After Wednesday's 3-3 draw at Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA took a much-deserved four-day break. With no game scheduled on Saturday, players and coaches were able to take some time off from their rigorous campaign.
Monday, Chivas USA returned to training rejuvenated and happy with the prospect of a more normal schedule.
"Now we have the chance to get back to some of the things I think helped us early in the season," Chivas coach Bob Bradley said.
At the beginning of the season, Chivas played just four games in the first 41 days of the campaign. Aided by two off weekends in the first month of the season, Chivas played the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 15 and New England nearly one month later, on May 13, and played just once in between.
But the schedule snowballed into an avalanche by the end of July. From June 18 to July 26 -- a span of 39 days -- Chivas USA played 10 regular-season games, a U.S. Open Cup match and a friendly against Club America.
"When you go through that, all you're doing is you are recovering and you are playing. In short training sessions, you try to look at certain things," Bradley said. "You try to look at video and make certain points but your ability to play in a week and prepare properly is very difficult."
Still, the club came away unscathed. No players suffered major injuries during that stretch and Chivas came out in fourth place and very much alive in the playoff race.
Results from the 10-game stretch, however, are mixed.
"The last 10 games, six were away and four were home and we're 2-1-7. That sort of sums it all up," Bradley said. "In the most difficult stretch of the season, in terms of the number of games, the heat, playing away games, to have only lost one in the last 10 is good news. Yet to have only won two of those games is the bad news."
Had things gone a little differently, Chivas could have turned a few of those draws into victories. Against Colorado, Chivas took a 3-2 lead in stoppage time only to allow a late equalizer and tie 3-3. Also, Chivas scored first in five of those games yet went 2-1-2 those matches.
"For sure, our feeling is if you take those 10 games and if all of the sudden you're 4-1-5, where now some of those ties you finish games at the end and you take the full points and now you've kept the part where you've only lost one in 10 that would be a clearer sign of our progress," Bradley said.
The club might have run out of steam at the end. Though the offense scored three goals in each of the last two games, both on the road, the defense surrendered the same amount as Chivas tied 3-3 at Colorado and at Real Salt Lake.
"The last few games, I don't know if fatigue factored into it but we obviously gave up a lot of goals and we were a little loose in the back," Chivas goalkeeper Preston Burpo said. "Hopefully with some rest and a good week of training we can kind of put it together a bit more in the back, myself included, and then tighten it up."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
