Chivas USA memories

We had joy 

Guess which player is still in MLS?

we had fun

The ChivaGirls!

We had seasons in the sun. 

Nomar! No more Chivas USA.

But the hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time. 

Where were you when Preki beat Brazil? Cobi was there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

One of the biggest banners in MLS ever?

But the wine and the song, like the seasons, all have gone. 

Injury Creates Opportunity

When Brad Guzan first joined Major League Soccer in 2005 as a part of Chivas USA, he was in his early twenties, basically just a kid, especially for a goalkeeper. But an injury to starter Martin Vasquez forced Guzan into the starters role and the adversity pushed him to excel, eventually earning a transfer abroad to England. There, he waited. 

And waited. 

Finally, his chance has come.  

Let's hope he makes the most of it.  I predict he will do well.

Guzan tribute: from the club

Chivas USA is both sad to see Brad Guzan leave but excited for him and his great opportunity abroad. They paid him a bit of a tribute and I helped out on some of it.

Here's my part, a column on what Brad meant to the club, what he did and how he'll forever be a Chiva.

And here's a video tribute the club put together.

Guzan gets go-ahead

It's official now. Brad Guzan can continue his quest abroad as his work permit was approved on Friday.

That was the lone stumbling block that prevented his move from MLS to England in January, a move that cost the league millions of dollars. But after Guzan played in numerous U.S. matches this year, including both World Cup qualifiers, there seemed to be no way he would be denied. And he wasn't.

Of course, with Brad Friedel around, just how much playing time Guzan receives in league play remains to be seen. He might get the occasional cup game, though sometimes those games come around more than just occasionally.

We'll keep tabs on Guzan, the boy who became a man right before our eyes, right here and hopefully he will be Villa's number one keeper no matter what.

On Guzan, Pachuca

Sometimes I have too many topics to write about when preparing my Tuesday PE column. That was the case over the weekend when thinking about what to write. There was the Brad Guzan saga, Pachuca was in town, SuperLiga, the Galaxy is always a topic...

But ultimately I settled on splitting the column between Brad Guzan and Pachuca.

I had wanted to get some of reaction from Guzan about leaving Chivas USA in the middle of the season. Yeah, his thoughts on Aston Villa are good but what matters more at this point to me are his thoughts on departing the only club he's played for.

However, I didn't want to dedicate the whole column to him, though I easily could have. After all, it's not too often Pachuca comes to play at Home Depot Center. I wanted to see what they thought about SuperLiga and MLS clubs in general. Their reaction was pretty positive towards the league.

Getting the lingo down

Brad Guzan impressed me during his first year with Chivas USA, but it wasn't really for his skill as a goalkeeper. After all, though he showed signs of promise, he was getting lit up regularly from every team in the league back in 2005. But the young goalkeeper was committed to his club's cause, sacrificing himself time and again to make saves. I'll never forget the bloody collision with his own teammate, Ryan Suarez, that permanently scarred his face. Brad took the full impact head-on. The damage from from his split lip was evident as he finished the game. Brad was basically swallowing blood down until the final whistle.

I admired his fortitude, but I was more impressed at the squad practices where Brad was clearly developing his Spanish language skills along with his goalkeeping prowess. At the time, Chivas USA was committed to bringing in a south-of-the-border influence. Many of their players were from the Guadalajara system, and their owner, Jorge Vergara, had declared Spanish the working language of the team. The non-Spanish speakers, like Guzan and then-forward Matt Taylor, were enrolled in classes to learn Spanish. I don't know how far along Taylor got before he left the team, but Guzan clearly improved.

He'd hold short conversations with fans and teammates in Spanish, but he was most confident when utilizing the terms of a netminder. "Fuera!" he'd holler at his defenders, so loudly we could hear him in the pressbox. I remember how we laughed together when Brad confessed at his first national team camp that he'd gotten so used to giving directions in Spanish that he'd sometimes slip and yell things in that language to the U.S. players.

I don't think Chivas USA has the Spanish classes for their players any more. Perhaps. Yet there's less need for it now, as most of the team speaks English.

I always thought, though, that Brad's adaptability showed in the way he energetically threw himself into the demands of that first difficult year. England, especially since there's little language adjustment, will probably be easy by comparison.

