CARSON, Calif. — When Jorge Vergara bought out Antonio and Lorenzo Cue to become full owner of Chivas USA, the club appeared destined for some sort of makeover.
Those wheels have finally begun spinning as Chivas announced on Tuesday that José David has been named president and José Luis “Guero” Real will “supervise its on-the-field soccer operations.”
On Wednesday, a report broke about Efraín Flores taking over as head coach, presumably sometime after the club’s regular-season finale at FC Dallas on Sunday.
Robin Fraser, currently in charge of Los Rojiblancos, said he’s not sure if he will be here next week or not.
“I have no idea," Fraser said on Wednesday. "Certainly, it’s not up to me. As long as I’m here, I’m trying to make the team as good as possible and win as many games as possible. Now we’re down to one game and we’re doing everything we can to win that game. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
READ: Chivas USA announce big changes in front office
Flores, who most recently coached Pachuca, was in charge of Chivas de Guadalajara for four seasons in the last decade. Flores also served as interim coach for the Mexican national team and coached Atlas and León as well. According to ESPN, Flores has been tipped as Fraser’s eventual successor.
Real, meanwhile, is another former Guadalajara head coach. While his role is still somewhat fuzzy — a team spokesman claimed Real is not a director of any sort — what’s clear is that change is here.
Perhaps some of that change has been more apparent behind the scenes, and it’s possible that the front-office instability has affected Chivas and their performance down the stretch.
“Many things happened in the last couple of months and everything has an effect,” Fraser said. “Nothing is neutral. Everything has an effect either positive or negative.”
While Tuesday’s moves may indeed have set this change in motion, for now, the changes and likely prospect of more isn’t going to bother the squad too much.
“This group is really focused on this Sunday,” Fraser said. “The hirings that happened yesterday I don’t think affects this group in the next five days. Going forward, it will have a great effect, but the only thing we as a complete group can control is how we prepare for this game and how we play. Beyond that, next week is another discussion.”
Luis Bueno covers Chivas USA for MLSsoccer.com. Contact him at buenodad@gmail.com.
