CARSON, Calif. – While the world around him has seemingly turned into something resembling a Mexican telenovela, Chivas USA coach Robin Fraser is trying to do what he does best.
Fraser’s focus is squarely on his team's match Sunday at San Jose (9 pm ET, NBCSN, live chat on MLSsoccer.com), a challenging task given the week Chivas have had off the field.
Co-owner Jorge Vergara dropped the "co-" from his title and became the club’s full owner on Wednesday, buying out former partner Antonio Cué. Then, the drama began.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Chivas USA general manager Jose Domene had been fired, which was later followed up by a Tweet from Domene, disputing that and on Friday afternoon, a club spokesman said Domene is still part of the organization.
Through it all, Fraser tries to stay calm.
“There’s distractions all the time,” Fraser said. “If it’s not this, it’s something else. Our focus just needs to be on what we have control over as a staff and as players and what we have control over is what we do on the field.”
Domene made an appearance during training on Friday. Although he declined to speak to the media, he said, “I’m around,” while he took in a part of the training session. He did not make himself available to reporters after training.
Fraser declined to speak about Domene’s situation but said that whatever changes were going on above him were not things he could allow himself to worry about.
“What’s going on above us at that point is immaterial or irrelevant because our focus is on the field,” Fraser said.
Meanwhile, the ownership move may have come at an odd time but it was also something Fraser said he was not going to concern himself with too much.
“At the end of the day, I’m here to prepare the team as best as I can, to win games,” he said. “On that level, it doesn’t really matter who’s above us or what’s going on above us.”
Luis Bueno covers Chivas USA for MLSsoccer.com and can be reached by e-mail at Buenodad@gmail.com.
