Top Stories

West Notes: Padilla likely out with Chivas, Kreis discusses SKC incident and more

Ag4v41hgwz2hvgr1eshdw3s2e

BY ADAM SERRANO

Jesus Padilla came to Chivas USA as a player with great promise, but it appears that the forward is no longer in the plans for the franchise.

Head coach Robin Fraser cast doubt on a future role for the player by stating, that he was unsure if Padilla would "help the team going forward." Padilla has scored seven goals during his one and a half seasons with the Rojiblancos. 

Chivas USA has also welcomed Ghanaian International defender Seth Owusu to the club this week and is in the process of finalizing a loan deal for the man that Jimmy Conrad referred to as a "Man-Mountain."

The Rojiblancos play their final match of the preseason on Saturday in Frisco, Texas against F.C. Dallas.

Below the jump is more news from the Western Conference:

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Rapids dropped the Community Shield to the Seattle Sounders 3-1, but will have one more preseason match against the Vancouver Whitecaps before opening the season against the Portland Timbers on March 19th. 

FC DALLAS

Dallas has cut loose rookie defender Charlie Campbell and forward Maykel Galindo. The Cuban forward had been training with FCD since being cut loose by Chivas USA at the start of preseason. Campbell was drafted with the 35TH pick by Dallas.

LA GALAXY

As reported earlier in SBI, Donovan Ricketts has been ruled "day to day" by Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. Ricketts did not play in Wednesday's scrimmage victory over UCLA and was subbed out of the club's victory over Club Tijuana with what Arena described as a "knock"

Kiwi midfielder Daniel Keat has returned to action for the Galaxy after an injury picked up at the begining of the MLS Combine. 

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The Timbers and Whitecaps fan groups have pulled from the "Heritage Cup" , a trophy started by the Silicon Valley Soccer Foundation to honor the team's NASL roots. During the last two years, the Sounders and the Earthquakes were the only teams to contend.

REAL SALT LAKE

People were abuzz with intrigue when the Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City match was abandoned due to an apparent brawl at the end of the match. With a host of intense twitter updates from fans and players alike, many rumors were created about what had happened. In response to this, RSL head coach Jason Kreis has come out to set the record straight. 

The coach confirmed it was a reckless tackle by Roger Espinoza, but stated in a radio interview that certain actions like a rumored kick to the head of Javier Morales by Omar Bravo were just rumors. RSL will face off against Deportivo Saprissa in their CONCACAF Champions League Semi-finals on Tuesday, March 15th.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Sounders may have won the Community Shield over the Rapids, but may have lost two key players in Brad Evans and Steve Zakuani. Evans will miss 1-3 weeks while Zakuani is set to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his hip injury.

Seattle also let go go Bryan Merdith as Josh Ford earned the 3rd goalkeeper spot behind Kasey Keller and Terry Boss. 

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Earthquakes' Buck Shaw Stadium is one of the smallest in MLS, but San Jose is looking to improve the fan experience at the quaint stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University. The highlights include renaming one of the gates as the "George Best Gate" a nod to former NASL Earthquake Best. The team will also be improving concessions and adding in a special zone for fans. The move comes as demoliton has begun on buildings that will become the of the Earthquakes new stadium. 

The Earthquakes have also signed back-up goalkeeper Andrew Weber, who was cut before the start of the 2009 season. 

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

Midfielder Shea Salinas has been ruled out for the Whitecaps opener against Toronto on March 19th. Salinas picked up an injury during the club's Arizona training camp. Salinas stated that he will likely be out for 2 to 3 weeks "at least" in a discussion with the Province.

Comments

  1. How George Best felt about Sad Jose:

    “Even if [Angie and I] had a hope of sorting out our life together, it was not going to be in San Jose, which turned out to be the worst place ever for me, in just about every aspect of my life. I hated San Jose and although we had a nice house, which we filled with beautiful furniture, it was situated in the middle of nowhere.”

    Quoted from George Best’s autobiography “Blessed”

    Reply
  2. They should have named the beer concession at the Stadium after George Best. I knew him when he played for the LA Aztecs, and played a few pickup games with him in the 70’s. He owned a bar near the Hermosa Beach Pier and was his own (best) worst customer. A LOT of pints were consumed on those saturdays we had our pickup matches. I think Sigi Schmidt was a casualty of some of those games.

    Reply
  3. Peter Nowak just had a good chuckle to himself hearing that Shea would be out for the opener. Only if that kid could stay on the field.

    Reply
  4. This question falls under the larger “West” umbrella.

    Will salgado be allowed to play matches for vancouver in the united states prior to his 18th birthday?

    Reply
  5. But they have a valid point, and they said they would reconsider if new teams like the Cosmos joined the league and it wasn’t just Cascadia +1.

    Reply

Leave a Comment