Chivas USA brain trust: From left, Director of Football Paco Palencia, President Dennis Te Klose and new coach Jose Luis Real Casillas explain the club’s direction at a press conference in Carson Thursday where new coach Casilla was introduced to the media (Photo by Staff Photographer Brittany Murray).

The Galaxy and Chivas USA each held press conferences Thursday a few minutes and a couple of miles apart.

Staff Writer Phil Collin attended the Chivas USA announcement at the Doubletree Hotel, while I hung at the newly-named StubHub Center.

Here’s more from the coach from the Chivas USA press release:

“I don’t just arrive to manage the team simply for personal gain, I come on behalf of the institution,” said Real. “This is a huge difference from what’s been done up to this point.  We are seeking to achieve a unified system and to integrate [Chivas] Guadalajara’s ideas while always adapting them to the country we live in. The key word is integration, which should not be confused with the notion of doing exactly the same things as they are done in Guadalajara.

 

“The overall idea will be the same but there will be adaptations to a country that is different. Above everything, we need to implement whatever adaptations with great respect to the League and the country we are working in. I am intrigued and excited about the opportunity to influence, prove and demonstrate to the non-believers that we can accomplish that, [use a unified and integrated idea adapted to this League].”

The Kings weren’t the only LA team to go down to a defeat Saturday night as our sister newspaper The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

If you were busy watching soccer on ice last night, here are the lowlights of the Galaxy’s game against Real Salt Lake.
Landon Donovan scored as if to make a point to someone,  but it wasn’t enough for the depleted Galaxy.

Quotable: “In this league you don’t have a roster of 20 or 25 guys that are sort of all the same,” said Landon Donovan. “In other leagues in the world you have more of that. In this league when you miss 3 or 4 guys that are instrumental, it makes a difference.  We can still be better as a group with the guys we have. We have done enough for the most part to get some points in these games, but we’re falling short when it matters.”

Incidentally, Cudicini’s absence was variously diplomatically described on Twitter as “coaches decision” and “lineup rotation.” Where I come from that’s called “dropped.”

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena didn’t sound thrilled the Galaxy were one of the few MLS teams to play a reduced schedule because of World Cup qualifying: “They got the goal at the end, and that made the difference.”

Gotcha, Bruce,

Next for the Galaxy: in Portland against the Timbers June 19.

Titled “Chivas USA Is an Organization That Respects People Without Distinction,” the statement released late this afternoon appears to refer to, but does not specifically mention, the lawsuit filed against the club by two former coaches in their Youth Academy.

Here it is unedited and in its entirety::

Chivas USA is and has always been an organization that respects everyone without any distinction, and knows that its employees are the most valuable asset the company has. That is why it implements the best practices in terms of equality and respect and it stands against any sort of discrimination in terms of gender, health, religion, opinion or physical disabilities.

The entities of Grupo Chivas have received the Certificate for Equality and Gender Model based on the principle of equality and its application constitutes one of the fundamental rights for men and women collaborating with the group, also at the international level.

Once again, we reiterate our most absolute respect for diversity.

And, no I have no idea what an “opinion disability” is either.

Updated:

Chivas USA announced its Youth Academy Soccer Director Sacha van der Most will serve as interim head coach for Saturday’s game against the Seattle Sounders in Carson.

Newly-appointed coach Jose Luis Real Casillas assumes the helm next week.

*The Seattle Sounders face a challenging few days that includes their trip to Southern California Sunday to face the Galaxy.
*Fair is fair: Here’s why Robbie Keane will miss MLS games with the Galaxy to play in exhibitions for Ireland.
*Meanwhile, the Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez hasn’t left for U.S. National Team duty yet either. He will sign autographs in Carson from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the AT&T store, 20810 Avalon Blvd.

You can read the weekly soccer column here.

Noted: I received an email today from U.S. Soccer observing that the Gold Cup is not precisely “utterly superfluous” as I wrote in today’s column given this April announcement. Point taken. Now it’s just mostly superfluous (and, of course, the Confederations Cup is so highly rated, too). Ahem.

In other news today:

• Palos Verdes Estates’ Christen Press, who leads the USWNT with six goals, was unsurprisingly named today to the national team roster for the June 2 game against Canada.
• Chivas USA couldn’t beat Real Salt Lake’s first team over the weekend, but defeated their reserve squad 3-2 Monday on goals from Carlos Alvarez, newly-signed Gabriel Farfan and Jose Manuel Rivera. Only just though: Chivas USA took a three-goal lead only to see RSL roar back to within one and hit the woodwork in second half stoppage time before running out of time. Next for Chivas USA reserves: Seattle Sounders 11 a.m. June 2 at the HDC.
• Chivas USA defender Steven Purdy has been called up by El Salvador’s National Team for a Wednesday game against Venezuela.
• Seattle Sounders midfielder Brad Evans was called up today by the USMNT, but will not join the squad until after Sunday’s game in Carson against the Galaxy.
• LA Blues General Manager Warren Barton left the USL Pro club by mutual consent Monday, one day before the PDL Ventura County Fusion visit Fullerton’s Titan Stadium in a U.S. Open Cup game. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. The winner meets Chivas USA next Tuesday in the third round.

[View the story "Weekend Rewind: Galaxy, Chivas USA lose" on Storify]

The Galaxy plays the winner of the second round game between the NASL Carolina Railhawks and PDL Carolina Dynamo on the road in North Carolina May 29, while Chivas USA faces the victor of the LA Blues-Ventura County Fusion match-up on the road in either Fullerton or Ventura May 28.

U.S. Soccer announced the third round match-ups today.

New Goat: Chivas USA today picked up midfielder Gabriel Farfan, left, from the Philadelphia Union in exchange for their 2014 MLS draft pick (AP file photo).

The Galaxy and Chivas USA both lost over the weekend, but that’s as far as the similarities between the two clubs go, as I write in this week’s column.

In related news, Chivas USA today acquired Cal State Fullerton product Gabriel Farfan, a midfielder out of San Diego, in exchange for their first round SuperDraft pick next year.

It’s debatable just how much of an impact the 24-year-old will have, however.

He made 43 appearances for the Union over three seasons, scoring one goal.