In their last two games, Chivas USA has been on the short end of several officiating calls.
Against D.C. United, a free kick that appeared to have crossed the goal line was not ruled a goal. The following week, a substitute was ready to step onto the field but the center referee did not stop a dead ball play, which led to the first of two Los Angeles Galaxy goals. Chivas USA lost 2-0 to D.C. and 2-1 to L.A.
But while Chivas fans protest and media members scrutinize those plays, Chivas USA players and coaches have moved on. They protested vehemently when those plays occurred but the bitter feelings have not carried beyond the day of the game.
"You don't want to become a team like that because you won't get anywhere," Chivas forward Ante Razov said. "You'll just be complainers and blame everybody. That's not what our coach is about and that's not how I am. If a mistake is made, you say it and that's it. It's done and you have to move on."
The club has indeed moved on. If anything, the way the last two games have turned out will only help Chivas to focus more on becoming one unit and finishing games on their own.
"We feel like we are going in the right direction," Chivas coach Bob Bradley said. "But we also recognize that becoming a good team is hard work and you learn to deal with things that go against you, whether it's a game that goes against you or calls at key moments because you have to be able to deal with the things that don't go your way in order to become very good."
Chivas did not do well to handle adverse calls in the last two losses. Against D.C. United, Chivas was close to scoring the equalizer. In fact, Chivas had apparently scored the equalizer but an early second-half goal was called back after an offside call. Late in the match, Juan Pablo Garcia struck a free kick that bounced close to the goal line and back out into play. Chivas players celebrated but the goal was not allowed.
Major League Soccer released a statement days after the game and claimed television replays did not show the entire ball crossing the line. Bradley disagreed entirely with the statement.
"The game is the game and I'm not a fan when I see these league statements explaining calls," he said. "I was actually upset with (the Garcia free kick explanation) because the diagram about what was a goal and what wasn't a goal, they say picture three most resembled Loco's. In picture three, the ball was on the line; in Loco's case, the ball didn't hit on the line. I called that a third-grade diagram that has nothing to do with anything."
Bradley said he talked to Joseph A. Machnik, the assistant to the deputy commissioner for on-field competition for Major League Soccer, and that the two "laughed about it and he was just trying to explain what was a goal and what was not and that that wasn't exact and I said I don't see any need to be sending that stuff out."
In the end, however, Chivas can only control their defense, their attacking and their goalkeeping. It does them no good to look back on any other aspects of the game, Bradley said.
"Looking back on calls never gets a team anywhere," Bradley said. "The game is still like that and you have to focus on how you improve. You hope the breaks balance out over the season. Things have gone against us a little bit the last two games but it doesn't change what we want to do."
One thing is certain, however: nobody is out to get Chivas.
"There is no conspiracy against Chivas," Razov said. "You have to make your own breaks. You'd like to think that they'll even out after 32 games, so we'll see."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
