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MLS Ticker: Chivas USA trades Townsend to United, Rapids land Eloundou, and more

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Chivas USA’s firesale of non-hispanic players continues.

Chivas USA dealt former University of Maryland forward Casey Townsend to D.C. United on Friday, a little more than a year after selecting him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. In exchange for Townsend, the Goats received a second-round pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.

“We were quite surprised that Casey was available for a trade and we pounced on it,” D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper said in a statement issued by the club. “He is an exciting striker who brings a ton of energy to the attack, and we think he will be a great fit with our side. He is very happy to return to the D.C. Metropolitan area and we are equally excited to bring him back.”

In his rookie season in 2012, Townsend started 10 of the 17 games he appeared in and scored one goal and added two assists.

For Chivas USA, the trade is the latest piece of business to move non-Hispanic players from their roster. Others who have departed this offseason under new head coach Jose Luis ‘El Chelis’ Sanchez’s watch are Nick LaBrocca and Danny Califf.

Here are more notes from around the league:

RAPIDS ACQUIRE ELOUNDOU VIA LOTTERY

Cameroonian striker Charles Eloundou was unable to participate in the recent MLS Player Combine because he did not secure a visa in time, but that did not stop him from attracting teams within the league and eventually finding a new home. Eloundou was snatched up by the Colorado Rapids on Friday morning in a special lottery held at MLS headquarters. The 18-year-old, who is currently with Cameroon’s national team ahead of a friendly versus Tanzania on Feb. 6, will join the Rapids in the coming weeks.

 “This is an exciting acquisition for the Rapids, getting a player who has attracted attention from top clubs in Europe,” Rapids technical director Paul Bravo said in a club statement. “He’s got great pace, strength and skill, and at just 18 he’s already in the set up for the full national team of Cameroon. We’re looking forward to welcoming him into our squad.”

Eloundou joins the Rapids on a one-year loan deal from Cameroon outfit AS Fortuna. The deal comes with an option to buy.

Real Salt Lake and D.C. United also partook in the lottery for Eloundou.

REVOLUTION SIGN FORWARD HORTH

The New England Revolution added another weapon to their arsenal, signing forward Matt Horth to an undisclosed deal. Horth, who has been in preseason camp with the Revs following a training stint last fall, joins the club after having played for NASL’s Atlanta Silverbacks since 2011. Last year, the 23-year-old scored 10 goals for the struggling Silverbacks.

“We’re pleased to add a young forward in Matt to the roster,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns said in a statement released by the club. “He is a talented young player who had a strong record of scoring goals in the NASL. We believe he has the potential to take the next step and do well for our club.”

DYNAMO PROLONG SPANISH-RADIO BROADCAST DEAL

The Houston Dynamo will continue to have Spanish radio broadcasts, as they reached an agreement to extend their current deal on Friday. The Dynamo renewed their current contract with Liberman Broadcasting Corp., agreeing to a three-year deal with the company that has broadcasted Dynamo games since 2006. The new deal includes airing broadcasts of all regular-season and playoff games.

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What do you think of Chivas USA’s trade of Townsend to D.C. United for a second round pick? Expecting Eloundou to make a splash in MLS in 2013?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Prediction Chivas will win only 12 games in 2013 because Vergara didn’t spend any money on bringing in quality players from Mexico. He will blame everyone but himself.

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  2. It must drive them nucking futs that their roommates have Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Hector Jimenez, and Jose Villereal. They would probably trade every honkey on their roster for those guys lol. The Galaxy have acquired more Mexican-American talent than Chivas have and they aren’t even trying.

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  3. I really can’t see this working for Chivas at all. Don’t get me wrong they will win a few games. But they will still be the same old Chivas. They can have all Mexican American players and be within MLS rules on players but will those players be good enough. Until I see them bring in some big names it’s going to end badly. Fans of any nationality will not show up if the team isn’t winning. I’ll say if this does not work then the league should force the owners to sell the team and let the new team X because the will be rebranded, to have a chance to be competitive.

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  4. Chivas should more focus cities like: Bell, Maywood, Pico Rivera, Southgate, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Colton, Santa Ana…build communities teams around those area. Galaxy already has a strong Centrel Americans fanbase.

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  5. I’m waiting for teams to sign random Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to their training squads and trading them to Chivas Jr. two weeks later for Shalrie Joseph, Ante Jazic, Kennedy, Tristen Bowen, and Juan Agudelo. Those guys could be a competent core of players if their supporting cast of Mexican and Mexican-American players on the roster weren’t so horrible. Califf and LaBrocca were solid MLS players too and were two of Chivas Jr’s best players. I can’t wait to watch this experiment implode on itself this next year. The MLS has found its villain.

