After seeing five of their players ejected in the last five games, Chivas USA have decided to take matters into their own hands in an effort to stem the tide of red cards.
The team announced in a press release Wednesday that the directors and technical staff will take disciplinary action against any player punished in a game in an effort to improve the team's performances and results, though it did not specify what sort of action would be taken.
“The cards have affected us first because we have not been able to keep a constant lineup, and it’s there where we have to work a lot because what we need in the team is to maintain a continuous lineup," explained Chivas USA head coach Jose Luis Real in the statement. "Unfortunately, the red cards have kept us from achieving that.”
Josue Soto was the first player to see red in the five game stretch when he was shown a second yellow for dissent with the score tied at 1-1 in an eventual 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union on July 12. Eric Avila saw red in the first half of a 1-0 win over Toronto FC on July 17 while Carlos Bocanegra was the culprit in a 2-0 loss at San Jose on Aug. 3, though no Goats player saw red in a 2-1 loss at Seattle in between.
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Most recently, Chivas USA saw two players sent off in their most recent game, a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids that saw Gabriel Farfan shown straight red for a stomp on Shane O'Neill before Tristan Bowen followed him into the locker room after losing his cool and spitting at Chris Klute. Chivas went on to concede a late equalizer in that game.
“This is something that we are discussing with the executive board to try find an answer off the pitch, and on my end, to try find it in the field," Real added. "With the league, we are already certain [the players] will be fined, punished, but now we are trying to define what our stance is going to be internally ahead of this week.
"As of right now, we have a special talk to touch base with the players, but before then, we, the coaching staff and the executive board, need to agree on what actions we’ll be taking,”
