I just wanted to include a link and comment on this article by Kartik Krishnaiyer on the Major League Soccer Talk blog about Sven Goran Eriksson's early success with the Mexican national team and how the U.S. National Team could learn from that. I essentially agree that Eriksson has done a good job with Mexico and that I too was somewhat skeptical about this appointment when it was made.

I'll attach the site's record to each update, just to let you know where things stand. And, for the record, I'll only be clocking the rumors that MLS Rumors rates 4 or higher. Here are the latest. I'll keep the Rumor Watch updated as they come to me (as opposed to breaking...I can lag behind). So, [.

Even though the ink is not yet dry on the trade that will send Alecko Eskandarian to Chivas USA, the content of Steve Goff's direct communication with the forward makes me feel comfortable enough to say they got that one right. That takes them to 1-1 - and Esky sounds happy. Huzzah! In other news, they're [.

Not on the field of course. If it were up to TOR that award (which would be a magnum of champagne with an iced-out Addidas ball for a cork) would go to....well, someone else. Don't get me wrong, I like the dude a lot and he's mad nice with the ball but this just wasn't his year. Ce La vie, right?

No, I didn't start sniffing glue.

Yes, I know we lost.

Yes, I know we looked bad.

Alecko Eskandarian and Maykel Galindo played 20 minutes of the match! And for two rusty players that haven't played all season, they looked great! They threatened the defense, made intelligent runs and had a few looks on goal.

ChivaGirls ready to suit up against Houston Dynamo if needed!

Chivas USA take on the Dynamo Wednesday night. Well, half of the Chivas USA will take on the Dynamo while the other half remain on the injury list. Lets do the math.

28 Full squad
-11 Injured
-1 International Duty
_____
16

Sixteen players are healthy and available for the matchup.

NPR is in the building this evening preparing a story on Jorge Flores and tabbed your truly for a quick interview, so I'm a little late with the lineups.

The night's important numbers: the Wizards have won just once on the road this season and and Colorado's 5-4 win over the Red Bulls earlier today means Chivas USA is third in the table and seven points behind Western Conference leaders Houston, which drew 1-1 with Toronto.

18-year-old footballer breaks news of transfer on Facebook. Honestly, I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened before. (Though I think Alecko Eskandarian may have announced his transfer to, like, Real Salt Lake on Facebook. But that was at least one trade ago, and it's MLS.) Speaking of Real Salt Lake, I present the first in an occasional series, called Hot MLS Coaches.

Goalkeeper Zach Thornton made his Chivas USA debut a day after being traded by New York, striker Ante Razov was out injured and the Fire's John Thorrington (Chadwick School) was man of the match as Chicago Saturday downed an unconvincing Chivas USA, 1-0.

How much did Chivas USA miss the midfield creativity and spark of Sacha Kljestan?

Chivas USA take on the Wizards this weekend.

Chivas USA have been struggling to fill the line up, dealing with injuries and suspensions.

There are two people that are considered out for the game, probably the lowest in the season. Raphael Wicky and Alex Zotinca will not be available for the game.

Sometimes we at MLSR get a kernel of info that turns out to be correct.
This trade is now official.
Courtesy of MLSNet:

"Toronto FC have acquired a third round 2009 MLS SuperDraft pick from FC Dallas. In return, Dallas receives forward Jeff Cunningham.

Two teams with shaky defenses=open, entertaining game.

The teams ended the first 45 minutes tied 1-1, but both could and probably should have had more goals than that.

Toronto FC opened the scoring when Rohan Rickets found a streaking Jim Brennan on the right wing with a piercing ball.

1. Jimmy Conrad Conrad got pissed about something and Rapids keeper Coundoul looked to be the cause of it. Instead of trying to continue the fight he wanted to start, Conrad decided to answer with his head. Two goals later - the Wizards were still fighting for the win, but you could tell the momentum was [.

Thursday's game against the LA Galaxy is just one of a string of big games Chivas USA will have in the coming days. On Sunday, Chivas USA will play Pachuca in the SuperLiga opener for both teams. Then, Santos will visit on Wednesday followed by a match against New England on July 20.
That's four games in 11 days.

