During the last meeting with Chivas USA the Seattle Sounders had trouble defending them within
the 18. That problem did not occur Saturday, in fact the defense held the Goats to just six shots
and or passes in the penalty area. That defensive improvement held Chivas to just one goal. What
may have gone unnoticed is that in the previous match with six goals for the Sounders they had 11
Key Passes plus Assists.
Is this facing Chivas USA thing getting a bit tiresome? Throw in an Open Cup match and suddenly
the two sides are about to meet their fourth time. The Goats have transitioned quite a bit from
that Open Cup meeting (Three Questions, Recap). They've added significant names to the roster but
still got blown out by Seattle just a couple weeks ago (Three Questions, Recap).
This is something I am thinking of either doing from time to time or even on a weekly basis.
Just some random thoughts, questions going into the weekend for the state of MLS and US Soccer.
With a FIFA date upon us, a lot of MLS players are out with their respective countries, while some
MLS teams either have games (one league game and a few friendlies are on the menu this weekend) or
others are off completely hoping to get back in the swing of things for the playoff push.
The San Jose Earthquakes just keep on winning and Chivas USA just keeps on bleeding goals and
squandering chances to get into the Western Conference playoff race.
In a result that should have been inevitable considering the form of the Earthquakes attack and
the sad state of the Chivas USA defense, the Earthquakes rolled to a 4-0 victory at Buck Shaw
Stadium on Sunday night.
Shalrie Joseph helped tilt the midfield battle on Wednesday. (Photo: Kari
Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
For 21 minutes, the New England Revolution played and looked like the team  Jay Heaps
envisioned. New England pressed. It attacked. The ball moved quickly and players whipped in early
crosses.
Chivas USA owner Jorge Vergara has not wasted any time in making changes with his new-found
total control of the team.
A day after the Chivas USA and Chivas de Guadalajara owner purchased the other 50 percent of the
club from Antonio Cue to assume complete ownership of the club, Vergara fired general manager Jose
Domene, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.
Shalrie Joseph made himself feel quite at home at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night.
In his return to the place he called home since 2003 until a trade sent him across the country
to Chivas USA, Joseph scored two goals to spark a three-goal comeback and help the Goats salvage a
3-3 draw against the Revolution to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Revolution fans honored Shalrie Joseph during his return to Foxborough. (Photo: Kari
Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Down 3-0 just 21 minutes into the match, Shalrie Joseph's first return
trip to New England with Chivas USA on Wednesday night looked headed for disappointment.
Saer Sene celebrates his first of two goals for the Revolution in Wednesday's 3-3 draw with
Chivas. (Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass – The New England Revolution built a three-goal lead within the first 21
minutes of the game, only to see it evaporate in the next 25 minutes, tying Chivas USA, 3-3 in
front of 10,945 at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night.
The New England Revolution are back home on Wednesday night, welcoming an old friend as Shalrie
Joseph returns to Gillette Stadium with Chivas USA. The Revs are still mired in an eight-game
winless run that has now featured five straight losses. The Goats, on the other hand, are in the
thick of a playoff race, but haven't won in their last three, and in fact have conceded eleven
goals in that span.
In Seattle's thrashing of Chivas USA the Sounders defense gave the Goats opportunities. On shots
from within the 18 (MLS average ~20% conversion rate) Chivas converted only one of their sixteen
attempts. Those attempts are somewhat evenly scattered throughout the match timeline. Things could
have been different.
Sometimes a meme becomes so funny it can only live as a joke. Anyone using the "Fredy Montero is
lazy" is in fact themselves so lazy they are a joke. Sure, Montero wasn't the only reason the
Seattle Sounders matched their best ever result in MLS with a 6-2 win over Chivas USA. Still a
hatrick is pretty awesome in any circumstances.
Seattle Sounders at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Fox Sports West, KWHY Ten points out of the playoff
picture and with games rapidly evaporating despite having played fewer contests than any other club
in MLS, Chivas USA and their fans are facing some uncomfortable truths: are the Goats realistically
out
Saturday's 7:30 PM match between the aspiring Seattle Sounders and struggling Goats features one
of the hottest teams in MLS and a team that is bewildering. Despite several name brand players on
offense Chivas USA has 9 fewer goals than the next worst in the league. If it wasn't for Dan
Kennedy and the strong defense there would be no chance for the other SoCal team to make the MLS
Cup Playoffs.
Former Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph (far left, second row) debuted for Chivas USA on
Sunday. (Photo: cdchivasusa.com)
For the newest member of the Rojiblancos, Sunday didn't sure bring the warmest of welcomes.
In his Chivas USA debut, former Revolution skipper Shalrie Joseph went the full 90, but
couldn't steer his new teammates from crashing into a 4-0 SuperClasico defeat to the Galaxy.
Jay Heaps and Shalrie Joseph chat during a preseason drill. On Monday, Joseph asserted that he
and Heaps had a "rocky relationship" in the weeks leading to his trade to Chivas USA. (Photo: Chris
Aduama/aduama.com)
Happy days they were not for Shalrie Joseph as his time in New England came to a close.
In what is a transformative move for both clubs, Chivas USA picked up gritty playmaker and New
England Revolution club captain Shalrie Joseph today for the as yet unrealised potential of young
midfielder Blair Gavin, the Goats' second-round selection in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft and allocation
money. "Shalrie Joseph
It appears the Shalrie Joseph Era in New England has reached its  conclusion.
