CARSON, Calif. -- In the offseason, Chivas USA retooled the roster by adding depth to key areas of the field in hopes of contending for an MLS crown.
But somewhere along the line the club's plans have been sidetracked. The new pieces are in pieces while health issues continue to plague the Red-and-White. Worse, the club is but a shell of the team that captured the Western Conference a year ago, players said.
"We're flat as we've ever been since I've been here," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "We've got to gather ourselves in the next week and figure out what we have to do to get ourselves going again."
Chivas USA's record through four games is 1-2-1. The club has lost its last two games -- by 4-3 at Columbus and 2-0 to FC Dallas -- the first time in nearly one year the team has dropped back-to-back games. Defensive issues continue to linger as the club has yet to post a shutout in four games this season compared to 14 shutouts a year ago.
In the club's latest setback, Chivas USA players essentially went through the motions for 90 minutes as players and coaches said afterward the club competed without intensity and passion from start to finish.
"We were a little flat. We lacked a lot of emotion," defender Lawson Vaughn said of the team's most recent performance. "I really don't know where that comes from. It's up to each guy individually to get into the game and be mentally prepared for it. It's just an individual thing ... I didn't have that fight or that bite."
Last season, Chivas USA won the Western Conference behind a strong core group of players. The lineup remained intact for most of the campaign. Nine players logged more than 2,000 minutes while two others -- Vaughn and Paulo Nagamura -- recorded more than 1,800 minutes.
This year, the club has lacked a similar cohesion.
"We haven't had our full group at all this season, preseason included. There have been guys in and out with injuries and we've had so many guys banged up that its tough. Clearly it shows on the field," striker Ante Razov said. "We don't really have the same rhythm we had a year ago. ... It might take a little bit but we've got to work on it pretty hard."
Like several of his teammates, Razov has not played every game this year. Razov has notched just one start due to injury. The club has yet to fully assess two of the offseason acquisitions as Alecko Eskandarian (groin) and Raphael Wicky (back) have been limited due to injury. Also, Claudio Suarez (father's funeral), Francisco Mendoza (suspension) and Sacha Kljestan (suspension) have missed time as well.
Although absent players might make a difference upon their healthy return, Brad Guzan refused to use that as an excuse for the club's poor form.
"Anytime you are missing the quality players that we were missing (Sunday) it's going to hurt but at the same this is a business and you are going to go through injuries, go through suspensions and you have to find a way to deal with it," Chivas USA's goalkeeper said. "We just couldn't deal with it."
For the most part, players have pointed to the group's problems and haven't singled out any players. In fact, Marsch would only point the finger at himself.
"I just feel like I'm to start with, that I'm not playing well enough for our group as one of our leaders," Marsch said. "I feel like because of that and other reasons our group isn't playing well right now."
When the club returns to training on Wednesday, the club will face the challenge of preparing for the rival Galaxy. What players and coaches need to do differently in training to avoid dropping three consecutive matches since 2005 remains to be seen.
But wherever the solution lies, the club needs to find it soon, Marsch said.
"I don't know what the reasons are but we need to figure it out quickly what needs to happen because we don't have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves," Marsch said. "It's still early in the season so it's not like we're in horrible shape but we need to get our act together quickly."
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