When Chivas USA opened its home calendar against Real Salt Lake, the calendar read April 5.
But for some players from the Red-and-White, it still reads March.
"Some guys are maybe a month into preseason really because they missed a lot," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said.
With the regular season in full swing, Chivas USA still has some lingering effects from the preseason. Injuries ravaged the club in February while some players have picked up knocks that are keeping them from the playing field as well. All that has stunted the club's development and made their path in this 2008 season a bit more challenging at the onset.
Consequently, the club struggled against Real Salt Lake. Despite the 3-1 win, Chivas USA players and coaches were anything but satisfied with the way the match turned out.
Missing from the match were starters Ante Razov (left calf strain) and Lawson Vaughn (left hamstring). Claudio Suarez, one of a few of players who did not have health concerns in the preseason, has yet to make his 2008 season debut. His father Vicente Suarez passed away days before the season opener and the Chivas USA defender did not return to the club until the day before the RSL match as he missed an entire week of practice.
Additionally, players such as Raphael Wicky, Alecko Eskandarian and Francisco Mendoza are still dealing with some fitness and health issues.
"It's something that has been happening to us the whole preseason. We've been missing guys the whole preseason and in a way you could tell," Chivas USA coach Preki said after his club's win. "In a lot of ways, we weren't in tune with what was going on in the field. It's going to take us a little bit of time before we start playing the way we are capable of playing."
One player who did well despite nagging pain was Maykel Galindo. The Cuban striker was hobbled with an adductor injury at the end of last season and still has issues with the injury this season.
Galindo, though, did not use his injury as an excuse.
"Everybody knows I am not at 100 percent," Galindo said. "Aside from that, though, I did not play well. I have to keep working and get healthy because it's not easy to play through pain."
With strike partner Razov out, Galindo helped pick up the slack offensively. He was a thorn in Real's side throughout the match as he constantly put pressure on Real defenders. Galindo also picked up an assist on the game's first goal with a deft pass from the midfield into the penalty area that Kljestan was able to tuck into the back of the net.
The injury, though, did affect Galindo. He said afterward that he probably could have buried a first-half shot he took from the right side of the area. Instead of celebrating a goal, though, Galindo saw his attempt stopped by RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
"Yeah, I think so," Galindo said when asked if he thought that could have been a goal. "When I have an opportunity like that and I try to put a lot of force behind it, I can feel it."
Still, Galindo along with Kljestan were responsible for much of the offense against RSL. And while their job is to score goals and create chances in every game, it takes on an added significance when the club is missing players.
"Those guys are given a little bit of freedom to make some plays and that's what they're good at," Marsch said. "It's important within our team especially when Ante is out and Pancho (Mendoza) is not 100 percent for those guys to make some plays."
It remains to be seen if players will recuperate in enough time to travel to Columbus, where Chivas USA will play the Crew on Saturday. Injuries or not, points will be at stake and the club needs to improve in order to have a shot of coming home with a positive result.
"We're not by any means our sharpest right now. We know we have a long way to go and Preki knows that," Marsch said. "Within the group we're pretty honest with each other and we all understand that we can all do better and keep this thing moving forward."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
