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Chivas USA names new front office leadership

Photo courtesy of ISIPhotos.com

By JOSE M. ROMERO

In a major shakeup by owners Jorge Vergara and Angelica Fuentes, Chivas USA named Jose David new team president and Jose Luis Real as operations supervisor.

The announcement of the new hires came late Tuesday night. Chivas coach Robin Fraser and general manger Jose Domene remain employed, at least for now. But Real will now take over as their boss, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

David is a successful businessman and 13-year resident of Los Angeles with experience in administrative work, and Real was Club Deportivo Chivas de Guadalajara’s head coach from 2009 to 2011.

Real is expected to remain based in Mexico, but will oversee the American club’s coaching staff, players, academy and player development.

“He’s putting in people he’s comfortable with,” CUSA spokesman Alejandro Arpiza told the Daily News.

Chivas USA faces FC Dallas on Sunday in the MLS regular-season finale for both clubs, neither of which are playoff-bound. Chivas is 7-18-8 this season, the second straight losing season for Fraser.

What do you think about the big moves at Chivas USA? Will this lead to improvement for the club next season? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If the next coach is Efrain Flores, this sends a clear message. I agree with bottlescap’s post, Vergara is just buying time till the 20th franchise is awarded to sell the club at its best potenial price which should around the 50-60M range. Then enters either Stan Kroenke or Phil Rawlins as prespective new owners. Both are working on getting SSS built in Orlando and St. Louis. So look for a move to one of these cities by the latest for the 2015 season.

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  2. “CHIVAS USA NAMES NEW……”

    I saw “name” and “new” in the same sentence associated with Chivas and got my hopes up.

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  3. I was really hoping to read “ChivasUSA gives up entirely on itself, decides to fold and sell the team.” Sorry for Chivas fans, but there is just so much potential that could be had with that team

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  4. Step 1: Get them out of LA and move to San Diego or Las Vegas. Step 2: Rename the team and cater to more than just the Hispanic population. Make it about the city, not a specific culture or nationality. Step 3: Keep Fraser.

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  5. I suspect Fraser will be gone after the season. Who he is replaced by will answer a lot of questions. If they go a route they have taken before and go with a Mexican coach, they will not be successful as it takes someone, either general Manager or coach to understand the financials and salary cap issues that make up the MLS.

    Off the field they have a long way to go before they become a successful franchise; expanding their fan base and positioning for their own stadium are two key issues.

    Should they not address these issues, I believe they will be sold after the 20th MLS team is selected. With the availability;lity of new franchises gone, the unsuccessful/ poorly performing ones will be sought after for new markets

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  6. Chivas USA could serve as a HBS case study on how NOT to market and operate a professional sports franchise. They’ve self-limited their fanbase (by going after only Mexican-American market, and even then only a subset of that market by using the Chivas brand), have put a poor product on the field, have had no marquee players, and a revolving door of coaches/management. They don’t control their own gameday revenues, and they pale in comparison to another team in the same city. I don’t see how creating a new management structure of professionals whose clear focus is on the Guadalajara team makes any difference whatsoever. This team needs to clean house, rebrand, and probably decamp for another city like San Diego.

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    • Couldn’t agree more. MLS has gotten it mostly right over the past ten years but Chivas was a big swing and a miss. Time to hit the reset button.

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  7. “Real is expected to remain based in Mexico, but will oversee the American club’s coaching staff, players, academy and player development.”

    I don’t know if there’s precedent for that sort of management-from-afar tactic, but I cannot assume it bodes well for Chivas. In fact, if I could pinpoint the systemic problem with Chivas, it would probably be that they’re the victim of an absent owner. This only compounds the issue.

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    • Bingo.

      Additionally, this portion, “He’s putting in people he’s comfortable with”. i.e. likely associates from outside of MLS.

      I’m not saying we have the most complex system in history but foreigners constantly jump into the league thinking it’ll be an easy transition and routinely fall flat on their face.

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    • Afar management has been pretty lacklustre for Mexico’s Chivas. Johan Cruyff is their sportis director and he lives in Barcelona.

      Funny they want to pull the same strategy here.

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