BRADLEY HOPEFUL FOR PALENCIA Chivas coach remains optimistic
By Luis Bueno LASoccerNews.com Editor
Francisco Palencia will not play again during the regular season but the club remains hopeful he'll be around if Chivas USA reach the postseason. Photo by Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
CARSON, Calif. – Francisco Palencia was one of several players Chivas USA were counting on to help lead the club into the postseason.
Now, Palencia must do his part from the sidelines.
Palencia will miss the rest of the regular season with a sprained knee suffered against FC Dallas on Sept. 13. Chivas coach Bob Bradley remained hopeful that Palencia would be around in the postseason, if Chivas’ season extends that far.
“We’re hopeful that he will be able to return and help us. It would most likely be, if things work out, in the playoffs but I don’t think you ever want to put a definite deadline on things,” Bradley said. “The initial thought was six weeks. If you use the calendar, that puts you in the second leg of the first round of the playoffs. But I know that Paco is also determined to try and be ahead of that schedule.”
Bradley has options for replacing Palencia in the lineup. Rookie Jonathan Bornstein started at forward on Sunday while Jesus Morales and even Juan Pablo Garcia would likely be in the mix to start alongside Ante Razov.
But it is Palencia’s other attributes that will be absent.
“His experience, his understanding of how to play in big games, his mentality, those are all things that we’ll miss,” Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley said.
Palencia had little time to make an impact a year ago. By the time he arrived at Chivas USA, the club’s season was essentially over. He scored three goals, including two against a Bradley-led MetroStars club on Aug. 22, but Chivas’ problems extended beyond one key player.
This year, Palencia was around from the start and was part of an experienced group of players the club had brought in to lead the club to respectability.
Bradley said he hoped players had picked up on Palencia’s work ethic and approach to games to help carry over the positives toward the club’s first-ever playoff run.
“The hope for sure is throughout the year is players have seen the way he handles things and they’ve learned from that and hopefully they’ll be able to carry that on,” Bradley said. “That’s what good teams can do: when players are out, you hope that other players have been prepared to step up and understand what’s expected.”
