Chivas USA will try to return to winning ways when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday (10:30 pm ET, Direct Kick/Matchday Live). This will finish the season series for the two clubs, as they met April 16 in Vancouver and played to a scoreless draw. Although it came on the heels of the scoreless draw against Columbus on April 9, the match against Vancouver had more action and showed the Goats increased comfort at pushing up the field and attacking, a strategy that has jumpstarted their offense this season.
Now, this upcoming match against the Whitecaps also comes directly after a game against the Crew. Last Saturday Chivas traveled to Columbus and tied 3-3 with the Crew, but that was only after they held the lead three times and let the Crew tie the game up each time. Perhaps this match will follow the pattern and the score will finish 3-3? For Chivas, another draw will be a disappointment, especially at home, against an expansion team on the road that is going through a poor run of form.
The big news for Vancouver coming into this match is that Coach Teitur Thordarson was fired Monday and Tom Soehn will now manage the team. Although some analysts have noted that Thordarson seemed stubbornly loyal to a 4-4-2 formation and did not really make the most of his playmaker Davide Chiumiento, most people were quite surprised by his dismissal. He was a fan favorite and did not appear to have lost the dressing room, but considering the team’s front office wanted immediate results for the Whitecaps, Thordarson was shown the door. Considering Vancouver are an expansion side, have not yet moved into their permanent home stadium, and have battled more than their share of injuries so far this season, it should not be Thordarson’s fault. At any rate, Vancouver have not won in 11 games, and are at the bottom of the Western Conference, so they will see if having a new coach can reverse their momentum.
Chivas will surely have new faces in the squad as they deal with suspensions, international call-ups, and squad rotation with two games this week. Defender Andrew Boyens and midfielder Simon Elliott were called up to represent New Zealand in their friendly against Mexico Wednesday in Denver, and Boyens will travel to Australia for another friendly over the weekend, so he will miss both of this week’s matches. Forward Alejandro Moreno was called up by Venezuela and will miss this week’s matches. Midfielders Marcos Mondaini and Jorge Flores are suspended for the match, as Mondaini finishes off his suspension for his reckless tackle on Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales and Flores serves a one-match ban for two yellow cards against Columbus. Defender Michael Lahoud has been cleared in the post-concussion protocol and may be slotted into the backline, while forward Tristan Bowen and midfielder Paulo Nagamura are officially listed as probable and may be pressed into action following long injury layoffs. Expect Chris Cortez or Gerson Mayen to start at least one of these matches, and Ben Zemanski will probably move back to defensive midfielder while Elliott is gone.
For the Whitecaps, Terry Dunfield (Canada), Nizar Khalfan (Tanzania), and Michael Boxall (New Zealand) will miss the match because of international call-ups. Meanwhile, forward Atiba Harris and midfielder John Thorrington are out because of injury, while forward Long Tan and defender Jonathan Leathers may miss out as well from injury.
Chivas’ expectation will be to get a victory at home, and any way they can get the three points will be fine. But with the defensive lapses at Columbus, Chivas will seek to maintain their defensive strength and not sacrifice the defensive effort for offensive urgency. Chivas know they can hang with the best teams in the league, but now they need to get the job done against less-accomplished opposition.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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