Chivas USA’s offensive struggles have been a major issue this season, recently accentuated by the fact that it has taken rookie Erick “El Cubo” Torres only two games to ascend into a tie for the team lead in goals.
How deep have the Goats’ woes been? Juan Agudelo, who was traded to the New England Revolution in early May after scoring twice in six matches, is also tied for the team lead in scoring, along with Tristan Bowen and Eric Avila.
So far, Torres has done what he was brought from sister club CD Guadalajara to do. Both of his scores put Chivas USA ahead, though his first-half goal last weekend was spoiled in a 2-1 loss at Seattle.
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Head coach José Luis “Güero” Real, who is familiar with Torres from their days in Guadalajara’s youth ranks, has not been surprised.
“That’s normal to me,” Real told reporters. “It would be ideal to think he’ll score in every game. Hopefully he’ll be able to do that. He’s done it the first two games and I think that has motivated him and the team.”
Chivas USA have found the net only 19 times in 21 matches, the lowest output in the Western Conference. They travel up the California coast next for a matchup Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes (10 pm ET, UniMas), who rank second-to-last in the conference with 23 goals in 22 games.
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Rookie midfielder Carlos Alvarez has scored just once despite ranking third on the club with 1,379 minutes played and second with 20 shot attempts. José Correa also has only one goal while making 12 starts at forward.
Torres, 20, is focused on improving Chivas USA’s anemic average.
“I’m getting more comfortable every time on the pitch,” Torres said. “I have teammates that help me get more and more adapted every day.”