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  6. I started out thinking that Chivas’ plan was pure crazy, but after listening to Chelis and seeing the moves that they are making, color me intrigued. To all the folks upset about this being discriminatory, do you really think that the US offers a super rosy color-blind society? There are a whole host of systematic and informal structures that have discriminated against certain groups for years (yes, including Mexican immigrants and Mexican-American citizens). So to cry foul about a soccer team wanting to have a Mexican identity and ignoring everything else discriminatory in the US itself smacks of racism.
    Let’s look at this a bit closer. Toronto FC just drafted two Canadian players, clearly catering to their fan base, and no one cried foul there. Vancouver has made similar noise about being “Canada’s” team, and nobody cared. Recently, clubs like RBNY have spoken of giving their team a more “American” or “homegrown” flavor. We applaud that, no doubt…
    I don’t know if it will work, but Chelis was honest about the entire thing–the club’s investors want Mexican heritage players, so that they can market the team effectively to Southern California’s large Mexican and Mexican-American population. It might work, and it might not, but as a Mexican-American who lives nowhere near Southern California and who roots for the Sounders, I find myself a little bit drawn to the experiment (and I root for the USMNT, not El Tri) and curious how it will all turn out. I guess you can add one new fan to the Chivas bandwagon, which says something about the possibilities here.
    Let’s not forget that there’s a ton of talent in Mexico, plenty of solid players who, along with the Mexican Americans that Chivas signs, can fill out a solid roster. The question is whether they will be willing to spend DP money to bring two or three impact players from Mexico. Bring in a good striker and a skilled midfielder (think El Gringo) and you’ve got the makings of a unique, entertaining, and possibly successful squad.
    If this works out, they start bringing Chivas USA fans to the HDC, and pulling fans away from the Spanish language broadcasts of Liga MX, MLS and all of its teams will be beneficiaries. So quit crying racism and take a moment to enjoy one of the more interesting experiments in league history. There, I’m done…

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    • Picking two canadians in the draft is a lot different then shipping out every non mexican-american on the payroll. Canadian teams have to have more canadians cause americans take up international on their roster. I see some relevance in your comparisons, but CUSA is taking it to an extreme level.

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    • A point of clarification, if i may. Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal are Canadian teams operating in Canada. There is noththing discriminatory about them drafting Canadian nationals (which, I will point out, could be of any ethnic group) because by league roster rules any non-Canadians drafted would occupy international slots, of which an MLS team has only 8. Canadian teams are at a disadvantage in the Superdraft, in all reality. Plus, as Canadian teams their purpose is to develop players for Canada, not the US or Mexico so why is so bad for them to want to be “Canada’s team”? I think people would be less up in arms about Chivas if they were cutting and trading for soccer reasons not ethnic identity reasons. A team that was predominantly Hispanic but recognized and used quaity players of other ethnicities would be acceptable to most people, because that would be Chivas’ identity and a reason to watch. But to come out and give the impression that the team is one ethnicity only for ethnicity’s sake alone and not for soccer reasons? And not do anything to change that perception? It has wrongness to it.

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  7. Eloundou to the Rapids! Looks pretty sweet. Saw a highlight video. He’s stocky, fast, aggressive at going 1v1 and to the house. Can’t wait for the season to start. Who needs pre-season training? Let’s just roll the ball out there now!

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    • Surely but Chivas can get away with it. I mean this is okay as long as a s-load of Mexican Guadalajara supporters come to games and spend the money. MLS is catering to that big Mex population.

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      • ^ But as others have pointed out, it’s actually not that big. Non-Chivas supporters aren’t interested, a fair portion of Chivas supporters who’d rather watch the mother-ship aren’t interested, there’s little left to hang your hat on.

        This is revisiting a business plan that has already failed regardless of whether the personnel policy leads to results on the field or not.

  8. I think this is a steal for DC United. I bet every GM in the MLS is on the phone with Chivas right now to see what they can get for a second round pick.

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  9. Chivas are un-learning a lesson they learned after a few early years of absolutely dismal bottom of the league finishes…..that you can’t limit the size of your potential player pool and expect to compete.

    I, for one, am laughing my ass off right now! You don’t want gringos? Ok…have it your way!

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    • I agree. What are they doing differently this time that they didn’t do the 1st time around? Unless they are in bringing legitimate Mexican 1st division players, they simply cannot compete.

