Chivas USA have now lost two games in a row. Last week they lost at home to the Colorado Rapids, and they followed that up with another 1-0 defeat on Saturday, this time away to Real Salt Lake. They have now missed out on six points and dropped to fifth in the Western Conference. But is there any reason to panic? Absolutely not. The last two games have been just a mild stutter to what has been a very respectable and completely unexpected start to the season for Chivas USA.
After defeat to the Colorado Rapids, the question being asked by many was: Are the wheels coming off Chivas USA’s start to the 2013 season? After one defeat this was not only premature but predictable. After picking up ten points in March to climb up to the top end of the Western Conference, the performances of Chelís’ side has dumbfounded the critics. “What is going on at Chivas USA?!” was probably trending on Twitter. Chivas USA’s month of April however, hasn’t been as fruitful with no points to speak of. Regardless of what happened in April though, Chivas USA are still in a better position than most would have guessed before a ball was kicked.
On the road to Real Salt Lake was always going to be a big ask after a disappointing result against the Rapids at home. Chivas USA’s momentum had been interrupted by a break in the schedule and Chelís admitted that the feeling in the camp was different from the previous weeks. The performance against Colorado was not up to the standard set in March and players were being asked post-game if they had started to believe their own hype. They clarified that they were not getting carried away with themselves, but had just had an off day. On Saturday, they put in a much improved performance and although it was a similar result to the Rapids game, positivity comes from this slightly improved showing.
The Goats failed to convert a penalty (Mejia was the culprit this week) and after going behind to a Javier Morales headed goal they were guilty of not converting their chances. Mejia also saw red in this game and his ordering off highlighted a problem with the team’s discipline. Last year Chivas earned the tag of “Road Warriors” for grinding out results away from home. However the trip to the Rio Tinto this year showed the inexperience of this new roster. The passion was there, but discipline and focus was lacking and this result was definitely shows that 2012 wasn’t all bad. This new era Chivas USA side need to channel that spirit of last year and start learning how to grind out results…even if it’s not pretty.
For all their good build-up play and attacking soccer (something we lacked last year) the Goats have become vulnerable when they are having an off night in front of goal. Two players we have missed are Juan Agudelo and Oswaldo Minda so with a roster lacking in MLS experience, this sort of thing was bound to happen eventually.
If you had been online after the game, you would have thought Chivas USA were back to their old ways and their ”fluke” start to the season had ended. This is simply not true.
The critics who had been silenced this year were excited to hear Chivas had dropped points again. Like I said after the Vancouver game, Chivas USA will lose games this season. Their impressive start to the season has been exaggerated slightly and you could tell that as soon as they lost again the haters would be ready to pounce. Two losses is nothing new for Chivas USA when you consider last year, but we are currently in a playoff spot with 10 points and 10 goals scored. Their standing in the West is a lot better than fans expected and I for one am not too upset after a rough month.
There is no reason to think that the Goats are now on a downward spiral. They played two teams who played well and took their chances. It won’t get any easier against San Jose on Saturday, but hopefully this stutter will be over and we see the attacking, goal scoring Chivas we all saw in March.
(image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images)
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