Clasico coaches

After Saturday's 0-0 draw between the Galaxy and Chivas USA, Bruce Arena and Preki each seemed a bit more upbeat than you'd expect. Perhaps because at the point that each team went down a man, the respective coaches were probably praying for or at least would have been content with a draw, which is exactly what they got.

Here's audio of Preki's press conference.

And here's Arena.

Lively Preki presser

I got my digital recorder back and finally have time to post some stuff.

First up is the press conference from Sunday. Preki joined us and talked about the game and some of the performances. The fun started late in the press conference after Preki fielded a question on the Galaxy and whether he watched the game on Saturday or not.

Here's a link to the audio.

Of course, the bad thing was that I had shut off my video camera when all that happened. I shot video of it for Goal.com, so you can watch the first four minutes of the press conference here.

Chivas USA update

The rumors in Mural about changes with Chivas are just rumors, a source clarified. Nothing is certain but there could be some players headed this way.

Now, as often happens when there are reports breaking from Guadalajara about movements at Chivas USA, it is seemingly only confirmed when either the player shows up here in person. There have been so many players who were reportedly joining the club or on their way only to have nothing transpire.

With that, the names tossed out were Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Arturo "Zulito" Ledesma and Jesus "Gringo" Padilla. On an aside, it's kind of funny and ironic that part of this move is to help give Chivas USA more Mexican players and Padilla is included in the mix, and although Padilla is, by his own admission, more Mexican than cactus he is also an American.

If they do come, you may need to know more about them. So here's a quick tidbit on each player.

Javier Hernandez was on Mexico's Under-20 team at the 2007 U-20 World Cup. Hernandez has played in 21 games for Chivas and has one goal in that time. He's never really piled up the goal scoring stats but did have four goals in nine games for Tapatio a couple of years ago. Hernandez has played in InterLiga, SuperLiga, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores games as well as regular-season games for Chivas.

Arturo Ledesma was a teammate of Hernandez's in the 07 Under-20 World Cup. Ledesma is a six-foot-tall defender who comes from proven bloodlines. His dad Javier was a longtime goalkeeper for Chivas and served as goalkeeper coach for Chivas USA in 2005. Ledesma has also played in Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores for Chivas.

Jesus Padilla is possibly the most interesting and likely one of the bunch to join and possibly stick around. Chivas USA brass - a group that included Preki - was after Padilla a year ago, before the start of the 2008 preseason, but Chivas chose to keep him in Guadalajara. However, with the arrival of Jared Borgetti as a Libertadores ace, Padilla's stock and demand have fallen and the club might be willing to loosen their grip on the San Jose, Calif., native.

As far as the coaching stuff goes, there seems to be no truth to the part about Preki leaving. As I said last night, the coaching moves that happen here, happen here. Those sorts of decisions are made in Carson, and as far as anyone can tell such a decision to let Preki go hasn't been made and probably won't be made anytime soon.

I'll do some more digging and see if I come up with anything more.

Shakeup at Chivas USA?

Mural reported in its Monday editions that a possible shakeup at Chivas USA is likely to come down sooner rather than later. Now, I'm a bit leery of certain things but here's what Guadalajara's biggest sports daily reported.

Reportedly, Jorge Vergara and Antonio Cue are not happy with the direction the club has taken and the lack of Mexican players on the roster. Reportedly, Preki and others will be relieved of his duties and the club will bring in a Mexican coach, with Claudio Suarez mentioned as a possible candidate to take over the coaching position.

To have taken Francisco Mendoza from Chivas USA, the mother ship has promised to send players north, and the players mentioned are Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Arturo "Zulito" Ledesma and Jesus "Gringo" Padilla. Jared Borgetti is, of course, set to join as well.

Now, this is all according to Mural. There seems to be some sort of grumbling going on down in Guadalajara about Chivas USA, and this seems to have been some of the fallout.

I'll check in with some sources and see what's going on. Now, as usual, remember that the day-to-day operations of Chivas USA happen in Carson, not in Guadalajara, and any coaching moves would come out of here, not from down there. So if Preki is removed, it will likely be Shawn Hunter's decision and as far as I know Hunter is happy with Preki's job and not looking to remove him.

ADD: Hernandez and Padilla each scored a goal in Tapatio's 2-2 tie in Primera A action over the weekend. Ledezma also started and played 90 minutes. Carlos Borja, meanwhile, also started and played 90 minutes. Borja is of course a Chivas USA cast-off.

Preki is still coach

...and will be coach for the foreseeable future.

Not a whole lot is certain with Chivas USA this offseason in terms of what players are coming and what players are going. But one thing is pretty much set in stone: Preki is and will be coach. Multiple sources within the club have told me as much.

Regardless of what a report in Guadalajara's Informador said, the incoming assistant coach will not report to the incoming head coach.

Now, as far as the assistant coach goes, it's all news to everyone. Even Preki. I had the chance to talk to him on Tuesday. He was in Europe somewhere but we chatted. He knew nothing about the assistant coach. But then again neither did anyone at Chivas USA. Or Chivas Guadalajara. Chivas head coach Efrain Flores reportedly knew nothing about it. And neither did the assistant coach himself, Luis Manuel Diaz.

A lot of this stems from Jorge Vergara and, as one reader put it, his mamadas. Vergara says a lot and talks a lot but whether there is anything substantial behind it is a different story. Remember the young goalkeeper from Saprissa he said was on his way here to replace Brad Guzan?

So take things Vergara says with a grain of salt.

Preki's words

Another year, another playoff loss for Chivas USA.

I'll have more on this latest setback later, lots more. But for now here's Preki's post-game press conference.

No details

Preki is a stand-up guy. He's a pretty easy-going fellow - at least with us in the media - and takes the time to chat with us, though he'd probably prefer not to. Today I caught him as he was leaving the Chivas USA locker room with a couple of assistants and he set down his stuff and walked away.

But Preki isn't exactly a wealth of information. In fact, sometimes it's downright difficult to get him to say anything worthwhile.

Listen for yourself.

I asked Preki about all sorts of different things and the most he could give me was a few short words on any one subject. Toward the end, I knew he wasn't going to say anything so I just asked him a question that I knew he'd not answer. He didn't and instead just picked up his stuff and bade me farewell.

Also, there's a cameo in the middle of the interview as someone walked by and said hey. See if you can make out who that is (of course, I say his first name so that's kind of a giveaway).