Tuesday’s Column: Galaxy-Chivas USA season preview*

*Updated and edited

Read the column here.

One correction: Chivas USA have now fallen at the initial stage of the playoffs four years in a row, not three as I incorrectly stated in the column.

Chivas USA open their season at home Friday against the Colorado Rapids, of course, with the Galaxy following suit Saturday against the New England Revolution.

Notable: Of the 26 Galaxy players who were with the team at the end of last season, only eight were on the Galaxy roster when Bruce Arena was named the club’s coach on Aug. 18, 2008.

And speaking of cuts, World Cup-bound New Zealand midfielder Simon Elliot, a former Galaxy player, was waived by the San Jose Earthquakes.

Here’s a little more info from the Chivas USA camp:

*Before fans get their knickers in a twist and blame the club completely for dumping defender Cary Talley (there was a report last week he’d been waived) – oops, too late, Coach Martin Vasquez told me there’s more to this than meets the eye.

Vasquez said Monday it wasn’t entirely up to Chivas USA whether Tally stays or goes and there are family issues involved:

“We’re waiting on him to make a decision at this point. We had a conversation and that’s where we stand right now. … We’re looking at what’s best for him and his family and what’s best for Chivas USA. If it were up to us I would be honest in telling you.”

Still, if you saw the quote from Talley’s wife in the above link, you know he isn’t sticking around. Reading between the lines I’m guessing that at the very least he was asked to take a pay cut and declined.

*Here’s a little more on the status of Costa Rican striker Froylan Ledezma, mentioned at the end of the column as being on trial with Chivas USA. He has most recently been playing in Austria. He requested to train with the club, but hasn’t played much lately and isn’t match fit:

“We’re going to be patient with him,” Vasquez said. “Maybe in a couple of weeks we’ll see how our first games go and we’ll see how our guys go and make a decision.”

*While we’re at it, here’s more on the status of trialist Artur Aghasyan, an Armenian-American striker who last year played for the PDL Ventura County Fusion:

“We don’t have anything to offer him,” Vasquez said. “We told him he’s welcome to stay, he’s welcome to continue to fight for a spot. There’s some little details (of his game) he needs to improve on and he accepted that invitation to continue to stay with us and continue to improve those weaknesses. If something happens this week we’ll sit down and have another conversation.”

Unlike Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena, Vasquez is keeping his options open when it comes to potential new recruits.

*Incidentally, we’ll know more about the new collective bargaining agreement Wednesday later today.

Full details of the collective bargaining agreement here.

Here’s MLS players union rep and Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant on the new collective bargaining agreement that he called “historic”:

“The players have a lot more protections in terms of what happens if you get dropped, if you get waived, if you get cut. The players have a lot more freedom. Under the old system I think that was the thing to us that made the least sense. The fact that a team could cut you, but still own your rights, that doesn’t make a lot of sense and we eliminated that. The fact we have more freedom now to go where we want, we have an ability to go somewhere without being penalized and that’s an important step for us.

“It’s common sense. Now we have the ability, whether you’re option is not picked up, whether you’re waived or whether you’re cut that you can go to other teams without that team having to give compensation to your previous team that cut you … We have a lot more players (contracts) that are guaranteed now.”

Also, from the Associated Press:

*The developmental minimum will go up to $31,250.

*Last year, 40 players among 323 listed by the MLS Players Union at the start of the season made the $34,000 minimum and 12 more made the developmental minimum of $20,100. The senior salary will increase 5 percent annually.

Updated

i-cf9dda531fa0ccc2392d2aecbfc90628-galjersey0001.jpgAdidas unveiled a new Galaxy jersey Monday called the “TECHFIT PowerWeb.”

The company explains in its press release:

TECHFIT PowerWeb is a cutting edge athletic apparel technology that improves muscular endurance and responsiveness, and reduces muscle vibration, ultimately maximizing the athlete’s performance. Through the use of compression fabrics and strategically placed TPU (Thermoplastic Urethane) bands, located in key areas to enhance muscle power, TECHFIT is proven to increase a player’s power by 5.3 percent, vertical leap by 4 percent, sprint speed by 1.1 percent and enhance endurance by 0.8 percent.

The TECHFIT jersey as worn by the players on the pitch will be specially packaged and retail for $150 starting in July.

All other MLS teams will wear the adidas FORMOTION uniform. FORMOTION is engineered to move naturally with the athlete’s body resulting in an ideal fit and comfort while in motion. It also features adidas CLIMACOOL technology which combines a moisture wicking fabric and mesh construction in the player’s highest heat zones to improve body ventilation and keep the athlete at optimum temperature.

Alrighty then. D.C. United and the Chicago Fire will also wear the Techfit PowerWeb jerseys as will teams at the World Cup.

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