The charity events MLS teams do (like golf tournaments) are hosted by sponsors, so players have to show up, but it's also a time for teammates to bond outside of the regular grind of practice.
Lance Parker poses on the course with the energy drink models.
Bobby Burling gets in the buffet line.

Bobby Boswell had a stunning start to his MLS career. He went undrafted but immediately won a place in D.C. United's starting lineup, which was short on defenders after losing Ryan Nelsen to England. The next year, he was the MLS defender of the year. The next year, he was in and out of the lineup at D.

Apologies, busy with a big project and not much time to blog.

A few things to pass along:

*Pacific Palisades-based W-League team Pali Blues defeated reigning champion Washington Freedom 2-0 earlier tonight earning a berth in Saturday's final against FC Indiana. Game reports here.

Zach Thornton has landed in Chicago and Jesse Marsch looks pretty happy to see his former Fire teammate (and an experienced goalkeeper). Do we assume Thornton plays today? I think we do.

Two who won't play a part in today's Chivas USA-Chicago Fire game (5:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel) are Preki (at least on the bench-he's suspended) and Blanco.

Tomorrow night we get a rematch of last years first round playoff game between the Wizards and Chivas USA. Like last year, Chivas will be without a few of their first team players. Both Ante Razov and Claudio Suarez are questionable for the game with injuries. Sacha Kljestan will also miss the game for the Goats, as he's in China for the Olympics.

Five changes for Chivas USA tonight with a Tuesday CONCACAF preliminary round game looming Tuesday in Panama as Coach Preki tries to rest some starters, while defender Cary Talley is the latest to join a long injury list with a thigh strain. Six players are still out including striker Maykel Galindo

Zach Thornton is in goal, while Jim Curtin replaces Claudio Suarez as the long defensive change.

This was a yawner of a scoreless game punctuated by a few - I stress few - scoring opportunities, mainly for Chivas USA who had the better of the play for much of the game.

Still, the Earthquakes probably had the best chance of the game, Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton saving with one hand a Ronnie O'Brien shot in the 86th minute from the top of the box that appeared destined for the back of the net.

First off, the Galaxy has just drawn 2-2 with the New England Revolution, Landon Donovan getting both goals.

Sean Franklin and Troy Roberts started in the center of defense with Eddie Lewis on the left wing, by the way.

More on that game later, but for now....

Chivas USA has Zach Thornton in goal as usual, Lawson Vaughn is at right back, Jonathan Bornstein on the left and Bobby Burling and Jim Curtin in the middle.

The second leg of matches in the CONCACAF Champions League kicks off tonight, with the headline being two MLS teams fighting for their tournament lives against lesser-known opponents.
The New England Revolution welcome Joe Public FC, the Jamaican side that advanced to the tournament by way of their runner-up finish in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship in 2007.

Okay, I'm here at Home Depot Center for the Chivas USA-Tauro FC match and I feel like I'm in an empty stadium. Well, actually, it pretty much is an empty stadium. With classes back in session at Cal State Dominguez Hills, the attendance has been capped at 2,000.
As a colleague told me, some prestigious tournament.

Landon Donovan to Andrea Canales on potential interest from Bayern Munich: "I would love for it to happen." See Los Angeles Galaxy section for the full article.
MLS Scoreboard
Week 26
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Sep 18
Columbus 3-1 New York - CC goals by Frankie Hejduk, Robbie Rogers & Eddie Gaven.

Roberto Nurse is signed, sealed and delivered. All the necessary paperwork is complete and Nurse will be available for selection for Chivas USA tonight against Santos, a source told me.
Nurse has been training with the team for several weeks now and impressed the coaching staff, who somehow were able to find a way to keep him on the roster.

Unless something drastic changes, there is quite a bit of talent and experience that will be absent for Chivas USA against the Galaxy on Thursday.
Now, that doesn't mean that the club will field a reserve team or anything but there are concerns over certain aspects of Chivas USA's potential lineup.

