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.

Guest on the bench

Not sure if he was just a "guest" but that's what this appearance was attributed to. Spotted on the sidelines of the Chivas USA-Chicago match was this familiar blond guy.


In other, no-way-this-can-be-related news, Claudio Suarez announced his retirement on Futbol Picante apparently.