Chivas USA president and co-owner Antonio Cue met with local media on Monday to discuss where the team has come from this year and the club's outlook for the remainder of the 2006 Major League Soccer season.
Most pressing was Cue's enthusiasm for Chivas' potential playoff spot. Chivas sit in third place after Saturday's 3-2 win against Houston Dynamo. The club is one point behind Dynamo for second place and just five behind Western Conference leaders FC Dallas.
But Cue was not ready to start discussing playoff plans just yet.
"We are preparing for the playoffs. That's for sure. That's our goal and that was the goal at the beginning of the season," Cue said. "But there are still 24 points on the line. We're not there. We're on our way there and I'm sure this team is going to make it but it's going to be tough."
Three players who have played an instrumental role this year have been defender Claudio Suarez, forward Ante Razov and midfielder Jesse Marsch. While Razov has scored a team-high 14 goals, which also tied for the league lead, Marsch and Suarez have brought much-needed stability and experience to the midfield and defense, respectively.
Cue said that few thought the trio would have much of an impact.
"People thought (those) players were off, that Jesse should retire, that Ante was in his last days of MLS," Cue said. "Nobody believed in Claudio, even the Mexican teams didn't believe in him, but he went to the World Cup. He's slower than other guys, yes, but he knows how to position himself on the field and he has delivered. I think he's a great leader."
Cue also praised coach Bob Bradley and said the former MetroStars and Fire boss should be a candidate for MLS Coach of the Year. Cue also talked about the club's successful 2006 SuperDraft, where Chivas traded the first overall pick to the then-MetroStars for the fifth overall pick, which was later used on Sacha Kljestan, and defender Jason Hernandez. With their fourth-round pick, Chivas nabbed Jonathan Bornstein, and all three have been starters for the vast majority of the season.
"For me, Bornstein is one of the more attractive players in the league going up and down (the field)," Cue said. "The guy is really special. I think he's showing that he was a great choice."
Cue also spoke about Ramon Ramirez, last year's captain and longtime member of the Mexican national team. Ramirez was placed on the season-ending injury list, freeing up his senior international roster spot which will be used on former Chivas de Guadalajara midfielder Jonny Garcia.
Ramirez sprained his knee before the season started and had reconstruction surgery on his medial collateral ligament on his left knee on July 12.
Whether he wants to return as a player or in another role, Cue said Ramirez would be welcomed with open arms.
"Ramon has all the options for this organization," Cue said. "He's one of those guys who has the doors open here and in Mexico all the time if he wants to do something after he retires as a player. I still have the feeling that he can comeback next year to have a last year for a guy who has done so much for the sport. ... He'll be a part of this institution as long as he wants."
Not all Chivas' moves have worked out, though. Cue lamented the situation with John O'Brien. The U.S. international was brought aboard in April but injuries have limited O'Brien to just six minutes of playing time. O'Brien was on the U.S. World Cup squad but played just 45 minutes and returned from the World Cup with patellar tendonitis. O'Brien has yet to participate in a full training session with the club.
"John has been a frustration for me. It definitely has," Cue said. "With all the restrictions of money and spending so much money on a player who can't play is tough. It was a gamble. We played it. Sometimes you make the right decisions and sometimes you don't."
Cue also discussed some of the club's other accomplishments. Chivas USA's soccer academies have been a source of pride for the organization since before they opened and now they are producing results.
"We said that the future of this team was youth development and I think we have done a tremendous job with youth development," Cue said. "Today we have two players already coming from our youth development that are part of our system: Estuardo Sanchez and Carlos Borja. We are also signing a player from Lynwood [Calif.], a Mexican-American who I think is the prototype for this team. He's a mixture of American and Hispanic culture which is what we're trying to do."
Also, Chivas has made strides with its fan club, Club Chivas.
"We have a club with more than 28,000 members. We have a recreational soccer program that serves 10,000 kids every weekend ... in the Bay Area and in the Los Angeles area," Cue said. "Those are things that are maybe not seen by a lot of people."
Mostly, though, Cue talked about his team. Chivas is close to accomplishing the goal it had set out before the start the season: to make the playoffs.
"I am always optimistic but I just want to remain very humble," Cue said. "We're not there yet but it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel and the tunnel seems to be shorter than we thought."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
