Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Desperate times

You may have seen Abel Xavier's picture right here on this blog on Saturday. Abel was on Chivas USA's bench during a scrimmage against Chicago out at HDC. He was dressed in street clothes but his presence there was strange.

He's been training with Chivas USA all week.

Now, Chivas USA's defense is paper thin. Before the year started, it seemed as if that position would not necessarily an area of concern. Shavar Thomas was a rock and Bobby Burling proved a great find there last year. Jim Curtin may not be a player you want starting 30 games but he can hold his own and has something of value and then there was Claudio Suarez, who apparently wanted to return.

The season is about to start and suddenly central defense looks weak. The club will allow goals by the boatload if they aren't careful. Curtin is seemingly the starter now, by default. Suarez is done. Burling is injured and won't be back for a while. The club has tried Jonathan Bornstein back there in the preseason and right now it appears he might be in the mix to start as well.

Preki could use a backline of Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein and Ante Jazic.

Not sure where Xavier would fit in right now, if he's best suited for the right or central defense, but he would offer experience and leadership but not much else.

Now, I don't think this is necessarily a terrible move. I do think Xavier offered a lot of leadership to the Galaxy, and that can't be overlooked. But his skills weren't the best and he was burned a lot, including once by Ante Razov as his potential new teammate danced around Xavier and knocked a shot past Joe Cannon during a game in 2007.

We'll see what comes of this trial. My guess is he'll join out of desperation on Chivas USA's part, desperation to bring in a body who has seen time recently in this league.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

NO WAY WE SIGN HIM!!!

Michoacano

Anonymous said...

There has to be someone better!

Anonymous said...

Damn economy

Anonymous said...

it would be a joke to sign this guy, but it confirms how desperate the club is. It would be the biggest mistake of the year and what kind of an example is that guy for the younger players..

Anonymous said...

12 clubs in 13 years or so?

Preki for president! but in a country far away..

Anonymous said...

Im officially on suicide watch.

-ELAC

what the hell happened to Bautista? Instead, looking at CUSA defensive flaws, Luis, you should look at CUSA's wallet.

Joseph D'Hippolito said...

The club will allow goals by the boatload if they aren't careful.

Which it will if it signs Xavier.

Whatever happened to Diego Scotti? I thought he would make an impact in camp?

There has to be someone better!

That's the problem; the few MLS teams that have good central defenders (Houston, Columbus, San Jose) will not part with them -- or only will do so for a royal ransom. Why do you think the Galaxy is seriously interested in a player (Tony Sanneh) who has been out of the league for a year?

Anonymous said...

The Chivas USA FO is just allowing him to train with the team. Nothing to worry about.

Michoacano

Anonymous said...

they should not even let him train, nor let him get close to the club; why would you do that? Confirms the FO are idots once again.