First day without Guzan

I didn't have the chance to go to Chivas USA training on Saturday but I'm hoping to run into Brad Guzan later today at the game. Hopefully if he's around he'll be happy to talk to us and about his future in England.

But the Daily Breeze was out there as Phil Collin caught up with Brad.

Brad did not train with the team and won't train with them anymore. He'll probably head over to England in the coming week or so, at which point he'll go through the work permit process yet again. This time, though, the hope is that it'll go through.

Hopefully then Brad can get on with career in England.

Guzan tribute: Top Five Chivas USA moments

Brad Guzan was a fixture at Chivas USA since the club began play in 2005. In many ways, I was lucky enough to have covered Guzan since then.

Watchig Guzan go from a kid right out of college to a seasoned veteran ready for the English Premiership has really been a treat and got me to thinking about Guzan's MLS career.

I interviewed him for the first time on draft day, when he was selected second overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, and I was there when the wheels started to come off the club, in a 7-0 rout at the hands of the US national team in March of that year. It was during that game that Guzan's future was set for him as Martin Zuniga was injured, leaving a huge gap in goal that Guzan - ready or not - had to fill.

I watched Guzan in his first MLS win and his 26th and final MLS victory (at least for now). I was there for the good times and the bad. It was tough seeing Guzan as the number two goalkeeper for much of the 2006 season, but it was refreshing to see his attitude. He never wavered in himself and never showed a lack of faith in himself.

Watching Chivas USA from now on will be strange. Brad Guzan and Francisco Mendoza both mean so much to the club, and now only Panchito is left.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to pay a bit of a tribute to Brad Guzan in my own style. I thought about what were the most memorable moments of his career with Chivas USA and ranked what I think were his top five followed by a Guzan's on-the-spot thoughts, gathered by yours truly.

5. Chivas USA 1, LA Galaxy 1; July 10, 2008. Brad Guzan's parting gift: a late save of a shot from Carlos Ruiz. The prolific scorer walked in alone on Guzan deep in injury time and had a chance to seal a comeback victory for the Galaxy. Instead, Guzan turned Ruiz away and the teams settled for a 1-1 draw. In what was Guzan's final game with Chivas USA, the draw helped maintain Chivas USA in a first-place tie with the Galaxy.

Quotable: "As a goalkeeper, you try to help your team preserve either a tie or win. Fortunately I was able to make the save."

4. Chivas USA 1, FC Dallas 0; Sept. 13, 2006. The middle portion of 2006 may have been one of Guzan's toughest times with the Red-and-White. He'd been the starting goalkeeper at the start of the season but lost his job to Preston Burpo, who guided the team into playoff contention. However, Guzan finally reclaimed his starting spot and punctuated his return to the lineup with a shutout win at FC Dallas in his second start after displacing Burpo in the lineup. Guzan had the task of protecting a 1-0 lead with 10 men after Jesus Morales was sent off, and he did just that. A late save off a Carlos Ruiz header sealed the victory.

Quotable: Sadly, came up with no Guzan quotes after this match.

3. Chivas USA 1, Real Salt Lake 0, May 7, 2005. Brad Guzan was tossed into the fray as a 20-year-old rookie. With a makeshift team that was doomed for failure in front of him, Guzan had no choice but to undertake a grueling on-the-job learning process. It wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't enjoyable but Guzan did his best. It was only fitting that Chivas USA's first-ever win then came with some big saves from the club's first-ever draft choice. Guzan made a pair of late saves that helped preserve the club's first victory, and Guzan's first professional shutout.

Quotable: "I knew when I decided to leave school that I could do this, that I could play at the next level. It was just a matter of time and being comfortable and being confident."

2. Chivas USA 0, Houston Dynamo 0; Oct. 20, 2007. Brad Guzan was not called on much in the 2007 regular-season finale. In fact, he had to make only one save during this match. But the shutout punctuated Guzan's finest season to date and more importantly it helped Chivas USA clinch the Western Conference title less than two years after undergoing a major facelift. Guzan's presence in goal helped the club rise from playoff contender to cup contender as he walked away with MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors several weeks later.