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  10. Chivas del Guadalajara only having Mexican players at least makes sense in a homegrown way, as the team’s located in Mexico.. Chivas USA having the same policy is idiocy.

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  11. Could someone clarify something about the MLS-USL deal…..

    Is it that you either have a reserve team or a USL linkup? Or can you have both? Do they plan on doing anything about the regional splits in MLS reserve league?

    I say this because, for example, Houston seems to be staying reserve and gets 2 games with Carolina out of it. But if some MLS reserve teams drop out because they have a USL linkup then Houston is really just filling gap in what was already a too-short reserve season. Of course, this doesn’t “follow” if the teams that have linkups also play reserves. Or you could fill the hole or even increase the season by expanding the schedules to travel more.

    Just thinking out loud and wondering if someone who gets it can clarify.

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  12. Man I guess I don’t get the big deal about these trades, new coach always wants his type of guys in and rosters turnover. In my opinion, trading Townsend for a second round pick is decent return on a guy who showed to be similar to Jason Garey…lot’s of workrate, but not much output. LaBrocca seemed to only shine when he was the best player on bad teams, almost getting attention by default. He is a nice squad player, but he isn’t a starting midfielder on playoff teams I don’t think. Califf is terrible so getting rid of him makes sense too. If the club didn’t come out and say we want to focus on mexicans, and just made these deals, would everyone be freaking out still? Or is it that statement that is the issue, and not the “fire sale”?

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      • Townsend is about as hard a working player there is. He was put into a horrible situation with Chivas. He should fit in nicely at DC. I can see him being a 75th minute super sub. He has above average speed, great movement, and he CAN finish as he proved in college. Won’t be suprised to see big things from him in the future.

  13. Chivas USA is being blatantly racist and the rest of MLS’s officials are completely cool with that. As long as you can get the Mexican Hispanic fan population to turn out and get all that money for their love of futbol its all good!

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      • Agudelo and the non-Mexican Gk’s. Also tell the non-mexican kids in their youth academies that they’ll never get a chance on the first team, and might as well get out.

    • i have issues with what they are doing too, i’m not sure how i feel about it. but i don’t think it’s racist. if it’s an “ist,” i would say it’s nationalist. “mexican” isn’t a race just like “american” isn’t a race.

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    • maybe xenophobic, but Mexican isn’t a race. I do agree that it seems a bad plan, both from an ethical standpoint, but also a logical one. Case-in-point: you just traded a 1st round 5th pick for a 2nd round (probably lower than 5th, based on DC’s talent). Chelis is entertaing, but shut your mouth man! You have no leverage anymore!

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      • Most Mexican-Americans who don’t support CDG want nothing to do with the Chivas USA brand. CDG fans don’t like C-USA because it is Chivas LIte to them. I don’t see how they will ever get around these problems. This experiment seems domed to failure

      • This has absolutely nothing to do with Mexicans being a race. Chelis is trading/cutting all the non-mex players and that is BS.

      • So when their asses are handed to them for a few years and revenue falls through the floor, they’ll change…

      • Ok Amoletum, you LITERALLY typed this:

        “Chivas USA is being blatantly racist”.

        I’m simply pointing out that “Mexican” isn’t a race. That doesn’t mean Chiva’s plan is any less morally unethical (or downright stupid, as Drew11 pointed out).

      • You might add from a “legal” standpoint, too. Chivas is still an employer operating inside the US, so they can’t just decide they will only have Latin or Mexican heritage players.

      • At that, they operate within california, which expressly bans hiring decisions based on national origin. And the california law is far more claimant-friendly than the federal version. (Any business must comply with both.) And a “Mexicans-only” (or even an “Hispanics -only” policy would violate state law on its face. Insofar as MLS is a single entity structure, the Chivas policy exposes the entire legue to liability. (Remember, players sign with the league.)

        But legal action requires a plaintiff…and will any player risk possible blacklisting if he sues the league or one of its clubs?

      • i will require an “african-american” or other protected group to bring the suit. An “anglo-american” can’t sue for discrimination. sorry, a male, young, anglo-american can’t bring suit.

      • Some protective laws stipulate membership in a protective class. That seems to be what you have in mind.

        This particular law forbids discrimination on the basis of ethnic or national origin (and other things not at issue here. It’s a broad law of non-discrimination.). Thus, in our example, any employer (player) who felt that ethnicity led to his adverse job action would have a colorable claim. (Having a claim is different from actually winnig the case.).

        A state that requires different application of similarly situated groups for the same conduct (here, your Anglo claimant cannot be edit from the law) Would raise 14th Amendment equl protection claims.

