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Alvarez: I want to play for Chivas USA

Photo courtesy of MLS/Andy Mead

By FRANCO PANIZO

LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Carlos Alvarez and Chivas USA might just be a match made in heaven.

A day after new Chivas USA head coach Jose ‘Chelis’ Sanchez tweeted how he hopes to select Mexican-Americans in the upcoming MLS SuperDraft, Alvarez revealed to SBI that his preferred destination would be with the Goats.

“I want to go to Chivas. That’s where I want to go to,” Alvarez told SBI on Sunday after his Prime team played to a scoreless draw with adiPure. “Hopefully it comes true. We’ll see what happens.”

Chivas USA have the second pick in Thursday’s draft and their inclination for Mexican players means they will most likely select the 22-year-old midfielder from UConn or Mikey Lopez of North Carolina. Alvarez is hoping it is him that is taken second overall, as playing for Chivas USA would allow him to play in his hometown of Los Angeles, and also allow him to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“My dad played and everything for Chivas (de Guadalajara), so that’s the blood,” said Alvarez. “We’ll see where I go, but if I would choose I would want to choose back home.”

Like Lopez, Alvarez did not speak to Chivas USA or Sanchez during the first round of interviews with MLS teams on Saturday. In fact, Alvarez only spoke to the Seattle Sounders. He could, however, talk to the Goats on Monday when the next round of player-team meetings take place, a day that Alvarez expects will be busier for him.

“My agent, he told me he wanted me to rest pretty much (on Saturday) and (Monday) I have all my meetings,” said Alvarez.  “He just wanted me to focus on this game and that’s what I did.”

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What do you think of Alvarez wanting to play for Chivas USA? Expect the Goats to select him with the No. 2 pick? Prefer they go after Lopez?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. CUSA is mess for many reasons behind its business and marketing strategies. But the absolute hysteria voiced by some here is absurd. I expect some people on here to go barging into a Mexican restaurant demanding to know why so many Mexicans work there.

    Reply
    • Well Wendellgee – If a restaurant owner publicly stated that they were going to hire based on race/ethnicity then I would assume they would face the legal ramifications. Let’s just pretend that the owner of Chili’s made a public statement as such. How long would it take for a lawyer to take that case? Maybe you and the others who are ok with the stated policy of Chivas USA should do a little reading of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

      http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-race.cfm

      Reply
      • Uh…. The league limits the number of “foreign” players any team can have. If Chivas USA wants to hire Americans of Mexican descent, I don’t understand what the problem is? Unless you are suggesting that Americans of Mexican descent are not Americans…

        Does the NBA require that teams hire a certain number of “white” players? Does the NHL require teams to hire a certain number of “black” players? Does MLB require teams to hire a certain number of “Asian” players?

        The 2010-2011 Detroit Pistons had 0% Caucasian players. http://ascreamingcomesacrossthecourt.blogspot.com/2012/01/nba-and-ethnicity-race-of-each-team.html?m=1

        I’m just saying…

        Or are you guys making a lot out of nothing?

  2. This franchise and “Chivas mentality” is a disgrace to the MLS and United States. Please end this insanity now. MLS fans should boycott attending games against Chivas USA to send a message to the commissioner and the world.

    DOOP

    Reply
    • As a Chivas USA fan, I would love it if you decided to boycott our “home” games. Feel free to take you vacation from Philly, or wherever you call home, during the Others’ home games. Of course, you might have to cut back out the trip to Disney, Knott’s, Magic Mountain, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica Pier,Venice, the OC, Pasadena, or San Diego….

      Reply
  3. Yea this crosses the line a bit. Unless he attaches that statement to a business reason: Having more Mexican American players will lead to a better gate. Then it’s just a fact and you can’t really deny it.

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  4. Everything about this club is counter to our cultural values and yet the league is still happy to play the racially loaded games with them? Sad.

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  5. I would like to see Chivas relocate to NYC and rebrand. Instead of paying the franchise fee to MLS, the NYC2 ownership could pay Vergara for his rights and move the team to Queens. MLS loses one ridiculous owner, gains a (hopefully) level-headed owner, puts a team in the Five Boroughs, and leaves room for other vigorous fanbases. Win-win-win-win.

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  6. Others have commented on exactly how I feel about the absurdity of Chivas USA wanting only Mexicans or Mexican-Americans on the squad. It’s offensive and down right undemocratic of a nation that prides itself on diversity in the work place, and giving anyone the opportunity to succeed despite that person’s ethinicity. As others have previously stated. The backlash politically would be crazy if there was a pro franchise that only wanted Caucasion-Americans or only wanted African-Americans as their players. All I know is that Chivas USA’s academy has quite a few players that aren’t Mexican-Americans. Will those kids be given a fair shot to play for Chivas USA eventhough they aren’t Mexican-Americans? Hell if I had a kid in the Chivas USA academy that was of another ehtnic background, I would be looking to move him over to the Galaxy’s Academy or another academy in the region to give my child a fair shot to play.

