Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Tuesday's Column: The Tortoise & the Hare
For Tuesday's column I looked at the on-going struggle of Chivas USA to achieve some sort of critical mass in drawing a fan base.
One point left out of the column for space reasons was whether Chivas USA should own and operate its own stadium. Team President Shawn Hunter indicated that leaving Home Depot Center was a long way down the road for Chivas USA.
"Every team wants to own its own venue," he said. "My first task is to fill this one."
On the player signing front, MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis told reporters on a teleconference call Monday that teams in general are still looking to sign players and he expects more acquisitions.
"We're still early in the cycle for imports," he said, observing MLS has signed 21 foreign recruits since MLS Cup, including 18 from Latin America, where players are technically adept yet relatively inexpensive.
The largest foreign contingent in MLS: Argentines (17) whose physical style of play suits MLS (there are also 10 Brazilians).