CARSON, Calif. – In the span of three games, Chivas USA have gone from a club with a maddeningly frustrating attack to one that blankets opponents with constant pressure.
Two main cogs in the offensive resurgence has been the play of forward tandem Juan Agudelo and Casey Townsend. The youngsters have started the last four matches together up top and have contributed greatly to the team’s attack.
And while it has not resulted in a climb up the table, the tandem nevertheless feels more offensive outbursts aren’t out of the question.
“We wish that we would have had this combination and things going for us the way things are going for us now a little bit earlier in the season,” Agudelo (above) told MLSsoccer.com, “because now I feel like we’re bound to break that ice of just scoring a lot of goals.”
With Townsend and Agudelo starting up top, Chivas have scored six goals – the same number the Goats scored in the previous nine games. They scored their season high of three goals in a game in a draw with New England on Aug. 29 and pieced together consecutive multi-goal games for the first time this season.
Not only does it look different from the outside, but it feels different on the inside.
“In the beginning of the year we were losing and weren’t necessarily creating any chances, and now we’re not winning but the chances are there, the games are there for us to win,” Townsend (right) told MLSsoccer.com. “The feeling is we’re going to be in every game.”
Townsend has two assists in the past four games, while Agudelo has a goal and two assists. The reason behind their collective success?
“Running off each other, understanding and talking, a lot of learning has been happening of how to work off one another. It’s been great,” Agudelo said. “We both have good work ethics and I feel like that’s what you need in the league to play up top.”
The offensive surge has yielded just two points but Chivas now carry something into games: a sense of excitement.
“People are looking confident,” Townsend said. “We’re creating chances. Whether we’re a split-second off on the final pass or they’re not hitting the shot on goal or the goalie making a good save, it just seems like that last bit of luck hasn’t gone our way recently but we really feel like we’re going to turn it around.”
Luis Bueno covers Chivas USA for MLSsoccer.com and can be reached by e-mail at buenodad@gmail.com.