According to agent Ron Waxman, the Revolution have traded Shalrie Joseph to Chivas USA on
Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not immediately disseminated.
On Wednesday morning, Waxman tweeted, ".@cdchivasusa acquires DP
@ShalrieJoseph21 from @NERevolution.
Starfire may not be magic, but special moments happen there. Wednesday night's game rarely
seemed in doubt, and it was finished off by Sammy Ochoa with goal number 4, a fourth time ejecting
Chivas USA from the Open Cup, a fourth time advancing to the Final and an opportunity for a
historic #SE4TTLE.
Packed into the summer of soccer (isn't every year now?) is the US Open Cup and the Sounders
quest for #SE4TTLE. This attempt at history sees a familiar adversary, a team that Seattle has
faced and eliminated from the tournament three times. Chivas USA lacks trophies (though not as
lacking as say Red Bull) and with a regular season that sees them basically eliminated from
contention Wednesday night's game at Starfire will be their most important of 2012.
Chivas USA added some quality defensive depth on Friday with the acquisition of the rights to
veteran MLS centerback Bobby Burling. The Goats landed Burling's rights from Montreal in exchange
for an international roster slot in 2013.
Burling returns to Chivas USA, where he played from 2007 to 2009.
CARSON, Calif.—When Chivas USA head coach Robin Fraser brought on second-half substitutes Juan
Pablo Angel and Jorge Villafana with 13 minutes left in Wednesday's match against the Montreal
Impact, they were brought on to provide a spark.
May's packed schedule is nearly up for the Seattle Sounders with their last MLS match of the
crowded schedule. For some players this will mean a rest. For others, due to injuries, they will be
pressed into more duty than one could expect. On top of a likely start at CDM for either Andy Rose
or Servando Carrasco there could also be a change in the backline.
The relationship between Danny Califf and the Philadelphia Union did not end in the most
pleasant of ways, but the start to the latest chapter in his career has gone as well as anyone
could have imagined.
Since being traded by the Union to Chivas USA a week ago, Califf has gotten off to a strong
start with the Goats by helping them to a win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in his debut last
Saturday and a 1-1 draw against the red-hot New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
Good afternoon! It's matchday @The Cathedral of Football, Red Bull Arena (built by Makita)! In
tonight's installment, our glorious Red Bulls take on Western Conference powerhouse Chivas USA
(7:00pm ET, MSG+, match notes here). This could be a history-making fixture, so let's see how both
teams come into this one.
Juan Agudelo is finally going to get some playing time. (Getty Images)
Sitting near the bottom of a conference can cause issues for any club in MLS. But sitting near
the bottom of the toughest conference at this stage in the season causes a club to make some
moves.
That is what Chivas USA did today by making two big deals with the New York Red Bulls and the
Philadelphia Union.
It's time for our weekly 3 Questions exchange with the SB Nation blog of the opposing team. This
week, Alicia Ratterree of The Goat Parade was kind enough to partake in this exchange with me. As
we all know, Friday is a big game for the Fire. To me, 3 points feels essential to get us back on
track.
Tomorrow evening, the Union travels up to Foxborough, Mass to face
a struggling New England Revolution team. Today I had the chance to pose a few questions to Steve
Stoehr of the Bent Musket, and he kindly obliged with answers to
these questions which should influence the game.
Fire fans will be staying up late tonight to watch our Men in Red battle the Goats for 3 points
at the Home Depot Center. The Fire are looking to get back to their winning ways after the heated
loss to that team from the West Coast. Chivas will look to rebound from a 4-0 walloping at the
hands of the Rapids.
Seattle's last two losses in all competitions are to the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting
Kansas City. In some ways it is fitting that these are the only two teams ahead of the Sounders in
the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings. Seattle is as high as it has been since week 11. The votes they
receive are primarily for 2 or 3 with two at 4 and one at 5.
In the two weeks since the Sounders Centric Power Rankings graph there hasn't been much
movement. You can see a bit of up and down for most of the teams, except in the case of Real Salt
Lake. The one time darlings of the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings are now ranked just 6th overall and
are in middle of their second multi-week slide of the 2012 season.
When Seattle went on that winning streak to start the season there was latency. It was Sporting
Kansas City that got the most early love. Then as the San Jose Earthquakes shook things up, Seattle
plummeted. Now, the Sounders are in a lossless streak (3-0-3 +6 in MLS) and there's still some
latency.
In the latest edition of the SB Nation MLS power Rankings the Seattle Sounders fell, fairly
significantly so for a team that didn't play a league match. To go from an average vote rank of
5.35 to 7 without a game isn't a recognition of the Sounders, but an indication instead that the
teams in the third tier (Whitecaps, Dynamo, United, Sounders and Galaxy) are quite similar at this
point of the season.
In the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings the Seattle Sounders are on the bounce. Getting off that
winless streak certainly helped, but so did some relatively poor performances (Fire, Whitecaps)
around them. Let's take a moment to remember that happens to other teams too.
One of the intriguing things about tracking the rankings via the graph is the extraordinary
stability by Real Salt Lake.
So you've been waiting in unbearable anticipation, I just know it. The time has come once again
for "Fuzion does the Power Rankings". I know it's been a long time coming, mostly due to changing
jobs, but nevertheless it is here! Can you feel the excitement? This time around I've changed up
the process just a little, and if you're interested -- well, you'll just have to jump to join us,
now won't you?
