It seems that Amado Guevara really could be done with MLS.
The enigmatic midfielder was all but on a plane bound for FC Dallas late last week, according to a source at Pizza Hut Park.
A trade was set that would have sent the Honduran midfielder to Texas. No players would have gone West from FC Dallas, according to the source, who declined to further elaborate. That means the swap would have involved other assets, such as salary compensation, allocation money, draft picks or a combination of those.
The move would have involved significant contract restructuring. Guevara and his agent had unofficially signed off on the deal, but the midfielder balked at the last minute and instead returned, at least for now, to his native Honduras. He has been removed by Chivas USA from the club's senior roster.
Meanwhile, FC Dallas officials continue to decline public comment on persistent rumors and reports that they might trade striker Carlos Ruiz. (Ruiz, by the way, has not asked to be traded and has indicated he is quite content in Frisco.)
Rumors careened early this week that Ruiz was already on a plane bound for Los Angeles. At the very moment FC Dallas officials were fielding phone calls from reporters in L.A. asking that very question, Ruiz was tending goal in some post-practice goofing around in Dallas.
And he nearly broke his wrist doing it.
Ruiz likes to play around tending goal in post-training shootarounds - and he's pretty good at it. One particularly hard-hit shot caught the forward the wrong way. When he complained about wrist pain the next day, X-rays did not reveal a break but did show that it was indeed sprained.
He would have worn a soft cast on Thursday against Chicago. But the Guatemalan international did not play in the Dallas 2-1 win because of a slight hamstring strain, according to team officials.
STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES: With more coaches developing through the MLS player ranks and through the domestic assistant coaching channels, we'll start seeing more pupil-mentor matchups.
For instance, any meeting this year between Colorado and New England will feature such a reunion. Steve Nicol once served on Fernando Clavijo's staff with the Revolution. Now, of course, Nicol is in his seventh season in a highly successful run with New England. Clavijo is in his third season in charge of the Rapids.
Dynamo head man Dominic Kinnear formerly served on Frank Yallop's staff at San Jose. With Yallop now running matters in Los Angeles now, any Galaxy-Dynamo meeting will feature the pupil-teacher matchup.
Kansas City's Curt Onalfo formerly served on Bruce Arena's U.S. national team staff. With Bruce Arena now serving as the head Bull in New York, he'll meet his former assistant for the first time in an MLS encounter on June 2 when the clubs get together at Arrowhead Stadium.
This year will also feature matchups of coaches who have stood together on MLS rosters. Eight league coaches passed and trapped in MLS stadiums before moving into their league current coaching posts: Johnston, Kinnear, Onalfo, Yallop, D.C. United's Tom Soehn, Chivas USA's Preki, Real Salt Lake's Jason Kreis and Steve Morrow of FC Dallas.
None shared a field longer than Preki and Johnston, who spent five seasons together in Kansas City.
ADDING BITE TO THE GALAXY: Don't read too much into Abel Xavier's arrival at the Los Angeles Galaxy. It certainly doesn't mean veteran right back Chris Albright is out of a starting job.
Xavier can play centrally or on the right, and while Galaxy manager Frank Yallop hasn't said where Xavier will play, he has hinted that Albright's place seems safe for now.
It does mean, at least, that the veteran U.S. right back has competition at the spot, which wasn't truly the case before. And that can't be a bad thing. Nor can it be bad for the Galaxy to have additional cover during the Gold Cup or Copa America; Albright seems well positioned for a summons into one of those events, at least.
Either way, Xavier will bring more wile and bite to the back line that has allowed six goals in three home games.
And what of the Portuguese international's ability to blend in at midseason? Any guy who has played on 11 teams in seven countries knows about adjusting.
The club's best guess on his Galaxy debut: June 17 when Los Angeles hosts Real Salt Lake.
LALAS STILL ACTIVE: Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas is having a busy week, not only presiding over The Home Depot Center's original tenant but stretching that playing career just a little longer.
Lalas remains active on a Los Angeles amateur team, Hollywood United. Its members include Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, former MLS midfielder Paul Bravo and ESPN analyst Eric Wynalda.
This weekend the club is playing in Region IV qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in San Diego.
BLANCO STILL SOARING: MLS officials don't believe Club America's extended run in the Mexican playoffs will delay Cuauhtémoc Blanco's summer arrival. He remains scheduled to arrive in Chicago on July 1.
What might keep Blanco out of a Fire jersey a little longer however is that fact that he's playing so well and could be in Mexican manager Hugo Sanchez's plans for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup.
A pass from Blanco turned into the match's only goal Thursday as Club America defeated Chivas 1-0 at Azteca Stadium in the team's playoff series.
WHAT OF WEEKENDS OFF?: There's no clear early trend when it comes to teams playing after a weekend off.
Clubs are 4-4 after idle weekends so far. In the most recent test case, Houston came off an open weekend but fell Wednesday to Toronto FC.
The next chance to impact this record comes Saturday when D.C. United, which hasn't played since May 6, visits BMO Field to face Toronto.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
