Thus far in the young Major League Soccer campaign, Chivas USA has picked up on a rather disturbing trend.
The Red-and-White has allowed the opponent to score first in four of the five games this season. Perhaps not coincidentally, the club's only win came when Chivas USA scored first.
Overall, Chivas USA players said their club has not made it hard enough for other teams to play against, and that has impacted the club in the early part of the season.
"We just need to be harder to play against as a whole, the team defense needs to be more compact," Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein said. "I feel like every opportunity we give up turns into a goal. I felt like that was the way against Dallas. I felt like they had three shots and two goals. (Saturday) I felt like Landon only had three shots and he had three goals. We need to figure something out to be harder as a team and that will kind of sort itself out hopefully."
Opponents have not found Chivas USA's defending a tough challenge. The Red-and-White has allowed a league-high 13 goals, punctuated by Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Consequently, Chivas USA has won just once this season and is sitting on a three-game losing streak. The last time Chivas USA lost three games in a row was in 2005.
Although the locker room was a somber scene after the Galaxy loss, with several players sitting dejectedly in front of the their lockers, players have yet to concede anything.
"It's going to be hard for us to come back from this," Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "This is tough, three losses in a row but if any team can do it I believe our team can. We have great leadership and we have a lot of great young players. I'm not worried about our team at all."
Chivas USA will face several challenging matches in upcoming games. On Saturday, Chivas USA visit Houston while New England and D.C. United await the Red-and-White upon returning to The Home Depot Center, on May 11 and 17 respectively.
What players and coaches do in training to turn things around, though, remains to be seen. However, it will likely fall on the coaching staff's shoulders.
"I'm out of answers again," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "I think we're all trying to do whatever we can to work hard and keep this thing going in the right direction but for whatever reason right now we are not getting it going and we're not getting in any breaks and we're down in every game. It's tough to play from behind."
Chivas USA has completed one-sixth of its season and has just four points to show for it. The remaining slate of games, though, gives players hope.
"The thing we have to look forward to is we've got 25 games left this season. We're not doubting ourselves yet or counting ourselves out by any means," Kljestan said. "You see the types of runs teams can go on in this league and we just hope we can go on a winning streak pretty soon."
Also, some players have yet to return to health. Ante Razov, Raphael Wicky and Alecko Eskandarian have missed considerable time this season and none has yet to play a 90-minute game. Forward Maykel Galindo has also nursed a groin injury since preseason and has played a full game just once in 2008.
Regardless, though, the Chivas players aren't using their lack of health and fitness as an excuse or a crutch for their poor results. In fact, the confidence does not dip when certain players miss time.
"We have a lot of great young guys and all the old guys on this team and every player that steps on the field. No time to panic," Kljestan said. "We've just got to get our stuff together and start playing the way we did at the end of last season."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
