Chivatown Post: Week 3 of Camp Edition

A lot of news on the Chivas USA front since our last recap, so let's get down to it.

The team is back in Carson training this week, and they will take on Calabasas minor league side FC Hasental Friday morning at 11 am at the Home Depot Center, on their practice field. Head on down if you have a chance.

Gabe Dahl has a story on the club website about training camp coming down from Oxnard, where they spent last week.

Blair Gavin is back at training, according to this video from yesterday on the club website.

After getting all excited about Marvin Iraheta, and after playing well Friday against the Ventura County Fusion, he's reportedly out with an ACL injury that will likely need surgery, according to Scott French at ESPN. The team has not made an announcement yet, so we'll see what their estimated timetable is, but he will likely be out for at least nine months, meaning he may not see any game action in 2012. At 19, hopefully he'll bounce back to full health, and he's young enough that he can come back in 2013 and not miss much. Best of luck to him through the surgery and recovery process.

Adam Serrano has a feature on newest Goat John Alexander Valencia on the league website from yesterday. The team has high hopes for Valencia, and considering he's coming off a recent title-winning season, let's hope some of that wears off on the rest of the players.

Speaking of that, as expected, Peter Vagenas has been making the rounds on the interview circuit, talking to Adam Serrano on the league website, and Scott French at ESPN. In my view, Vagenas sits on the fence a bit with these quotes, but he clearly found few options other than Chivas, so he may want to get used to wearing the red and white as the weeks go by. I don't think he needs to denounce his Galaxy past or anything like that, but you know, he probably needs to keep doing these interviews and making himself available to fans as the season gets going.

Also from French at ESPN, Michael Lahoud wants to play in the midfield, although he's not making any ultimatums or anything. He's a decent player, but midfield's going to be pretty crowded, although Iraheta's injury opens one slot for the time being.

On the club website, Dahl interviewed midfielder Ryan Smith last week. Dahl also interviewed forward Casey Townsend last week, also on the club website. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but the public is slowly learning more about these guys, which isn't a bad thing.

I know there are mixed feelings about power rankings as a rule (I'm not in that camp, as I contribute to SB Nation's power rankings during the season) but the league website has their own version out, the first of 2012. The Galaxy are on top, which isn't surprising as they are coming in as champions, but Chivas are all the way down in 17th place. On one hand, the team has a ton of new guys who need to prove themselves, and most teams ahead of them have a fair amount of talent. But it looks like the Goats will be proving the haters wrong all over again in 2012.

Also on the league website is this poll asking which offseason addition will make the biggest impact in 2012. Chivas' very own Miller Bolaños is part of the poll - give him a vote if you are so inclined.

French reports that trialist Ciaran O'Brien has been released by Chivas.

Two players with Chivas USA connections have moved just south of the border. Former player Bryan de la Fuente, who was released this offseason after not making any first team appearances under Robin Fraser, has signed with Club Tijuana, according to French. Perhaps more significantly, Chivas Youth Academy member Esteban "Stevie" Rodriguez, who was training with the Chivas first team during this training camp, has also signed with Club Tijuana. This move could turn Rodriguez into the next Joe Corona, or he could wash out of the system entirely, so we'll have to see how he does in the next few years. It could represent a missed opportunity for Chivas if he turns out to be a good player.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!