First XI: Chivas USA's Jesse Marsch
11. Good win for you guys last week, but how much do you temper that excitement with the reality that it's one game in a long, long season?
Jesse Marsch: It's obviously a good win. We could sense the anticipation in the club, the front office, from the owner, the fans and staff. Everyone had high expectations coming into the match, so in that sense it was good to go out and win our first game in convincing fashion. But when you watch the tape, you can see there's a lot of room for improvement.
10. As a team, what did you guys do well?
JM: We put the game on our terms, made the rhythm and pace pretty fast. We made it hard on Real Salt Lake. That part was good. And our best attacking was when we played really quick, one and two-touch passes. Good movement off the ball. Three, four passes and a chance on goal. There were stretches that were very good. I would say the first 20-25 minutes were in that category. But once we got the 2-0 lead, it almost seemed like we slowed down a little bit. Salt Lake raised its game at that point too, but during preseason, we tried to increase the number of minutes of good soccer in each game. So, in our opening game we played about 45 minutes of good soccer. Most games in this league are going to require a lot more than 45 minutes of good soccer.
9. What will Chivas USA try to improve on this week?
JM: In the 45 minutes that weren't as good, I felt like we stopped moving off the ball, stopped providing options for each other. We started fouling too much because we were a step or two late on plays. That led to dead balls for them and they put balls into our box. And set pieces, right now, that's going to be one of our weaknesses. We're not the biggest team and we're going to have to deal with the athleticism of this league. We want to try and put as much good soccer together as possible, so we're the team with more of the ball, that gets in on tackles in a good way, not fouling. So that we can avoid situations that are trouble.
8. Paco Palencia wore the captain's armband and really seemed to ignite the team the way he was pressuring the Real defenders early in the match. How inspiring was his effort?
JM: I didn't really know much about Paco before I got here. I thought he was more of a pure goal scorer based on what I'd seen of him on the Mexican national team. But the thing that I see, his greatest quality is that he never gives up on any ball, any pass. The way he puts pressure on backs. Defenders who play against him have a tough time, for one thing, getting the ball from him, and also avoiding his pressure. In that way, he sets the tone for our team, and he sets a tone for Ante (Razov) also. When you look at Ante through the years, he's been a great goal scorer, and he's good in the run of play, but now you see this other part of him, chasing guys down, picking off passes. I think Paco has really helped pick Ante's game up, too. They're going to be a lethal tandem, for sure. I think they complement each other well. Paco makes really good runs. He's going to get his chances. And in terms of him being captain, he does the dirty work you love to see from a superstar, and he sets the tone that we're all in this together. There's no big-timer mentality.
7. Speaking of Ante, two goals obviously, but do you think he's back to the type of form he displayed two, three seasons ago?
JM: When I saw him last year, I still thought he was dangerous. But he was hurt and he wasn't happy in Columbus. There's no question in my mind that he's going to be a great player for us this year and for many years to come. For us to be good, he's got to score goals. He was an MVP candidate in 2003 and I look forward to him being an MVP candidate again. Because of the way he's been playing in preseason, and the attitude he's had, he's been a better teammate than I ever remember in the past. He's been completely selfless, giving everything he has, training hard, training every day, which hasn't always been the case with Ante through the years, honestly. I think there are a number of factors. He's back home in L.A. and knows that he, like myself, we're coming to the later years of our careers. And I think there's something about playing for Chivas USA, something that's a little different than anything we've experienced in the past. It's something we're all very proud of and we want to get it right, to make this a good team. Once that happens, I think this team will take off, the fans will go crazy, and it will help the league.
6. How have the Chivas USA fans accepted all the new players?
JM: When I got traded here, I felt, if we got it right and had a good season, the fans would be here for us, simply because of the club's history in Guadalajara. But I really didn't know what it meant until Sunday. It was more emotional, more exciting than I thought it would be, going out in front of our fans for the first time. There was so much passion, you could feel it on the field. I've been around bits and pieces of that before in this league, but it was something special. Combine that with the players, the incredible gentlemen that are on this team, Claudio Suarez, Ramon Ramirez, Paco, Carlos Llamosa, it just feels right. It feels like it's the right combination of guys. Antonio Cue, who is around the team all the time, feels like the right kind of owner. I don't know, it's hard to explain, but the last two months, I've just been so happy to be out here, and to be a part of this.
