Chivas USA have been struggling with a number of injury problems to their start-ups in the last few weeks, but after the 1-0 defeat at the hands of FC Dallas, manager Wilmer Cabrera also satisfied man. This is because Chivas USA have managed to welcome a number of key players back into the team. Hence, things are looking on the up for the team that are bottom of the Western Conference. They have been pushed to this position after San Jose Earthquakes managed to win their match against Seattle Sounders. Despite having two matches in hand over San Jose Earthquakes, Chivas USA are level on points.
They could be cut adrift from the rest of the pack if they do not start taking points in the forthcoming matches. The defeat against Dallas was the third consecutive for the team. This run started after they had managed two back-to-back victories against Montréal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps. Ahead of the match with Portland Timbers away from home, Cabrera will be hoping for a reversal of fortune after his team brought back a number of first-team regulars from the injury table. Key players like Tony Lochhead, Oswaldo Minda, and Marvin Chavez have been missing from first-team action.
Even though they returned to the match against Dallas, they appeared at less than 100%.
“[The travel] was an overload for some of the guys we have. We had some possibilities to rest them and we lost two games in which we didn’t play well. … We tried to recover and rest everyone. We looked good [Sunday]; the team and everyone that stepped on the field, even the subs that came on, were fresh and live. That’s important. It’s important for us to get these guys back on the pitch,” said the Chivas USA manager after the encounter.