    The ramifications of Chivas USA only looking really at Mexican-Americans will be massive for Don Garber to deal with. If I was the comissioner I wouldn’t want a potential lawsuit filed by a parent because their children aren’t given the same opportunities as the Mexican-Americans. Believe me it will happen if Chivas USA carry on in this manner going forward.

    Reply
    • How would Chivas USA’s academy or team get sued if they don’t charge club fees?
      The hypothetical parent isn’t paying club dues for their kid to play. It’s not AYSO. Kids try out for the team. If you make the team, then your kid gets coaching without paying for a private club team fees, all in the hopes that Chivas USA will sign your kid under a homegrown contract.
      http://www.cdchivasusa.com/academy/teams/youthacademy

      If roster rules restrict the number of “foreign” players, then why is everyone making such a fuss if Chivas USA chooses to use those “foreign” slots for Mexican players? Chivas USA isn’t the team that “bends” the roster rules…. (Ahem… 3 DPs)… Chivas USA will try to max out the # of “foreign” players it is allowed to, by the rules, and then fill its roster with American players. Are you upset that the American players that Chivas USA wants to have on its roster are of Mexican descent, or of Latin American descent, or Californian born and raised?

      And I hope that you are not suggesting that MLS set a limit on the number of Mexican-American players that each team has! THAT would be racist.

      If we are going to talk about diversity in the work place in the USA, shouldn’t you be complaining about other sports leagues? NFL? NBA? NHL? MLB?

      Reply
  7. Don’t look now but on MLS’s website they have a cover story about Mikey Lopez wanting to be drafted by ChivasUSA too. Now either Mikey L or Carlos Alvarez will be having to do some major back pedaling when they get drafted by another team and have to explain how they are excited to play for a team that isn’t Chivas USA. Never in the history of MLS have this many players of any ethnicity wanted to play for the lowly Chivas USA.

    Garber is going to have to step in and do something about this but as an RSL fan the west needs perennial losers like Chivas USA. Their the only relatively easy win on the schedule (and yes i remember RSL losing to Chivas last year which was a sad sad day.)

    Reply
  8. If I’m Toronto, I feel pretty good knowing that Chivas has pigeon-holed itself into taking one of two players with the #2 pick. Takes a lot of the guess work out of preparing for that 3rd pick.

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    • I hadn’t thought of it like this before but yea Chivas USA is showing there hand and don’t seem to know or care about the ramifications.

      Chivas is saying that if given the choice between two players, one being a latino and another being, say an african american player (think Farrel) who happens to be more skillful bigger, stronger and more athletic, they will take the latino player. A more pathetic excuse for a professional franchise there could not be.

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      • Calm down. There probably isn’t a team in the league that wouldn’t take a Mexican or Mexican-American potential star over an equivalent player of any other ethnicity.

        Hell, you think the Lakers or Clippers would love anything more than to unearth a Mexican basketball superstar?

    • Toronto could take Farrell and knowing that Chivas will take Lopez or Alvarez, they get their choice of Zimmerman, Zavaleta, and Johnson.
      Basically you guys have the top two picks. That’s pretty awesome for you.

      I hope you guys end up with Farrell and Zimmerman. Along with Agbossoumonde and that homegrown CB that would give Ryan Nelsen one heck of a pile of CB prospects to develop, which would be great for both Canada and the US.

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  9. Exploitation of any market segment is called Captialism. I don’t see a player wanting to play for the American version of a team his dad played for in Mexico as being racism by Chivas…. It is more nepotism or favoratism…

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  10. Ya well too bad. You shouldnt have signed up for the draft, where the league will assign you to a team and if you dont like where you end up you have to either move out of the country or sit out a year.

    Reply
  11. 2nd overall seems high given that not to long ago he has slated to go right around 15 or so. I mean I know he had a good combine bit that’s quite a jump. I guess I’m just being a homer as I wanted him to go to my Fire.

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  12. Two things-
    Is this an elaborate ruse that I’m not in on?
    He says Chivas a couple times, but never states Chivas USA. How sure are we?

    Reply
  13. I’m a bit uncomfortable with the “We weekly want to draft players of a specific racial background to exploit their race for our profit”

    Reply
      • Racism, technically, is the belief that one race is inherently superior to another. So I wouldn’t call it racism exactly, but it is still a misguided and ridiculous branding strategy. Who wants to pay to see a Chivas farm team when the Galaxy are playing at the same stadium?

      • Imagine the outcry if a professional sports team today stated that they are specifically interested in only drafting Caucasians. The teeth gnashing and wailing of the racialists in the nation would be deafening and the rapid response of the Justice Department would make ones head spin. If that were the case, the response of both groups would be 100% correct. The MLS will be a much better league when this joke of a franchise withers and sinks beneath the waves.

