Marsch out

The injury list for Chivas USA grows longer as Jesse Marsch was ruled out 6-8 weeks with a fractured jaw.

Others such as Claudio Suarez and Jonathan Bornstein may be ready by next week's match against San Jose, but Marsch won't be one of them. In fact, the 6-8 week range puts him as possibly returning by late September, best-case scenario.

I'm still trying to figure out how there was no call made on the play. I didn't see the elbow but players around the play did and although they couldn't tell if it was intentional or not, an elbow was thrown. Usually referees are cautious about elbows being tossed around and will err on the side of caution in terms of calling a foul but nothing was called. I don't know if it was intentional or just a dumb boneheaded rookie mistake - ala Stephen Lenhart against Colorado a few weeks back - but I'm guessing if it was the former we'll see a suspension of some sort handed down.

Marsch on match

Jesse Marsch didn't seem too happy after the match. He is usually in decent spirits even after losses. That wasn't the case on Sunday. And I wasn't about to take a picture of him that way.

I asked Jesse all of the questions on the audio clip here. So most of the time he was looking right at me. I thought it would have been kinda strange for me to raise my camera and snap off a few pics while he was answering my question. I was hoping someone else would ask him something - anything - but that wasn't he case. Oh well. Still got the audio of course.

Red and White audio

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the original Landon Donovan audio clip on my digital recorder when I was out at training on Tuesday. I played it for Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch and Preki. I wondered how they'd react, if they'd react at all.

Perhaps the most telling reaction was not in what they said - at least Marsch and Preki - but how they looked. Marsch had just finished talking to myself and another reporter for about six minutes but then when he walked away I asked him if he'd listen to the clip and he agreed. Once it was over, he just sort of looked down either at his feet or the ground below him. Maybe he was trying to compose himself and not say the wrong thing or maybe he felt as if he'd rather talk about anything but this. Whatever the case, he answered my questions.

After Marsch, I waited for Preki to finish whatever he was doing on the field. He walked over, I shook his hand and then I told him that I'd like to play what Landon said about him and get his reaction about it. Part of me felt as if he would decline the whole thing and not listen to it but he did. The first question - it didn't record my question - was something along the lines of "Landon took a shot at your manhood. How do you react?" He kept looking down as well and he took some time to answer. It sounds like it's just dead air in points but he was looking for words to respond; he wasn't just starting blankly at me.

Here's audio from Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan. They really didn't have a whole lot to say, which isn't surprising from Guzan anyway. He's always been able to choose his words wisely.

Marsch talks Clasico, first place

After Tuesday's practice, I had the chance to catch up with several Chivas USA players and talk about - what else? - Thursday's Super Clasico. One of the players I spent some time with was this guy, Chivas' Jesse Marsch. He always has a good perspective about things and Tuesday's interview was no different.



Marsch talked about the Clasico, how first place can be a bit deceiving and how this game could help set up the upcoming slate of games for Chivas (SuperLiga).

The other voice in there is Phil Collin from the Daily Breeze. When Phil threw the questions over to me, I was in the middle of another thought so my question kind of stammered out.

Anyway, here's the audio. It's about five minutes worth.

All speed, no glory?

Dane Richards played a key role in New York's 1-1 draw with Chivas USA on Saturday. He gave Chivas USA fits in the first half with his speed and play along Chivas' left side, as he drew a yellow card and set up the set piece that led to the Red Bulls' only goal.

Just how good is Richards?

Chivas midfielder Jesse Marsch isn't about to pencil Richards in on the league's Best XI anytime soon.

Marsch was asked what makes Richards tough to deal with after the match and said:

Speed. Pure speed. Not to discredit him in any way but he's just a fast guy. That's what he is. It's not like you're dealing with him being creative or him being alert or him being a playmaker. He's just fast. If you're smart and you understand how to play against speed, it's not difficult. How many times did you see Claudio (Suarez) get beat by him? Never because he knows how to play against fast guys.

Marsch bite

Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch on Saturday's 1-1 draw with New York:

I can only imagine what that game looked like. It must have been painful to watch. It was painful to play in.