During Chivas USA's 4-3 loss to Columbus, more things went wrong than they did right.
The midfield accounted for all three goals but two of the starting four midfielders were sent off late in the match. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan saw a late shot skip through his hands and into the back of the net for the Crew's late match winner while the hosts had actually gone up two goals midway through the second half.
Despite the seemingly glaring individual mistakes, however, Chivas USA players weren't about to single out one of their teammates.
"The best part is that after a good game, bad game, win, loss, for the most part this team understands what was good, what was bad and what we need to do better," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "We can honestly look at each other and say 'All right, we need to do better' especially at this point in the season. We're not a group of finger-pointers either where we're like 'It's the defense, it's the goalie, it's the midfield, it's the forwards.'"
Chivas USA players said the club has not played well as a whole and typically if a player singles out anyone on the squad, it is himself. The club holds a 1-1-1 record following the setback in Columbus and will return home to play FC Dallas on Sunday and the L.A. Galaxy on April 27.
The club has gotten off to a shaky start this season as players and coaches have said the club needs to improve in the early going.
"We've had a little bit of bad luck and a little bit of bad timing," midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "I still think it's early and I still think we're very promising. We just have to continue to get better at doing the little things that have made us successful."
Kljestan was one of two players who picked up a red card in the final 10 minutes of the game on Saturday. Kljestan and Francisco Mendoza will miss Sunday's match against FC Dallas because of their respective red cards.
Each player had played well in the first three games. Kljestan has two goals on the season but his presence will be missing against FC Dallas. The U.S. under-23 national team standout said the only thing he can do is to maintain his early-season form and not let the suspension linger.
"I feel like I've got a good tempo and good form the first three games of the season and done some good things. I've just got to continue to get better. Hopefully this doesn't prove to be a bump in the road," he said. "I've just got to get past this game on Sunday and be ready for the Galaxy game the next weekend and just try and continue my form of how I've been playing the beginning of the season."
From the midway point on last year, Kljestan was one of the club's most important players. He finished the season with 13 assists and was on his way towards playing an even more critical role on the club this year when the red card hit.
Kljestan is blossoming into a standout and his role on the team continues to expand as well.
"He understands as he gets better and as he's making more plays for our team, his responsibility to his team on every play grows because we all expect so much from him now," Marsch said. "It's almost like the better you do, the more we expect out of you and that's what it's like with Sacha and he understands that."
Still, players ultimately said the improvement needs to come from every player on the roster, from the starters to the backups and the walking wounded.
"The best part right now is we're not all sharp so we can all do better and we can all do a little more," Marsch said. "It's still a healthy environment so we can look at each other and say 'It's got to get better.'"
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