      • Dude their is a team in Spain that only plays Basque people, and it’s not considered racist their..

        Barcalona plays mostly catalan people and I think their is another team that plays only catalans

        In Russia their is a team that wants only russians and people seay they are racist, but that is only because they taunt the none russian players

        however, I don’t think Chivas USA will be a striclty mexican team, it will probably be a latin flavored team and if their are good none latin players they will recruit them too, if they are good that is..

      • I agree with you that there is no problem with a team that markets itself towards and/or employs people that fit within a local/cultural/identifiable demographic. Sevilla in Basque Spain is a perfect example. However that “Russian team” is Zenit St. Petersburg and their fans claim to demand a “Russian only team” but really want nothing but whites (which alienates a large portion of Russian ethnicities past the Urals) and homosexuals which we can all agree is unwanted and ignorant. Although I cant stand the Chivas brand I do feel that this recruitment policy brings some added flavor to the league. I just hope that even though they bring in Mexicans, the club’s long-term goal is to nurture Mexican-AMERICANS. -end rant

      • I might also add that in 10 years time, if Chivas USA (hopefully) begins developing both Mexicans and Mexican-AMERICANS, the non-Americans will be jettisoned if they choose to play for a country other than USA. If it aounds unfair then check the history of Chivas Guadalajara… they’ve let go of a few Mexican hopefuls who declared for another country.

      • Well, if a Bundesliga club came over and stated a preference for getting as many German American players as possible then no, I don’t think it would rile as many people up. There is far more hostility in the US towards immigrants (recent or otherwise) of Mexican heritage than of immigrants of German heritage.

      • Do you know of an instance where a private business was ripped from its owners, rebranded and moved? You think we do that in America? Holy cow.

    • 1) Well, I think it is a little different in that Chivas is a Mexican team and it’s not like the Randy Lerner saying “I want to make it a point to draft Caucasians for the Browns”. A lot of people say “oh Boston should get an Irish player, or NYRB should get a Portuguese player, or DCUnited should get a Salvadoran player, etc”. You would have to agree it is different then saying “well it’s a place with lots of black people of course there is high crime” or “of course they let the cracker off with a smack on the wrist” or some statement with animosity.

      2) If this kid’s father played for Chivas. I can understand why he would make a statement of wanting to play for a name his father played for and he grew up knowing that.

      Now, saying that, I COMPLETELY AGREE that Chivas USA is not a fit for MLS and the idea that a team in MLS is centered around a nationality is absurd. I would love the team to be sold to someone else, maybe even moved down to San Diego. I do see the attractiveness of having hispanic players who can do interviews and interact with the community and fans, but spanish speakers can be of many different origins (like Donovan, Agudelo, etc).

      Reply
    • Um, I think you guys are confused. Mexican isn’t a race. Hispanic isn’t even a race. There are Mexicans of all races, just as there are Americans of all races and combinations of races. What race is Cuauhtémoc Blanco? How about Rafa Márquez? Giovani dos Santos?

      One might think a Mexican-oriented policy for Chivas USA is misguided, counter-productive, and even nationalistic, but it’s not racist.

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    • It’s almost like they’re trying to emulate Chivas Guadalajara who only plays Mexican nationals.

      It is racist, but isn’t unprecedented. Most importantly, it isn’t sound business practice and this experiment will be over soon enough.

      Reply
    • Actually, half Chivas’ problem is they can’t seem to decide whether they are a standard issue team with some sort of cultural overlay; a SoCal team; a hispanic team; or a Mexican team. If you can’t decide what you are and are constantly firing coaches there is no driving concept to build towards.

      In contrast, a team like Houston which for good or ill inculcates a style and basically signs players to fit it. Sometimes I think the coach is too insular and some acquisitions goofy but we’re generally successful because there’s a consistent style and organizational stability. [That being said, part of the reason we’re not winning titles is also that the coach is too loyal to vets, lets the team get old, and not tactically flexible after kickoff.]

      I think the flaw in Chivas goes back to the origination here, it’s a strictly Mexican team you’re trying to install in the USA, where we have foreign player limits. Whether you think it’s racist or nationalist or not, it’s Doomed From the Start as a matter of logic under the rules. They have to allow x amount of non-Mexicans and probably non-hispanics just to field a team here. It’s be like trying to have an Athletic Bilbao team here. It’ll never work and will always be a compromise.

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    • Yeah, I thought this had the potential to be awkward too, kind of like Rashard Lewis, who played HS in Houston and went pro instead of to college, and spent a lot of time talking up being drafted by the Rockets in the NBA. Houston instead drafted the forgettable Dickerson and Turkcan and it was awkward for both sides thereafter.

      To me he can say the same thing through his agent/ privately, and the two sides can publicly tell their feelgood home-grown story afterwards.

      Reply
  14. I think it is great that he wants to play for Chivas. but the league must put its foot down and tell him that he cannot keep the number 72.

    Reply

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