5. An important part of your job, as one of the team's elder statesman, is to help the younger players get acclimated to MLS. In particular, you are playing alongside Sacha Kljestan, a rookie out of Seton Hall. When you look at Sacha, a skinny midfielder who was an attacking player in college, do you see a little of yourself, say, 10 years ago?
JM: Comparing him to me? He's quite a bit more talented. He's got a similar build and a similar way of thinking about the game, but the way he can move with the ball, the way he can set up his teammates for chances, in that sense, he's way better than I was coming out of college. I was told that Sacha would be my project, but he's incredibly smart on the field. The way he reads the game, and makes the right kind of plays at the right kind of pace, he's better than any rookie I've ever played with. I've played with DaMarcus Beasley and Chris Rolfe, who were obviously dynamic, but they did not have the soccer sense that Sacha has. He's been great to play with. His adjustment to a role that requires more defense has gone very smoothly. I can't believe he didn't have those responsibilities on other teams. I'd heard he didn't play any defense. To me, his maturity off the ball has been better than his maturity on the ball. I know I'm supposed to have this role as a veteran, but I think the onus is on the rookie. The rookies who do well are those guys who work hard, don't worry about things like Rookie of the Year, and stuff. Sacha comes to work every day and is harder on himself than I could be on him. He's got an incredibly bright future.
4. What about the two kids who started as outside backs on Sunday, Lawson Vaughn and Jonathan Bornstein. They were attacking players in college, as well. How did they do?
JM: They're both a little more of a project because they're playing different positions than they played in the past. They're both good soccer thinkers, they're both very athletic, very fast. They're not the biggest guys, but they have great engines. They can get up and down the field. With them, it's just about working with them on their positioning, where they need to be at what times, when they need to press, when they need to lay off. How they connect with the rest of the backline. We've got three rookies and a second-year guy in Panchito Mendoza, but they've all got a good approach and they're around a lot of guys who have played a lot of games. All four have got good soccer brains. They all have a good way of figuring out the game. They make mistakes, but we all do.
3. On Tuesday, it was announced that John O'Brien is joining Chivas USA. We just talked about the rookies. Obviously, John's not a rookie in any sense of the word. How's the team going to accept a player with John's credentials?
JM: In the little time I've been around the national team, I rate him in the top two or three players in the entire pool. When I heard we had a chance to get him, I thought it was a no-brainer, even though it's been tough to see a couple of players who were with us all through preseason let go. But John, he's an impact player. He's been around us a bit, rehabbing. He's a humble guy and as good as he is, his demeanor is such that he's a pleasure to have around. He's only going to make us better.
2. On to this weekend and D.C. United. Are you guys prepared for the challenge?
JM: I like D.C.'s team a lot. The last couple of years when I was playing in Chicago, we had trouble dealing with them. They have a good mix of hard workers and talent. I've always really respected Christian Gomez and Jaime Moreno. It's going to be a completely different challenge for us, the level of the game, playing a good team and being on the road. There's a lot of guys on our team who will see how different this is. It's going to have a different feel. A different pace. We've got to experience it as a team. A 3-0 win last week felt great, but we know we'll have some growing pains along the way and I hope that we deal with this game in the right way, try to get it on our terms and keep making progress as a team, getting better each week.
1. And, have you given any thought to that first time you go up against your old team, Chicago? Is that going to be an emotional moment, after player eight seasons there?
JM: I'll always have a special place in my heart for Chicago, the city, the team, the fans, and all the friends I made while living and playing there. But it's actually been a pretty smooth transition, coming out to L.A. We played the Fire a few times in preseason and I thought those games would be more emotional, or a little strange. But I was so into what we were trying to do as a team, that I didn't think too much about them. When I watched them play against Dallas last week, I really found myself rooting for them. I'm rooting for Chris Armas to come back and make the World Cup team. There's a lot of good people back there who are still on my mind. But I'm really enjoying being here, and I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to make Chivas USA a good team.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