Quotable: "Right now, this feels great. From all the troubles we've come from, from all the guys who have come through this locker room, it's an unbelievable feeling right now."

1. Chivas USA 2, Houston Dynamo 1; Oct. 22, 2006, Western Conference semifinal. In Chivas USA's first-ever playoff game, it was fittingly Guzan who played a big role in the game. After goals from Ante Razov and Francisco Palencia put Chivas USA ahead 2-1, Houston won a late penalty kick when Jason Hernandez was whistled for a foul inside the penalty area. Dwayne De Rosario stepped to the penalty spot and ripped a shot on goal but Guzan guessed correctly and turned De Rosario away.

Quotable: "It was just one of those things that you just go with your gut feeling because players are able to change it up all the time so you just go with it... It felt good to know that the adversity I've been through this year and last year. It was good to be able to contribute to a big win for us."

Guzan is gone

The Brad Guzan Era is over. Guzan is no longer a member of Chivas USA.

El Guzano, the boy who became a man and won over Chivas USA's fans in the process, is on his way out. A source just confirmed that Guzan is on his way to Aston Villa in a deal that has been finalized and will see Guzan head to the English Premiership effective immediately.

Guzan departs in a deal that really is no surprise even if the timing of it caught people off guard. Guzan was thisclose from going to Aston Villa in January but the deal fell apart at the last minute when he couldn't secure a work permit.

As he his contract was up at the end of 2008, there were basically three options - re-sign with the league, go to Europe over the summer or walk on a free transfer in the winter. The league is not dumb enough to let potential millions of dollars slip away, and neither is Guzan. So this was the only option available for Guzan and MLS.

For Guzan, the move is good. Heading over to England will help him elevate his game even further and could give him a realistic opportunity of beating out Tim Howard as the United States national team's number one goalkeeper.

For Chivas USA, the move is a potentially damaging move. Even with Guzan, the club struggled to find consistency during the first half of the season. Now with Dan Kennedy as the defacto number one goalkeeper, the club needs to adjust to life without Guzan and Kennedy needs to show more than he did in his one appearance, a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake.

There may be a reinforcement coming but Kennedy has been around long enough (since the start of the preseason) to have learned both from Guzan and the coaching staff.

But there is no replacing Guzan. He was the team's first-ever draft choice and went from a raw untested rookie to solid MLS goalkeeper in a matter of months. Last year, he showed his worth as he walked away with MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Two for Chivas' show

I tried to get a story on Brad Guzan and Ante Razov up on MLSnet.com before the first Super Clasico of the season, but it got squeezed out because I had written so many other stories on the match, it just got bumped.

So I tweaked it some and filed it again. After all, it's about arguably Chivas USA's two most central figures in their entire history of the Super Clasico


Guzan and Razov have had their ups and downs against the Galaxy.

Brad Guzan lost his first eight games against the Galaxy before posting consecutive shutouts a year ago. He might have had a bad defense in front of him - make that, a bad team in front of him - but the numbers still stand.

Ante Razov, meanwhile, scored both goals in Chivas USA's 2-1 win over the Galaxy in June 2006, Chivas' first-ever series win. In total, Razov has five goals against the Galaxy.

This season, both also played central roles. Razov had a goal and tied the game briefly at 2-2 before the Galaxy pulled away. Guzan had a terrible game but it was indicative of his early-season struggles. Guzan posted a pair of shutouts in his last three games, all at Home Depot Center.

Both players are in much better form now than they were in late April, so it seems Chivas USA has that much going for them.

Guzan gets the shutout

Okay, not a whole lot for Brad Guzan to do on Sunday. The U.S. limited Barbados to two shots and none on goal. But Guzan still gets credited for the shutout.

Audio of Guzan and his thoughts on the match here.

El Guzano en Espana

Brad Guzan talks about Spain and how England went for him.

Guzan talks Aston Villa

Just not to the local press.

Actually, that's not new.

Brad's in

Brad Guzan will be with the US on Wednesday for the game against Spain but he will be in town as Chivas USA hosts Columbus on Saturday. Guzan played the last half of Wednesday's 2-0 loss to England and gave up a goal to Steven Gerrard.