    • Nitpicking I know, but they are being discriminatory, not racist.
      Mexican is not a race. Nor is Mexican-American. Or Hispanic or Latino.
      Sorry. I’m sure you know what you mean, but racism is not the right world.

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      • The thing I find very disrespectful is that they have the coat of arms of Guadalajara (Hispanic is a cultural identity moreso because it is a mixture of a variety of diverse cultures in one) but they play in Los Angeles, California, United States. They representing a foreign team in the U.S. , it just baffels me how this can still continue. Jorge Vergara already said this club is for the Mexicans in the area (and he assumes all of them will ride the Chivas train) and as such the players should be just like the Chivas down south over the border. This club is alienating so many fans non-mexican hispanics and other diverse peoples in the city.

      • Imagine if the New England Revolution said we’d only field White Americans of English descent, imagine the uproar! lawsuits would be flying!

      • Learn something. Guadajara is known to be among whitest city in mexico. Whites could be any nationality.

      • When a white person says, “I hate mexicans,” Mexican-Americans have no problem calling him a racist. But in the context of Chivas USA favoring Mexicans, all of a sudden Mexican does not imply a race at all.

      • Now who is being obtuse. You know as well as I do that when someone makes a statement like that, they are being “racist”. They are associating the race with the largest supplier of that demographic.

        Chiva’s policy, though possibly even illegal and discriminatory is not “racist” per se. IF that were the case, Juan Agudelo and Minda wouldn’t be getting unloaded.

      • Actual MLS rules:
        ” – In 2012, a total of 152 international slots are divided among the 19 clubs. Each club began with eight international slots, which are tradable. There is no limit on the number of international slots on each club’s roster.
        – The remaining roster slots must belong to domestic players. For clubs based in the United States, a domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident (green card holder) or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status).”

        So MLS already has rules in place that are discriminatory on the basis of nationality – and no uproar.

      • ^ Those rules fit within employment laws and with a goal of developing america soccer as a whole.

        Notice how they don’t differentiate based on nationality or race, but rather are a matter of status. Do you have a green card? Are you a citizen? That is different than what Chivas is trying to do.

        That being said, what they are doing may not be illegal depending on how much flexibility there is within employment laws. It might be a stupid way to run a business but it could perfectly be within their rights.

      • So you are OK with rules aimed at developing American soccer, but not so good with one group trying to develop a subset of American soccer consisting of Mexican-Americans?
        Just trying to understand.

      • You’re confusing citizenship with nationality. I can be an american but still be a citizen of another country.

      • No i think you are confused, because anyone is entitled to apply for a green card regardless race/nationality.

      • So, by your logic and definition, one could say “I hate all Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos” but that wouldn’t be racist because these are not races.

        I like nitpicking too.

      • You are conflating many things and just flat out wrong. Latino Americans are an admixed people who are not all white: they are many races.

  14. Chivas USA is like the guy in fantasy sports who just gives up and sells all of his players just to spite everyone. Except this is actually their plan. Go figure.

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    • Fill a team with Mexican players and American fans will easily have a team to root against in the league. I think this is shaping up to be a great team for the good of MLS and rivalries…assuming the team is predominantly comprised of CONCACAF foes.

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      • They failed to bring mexican fanbase (which basically non-MLS fanbase), ignoring latin American groups (non-mexican), ignoring create local So Cal market, and giving the image of a team fill-up with trainees and rejects. The owner failed learn from his mistakes, Vergara should be focusing bring DP right now like Riquelme or MX mega stars like Benitez or Suazo (non-mexican).

      • At the rate they are casting away talent, i’m going to bet they are the worst team in the league… possible the worst team of all time if their Goalkeeper gets hurt.

      • yeah thats what i’m really curious of…those two would signal the seriousness of their intent

        agudelo may leave anyway but if they pushed him out or trade him within MLS that would mean even latin players are not safe from the chopping block if they dont have mexican blood

        all the other guys could have been traded by any MLS club based on skill and form…but kennedy is a reliably solid starter between the pipes

        if he’s out than it REALLY is purely a decision based on race and heritage

      • Is there any question that these moves are to rid the club of non mexican-american players? Anybody who thinks that is up in the night. That is absolutely what’s going on and I’m amazed that the league is standing by and watching it happen.

      • Colombian yes, but not the Mexican part. If anything they’ll hold him just long enought until they can sell him for a decent price and then spend the cash for more Mexican players.

      • It seems teams in Mexico need to keep a good core together for a while to win. I wonder if haphazardly dashing a team together based on cultural background is really going to work in MLS.

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