 - 0 loss to Real Salt Lake, but since then has won two straight, most recently a 2 - 0 victory against New England Revolution last Saturday. According to Vasquez, the red-and-white can walk away victorious if they are able to control the flanks and limit their crosses.
"We are playing in our home. We need to assert ourselves and take the ball from them." added Vasquez.
Tonight's match will have some added flavor, both on the field and in the stands. San Jose brings with them two Salvadoran National Team members in the form of Arturo Alvarez and Ramon Sanchez, both of whom are quite familiar to Chivas USA's Osael Romero, who has played along side both of them with La Selecta. It is the first time this year that Romero will be facing his National Team mates. Check out the clip for his thoughts (Spanish audio with English subtitles):
The grouping of Salvadoran players prompted Chivas USA to host its first ever Salvadoran Night, featuring food, music and other traditional activities common to El Salvador. So head on down to the Home Depot Center tonight for some good eats and entertaining soccer.
Lastly, the good folks at WorldFootballDaily.com asked us to share some thoughts with them on Chivas USA, Galaxy, Sacha Kljestan, World Cup and other topics. Check out the interview and give them a listen on a regular basis if you don't already.
Game Details
Chivas USA vs. San Jose Earthquakes
When: Saturday, April 24, 2010
Where: Home Depot Center, Carson
Time: 7:30 PM
TV: FSC, FSE
Radio: 690 AM