If Guzan is gone next week, backup goalkeeper Dan Kennedy will get the nod. Dan actually has a very interesting story and I've been waiting to write a feature on him, so if he will start on Thursday in New York, look for a story on him.

Back on track

Brad Guzan was close to the English Premiership but his move to Aston Villa was squashed in the 11th hour.

After five games this season, Guzan had been hardly as effective as he had a year ago when he won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. The Aston Villa move got to his head, critics said, and some even questioned whether Guzan should get called up to the US national team anytime soon.

Now, he's got his first shutout and seemingly has his confidence back.

I asked Brad if he could point the finger at anything as to his poor early-season form - the move to the EPL, a change in goalkeeper coach, etc. - but he didn't really answer it directly, just said he didn't want to get too low or too high.

Then I asked him about overcoming adversity, because he had nothing but adverse conditions in 2005.

"That was one of the positives to definitely take away from that first year. That was a tough year physically, mentally and the whole thing was a tough season to swallow. Looking back on that and with everyone saying 'Oh, the last two weeks have been tough for him.' That was nothing compared to Year One."

No pointing fingers

Chivas USA had several poor individual performances against Columbus on Saturday but players aren't about to start pointing fingers. That's their strong mentality settling in, a mentality instilled by some of the veterans like Jesse Marsch and Ante Razov.

One thing that didn't make it into the story was when Marsch talked about Brad Guzan. He said that Brad had a lot of things going through his mind and that he just needed to keep his focus. One of the things Marsch mentioned was rumors of Guzan going to the Olympics. I hadn't heard that rumor before so either it's out there and I just hadn't heard it or Marsch let something slip.

It remains to be seen with which club Guzan is with in the summer, whether he's here or in Europe somewhere, but perhaps part of his summer at least will be spent in Beijing.

Knee's healing

Brad Guzan said he'd probably play against FC Dallas in the season opener on March 30. I believe him.

Brad's back

Well, it was actually his knee that he injured but Brad Guzan participated in his first full training session today since he injured his knee a few weeks ago. He made a few great saves and was his usual vocal self during the short-sided game. How close is he to being 100 percent? He said he was all but fit right now, maybe 95 percent healthy.

He's in the mix for next week's U.S.-Poland game and in fact someone from the US team was out at training today and Brad may in fact not only return for the season opener but he might even get to go to Poland after all.

Bum knee

Chivas USA's season might not get off to the greatest of starts. The team is just starting to come together but one of its most important pieces is injured.

Buried in the press release about Wednesday's action in Texas was this note:

Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan did not see action for the Red-and-White in either match; the 24-year-old suffered a mild left knee MCL sprain at the team’s training session Monday at The Home Depot Center and is scheduled to return to Southern California tomorrow morning for treatment. The reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year is expected to be out for several weeks with the injury.

"Several weeks" probably translates to six weeks minimum. This is the same knee injury that kept Ante Razov and Jonathan Bornstein out for a long stretch of time a year ago. Bornstein hurt his knee in late February and barely made it to the start of the season, which a year ago kicked off April 5 or something. Razov hurt his knee in the first week of October and wasn't near playing condition when Chivas was bounced in the playoffs by Kansas City (the second leg was on Nov. 3).

I wouldn't expect Brad to be back in action until the third week of the season, but that's just a guess.

Who does Chivas have on its roster to replace Guzan? Well, you can't replace him but Chivas really can't replace him. They have nobody to replace him with. Sam Reynolds probably would get the nod, but he's technically a league 'keeper and who knows what his status will be like come the start of the season.

Transfer saga

Here's my writeup on the Brad Guzan deal for The Press-Enterprise.

I hope Brad reads this blog, because if he does I'll tell him right now:

DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

Brad holds all the cards. Barring a catastrophic injury or a severe falling off of form, Guzan will attract a lot of interest overseas. He'd be very attractive next year if he can join a club on a free, and he's under no obligation to help out MLS by signing a contract just so the league can get a transfer fee.

Brad's kind of a company man, always putting the team and club first. It's an admirable quality to have as a teammate but if he carries that over into contracts and business and the like, it wouldn't be beneficial to him at all.