Alecko Eskandarian was the last player in the locker room on Saturday night. I don't know if he was getting treatment or not but he walked into the shower after nearly everyone else was dressed and on their way out to whatever they had going on after the game.
As I took an empty seat next to him, a camera crew approached him and began recording as I fired away some questions.

Chivas USA will host a critical match against Tauro FC tonight. Chivas USA needs to win by two goals in order to have any hopes of advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League.
Here is audio of my post-game chat with Jonathan Bornstein about the game.
Acutally, it's a bit more complicated than just winning by two.

Two tired and/or banged up teams desperately needing points to stay in the playoff hunt stagger into Gillette Stadium at 4 p.m. today live on ESPN2 as Chivas USA visits the New England Revolution.

Chivas USA forward Alecko Eskandarian is suspended for the game.

Brief game preview here.

Chivas USA did exactly what they needed to do Saturday, beating Real Salt Lake 1-0 on a 72nd minute Alecko Eskandarian goal and moving above their opponents to take second place in the Western Conference.

Somewhat of a comedy routine gave the former Real Salt Lake striker the winner over his old team: Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando and defender Nat Borchers collided and the ball bounced past them to Eskandarian, who gratefully accepted the gift that was his third goal of the season.

Kansas City travel to the HDC to take on the Chivas USA.

First question (as always this season) is who is healthy for the match?

Zack Thornton, Lawson Vaughn, Raphael Wicky, and Eric Ebert are all out. Maykel Galindo may make it to the bench. Jonathan Bornstein, Carey Talley, and Paulo Nagamura all suffered individual light injuries, nothing to serious, but may have limited participation in this game.

Well, not quite, but with 4 players on Chivas, and their coach being former Kansas City Wizards, it certainly seems like it. There will be plenty of old faces on the opposite side of the ball tomorrow, as Chivas has former Wizards Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Alex Zotinca, and recently acquired Sasha Victorine, along with the greatest Wizard of all time, Preki on the Chivas USA bench.

Chivas USA took three points at the HDC against the Wizards Saturday.

The good.

Alecko Eskandarian. Four goals in seven games, only four of these seven games were starts.

Maykel Galindo played. Even injured and rusty, the guy is awesome. His attacking runs and style of agressive play is missed.

Blog: http://chivas-usa.blogspot.com/
Projected Starting Lineup:
-------------Razov-----------Galindo------------
Mendoza------------Nagamura----------Kljestan
----------------------Wicky---------------------
Bornstein----Suarez---------Thomas-----Vaughn
--------------------Guzan------------------------
Coming off the bench: GK Lance Parker, DF Jim Curtin, MF Jesse Marsch, MF Atiba Harris, FW Alecko Eskandarian
Last year's Chivas was plagued by injuries, but they still managed to win the Western Conference before falling in the Playoffs.

Since I spent most of the time in the locker room interviewing Claudio Suarez and Panchito Mendoza - the team's two Mexicans - about next Sunday's SuperLiga opener against Pachuca for Tuesday's column, my opportunities to get quotes about tonight's game were limited.

Still, there weren't many talking points anyway.

As promised,here is a link to the feature I wrote on Roberto Nurse, Chivas USA's latest signing.
Of course, I forgot to take my camera down from the press box to the mixed zone so I didn't get a chance to snap a shot of him.
On Sunday, I expect Nurse to start.

Chivas USA take on Chicago Fire Saturday after a break. The team has been out of action for two weeks, and have not played an MLS game in a month due to Superliga.

So whats up?

Injuries are plenty, but that's not news. Raphael Wicky and Alex Zotinca are out. However, a few of our usuals are coming back.

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont...

By the way, luft doesn't translate to red. Luft is air but red apparently sounded better.
1. New England (10-4-3). Will jump right back into the fray against its most difficult opponent on Saturday...
2.

With our Chivas USA beat writer out with pneumonia (it seems sort of fitting given the team's list of casualties) this was the preview in today's print edition (in its entirety):

San Jose (5-9-6) at Chivas USA (6-9-5)

*WHEN - 7:30 p.m.
*WHERE - Home Depot Center
*RADIO - 690 AM
*OUTLOOK - The teams are separated by just two points at the bottom of the Western Conference.