LA Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese has denied rumors linking star striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez with a move to Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara, while declining to be drawn on the future of head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
Te Kloese was speaking on ESPN with his team 3-0 down at halftime to the Portland Timbers and staring at the end of any remaining hopes of making the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Hernandez was absent from the game with injury and has endured a difficult first season in L.A., managing just one goal since arriving from Sevilla in the offseason. But reports that the Designated Player could be headed back to his first club, Chivas, were wide of the mark, Te Klose insisted.
"I think it has been a very challenging year for everyone and certainly for Javier," Te Kloese told Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman. "He came in with high, high expectations, from him, from ourselves, from everybody. We haven’t been able to connect those high expectations so far. There’s no truth to the rumors of him going to Chivas or anything else."
Watch: Dennis te Kloese interviewed at halftime of Portland vs. LA
With the Galaxy rooted to the foot of the Western Conference, Te Kloese acknowledged that "very little has gone good this year."
"Where we stand now is more than disappointing," he said. "Apart from pointing fingers and saying this is wrong and that is wrong, I think it’s more a fact of taking responsibility and working hard and being very honest that this is not where our club deserves to be and what our fan base deserves to see from us."
Questions have also been raised about the future of second-year coach Schelotto. But Te Klose said the club would wait to take stock of the season as a whole before making any major decisions about the coach or anyone else.
"I think it’s a challenging moment to discuss it right now," he said. "I think beyond even the manager’s position, the players, my decision, my part is being first of all held responsible. And I think we have to take responsibility and we have to evaluate the best we can, obviously after a very rough season so far. And I think it’s not the time to discuss anything on the manger position, on anybody in the organization, before we sit together and evaluate anything going forward."
