:List of Chivas USA managers
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File:PREKI.jpg was the longest-serving manager of Chivas USA, having served from 2007 to 2009, as well as serving as assistant coach in the 2006 season.]]
Chivas USA was a soccer team based in Carson, California, that competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) from 2005 until 2014, after which the team folded.{{cite news |last1=Witz |first1=Billy |title=A Soccer Team Struggles to Remake Its Identity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/sports/soccer/chivas-usa-trying-to-escape-mls-doldrums.html |access-date=May 28, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=September 4, 2014 |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528020321/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/sports/soccer/chivas-usa-trying-to-escape-mls-doldrums.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/2061689/chivas-usa-to-suspend-operations-after-mls----seasonsources-say |title=Chivas USA to suspend operations after MLS season, sources say |last=Carlisle |first=Jeff |date=September 29, 2014 |work=ESPN |access-date=September 29, 2014 |archive-date=July 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702040113/http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/2061689/chivas-usa-to-suspend-operations-after-mls----seasonsources-say |url-status=live }} The club shared ownership with Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara. Chivas USA employed nine different managers, in addition to two interim managers. The longest-serving manager was Preki, who took charge of 96 league and playoff matches, with a 41.67% win rate. The club reached the playoffs in all three seasons that he led the team. The next-most successful manager was Bob Bradley, who took charge of 34 matches with a 32.35% win rate before being hired by the U.S. men's national team. The shortest-serving manager was Thomas Rongen, who took charge of ten matches in the club's inaugural season.
Managerial history
= Inaugural season (2005) =
File:Thomas Rongen photo by Djuradj Vujcic.jpg was the first manager of Chivas USA, but was moved to a different role in the club after ten games.]]
File:HansWesterhof by jmrobledo Ags.jpg managed Chivas USA from June 2005 until the end of the season.]]
Chivas USA introduced their first head coach Thomas Rongen at a press conference on September 23, 2004. Rongen had previously coached the Tampa Bay Mutiny, New England Revolution, D.C. United, and the US men's under-20 team. His hiring was met with criticism as he did not speak fluent Spanish, even though the club was trying to reach a Spanish-speaking market. Rongen's tenure lasted only 10 games and, with the team at a {{Win-loss record|w=1|l=8|d=1}} record, he became the club's sporting director. Assistant coach Javier Ledesma, a former goalkeeper for C.D. Guadalajara and the Mexico national soccer team, replaced him as the interim manager. The club announced Hans Westerhof, the director of football for C.D. Guadalajara and Deportivo Saprissa, as the new head coach on June 3. Westerhof's stint with the club was disappointing, with only three wins, but at the end of the season he announced he would be returning for the next season.{{cite news |title=Westerhof stays with Chivas |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2005/10/26/westerhof-stays-with-chivas/ |access-date=November 11, 2024 |work=Orange County Register |date=October 26, 2005 |archive-date=November 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111033159/https://www.ocregister.com/2005/10/26/westerhof-stays-with-chivas/ |url-status=live }} He was nevertheless dismissed from the club within a month, but was hired as the manager of C.D. Guadalajara a week after his dismissal from the MLS side.{{cite web |last1=Bueno |first1=Luis |date= |title=Westerhof returns to Chivas family |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/westerhof-returns-chivas-family |work=MLSsoccer.com |access-date=November 11, 2024 |archive-date=November 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111033149/https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/westerhof-returns-chivas-family |url-status=live }}
= Success under Bradley and Preki (2006–2009)=
File:Bob-bradley-07-04-09.jpg was the head coach for Chivas USA in 2006, before departing the club for the U.S. men's national team.]]
On November 22, 2005, the club announced the hiring of American coach Bob Bradley. Bradley held the record for most wins of any MLS coach in league history, with stints at the Chicago Fire and NY/NJ Metrostars. The club's season under Bradley was more successful than its first, with an {{Win-loss record|w=11|l=10|d=13}} record including the club's first playoff appearance. At the end of the year, Bradley was awarded MLS Coach of the Year.{{cite web |last1=McHugh |first1=Liam |title=Bob Bradley |url=https://www.espn.com/espnmag/story?id=4046597 |website=ESPN |access-date=November 14, 2024 |date=March 12, 2007}} Bradley was hired as the interim manager of the U.S. Men's national team and stepped down from his post.
The club's next hiring was Preki, a former player for the U.S. Men's national team who had served as an assistant coach under Bradley the previous season. Like Bradley, Preki was awarded MLS Coach of the Year in his first season.{{cite news |last1=Cardenas |first1=Jaime |title=Chivas' Preki coach of year |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-08-sp-newswire8-story.html |access-date=November 14, 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 8, 2007}} During his tenure, the club reached the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, losing in the first round each time. At the end of the 2009 season, he departed the club having amassed a {{Win-loss record|w=40|l=32|d=24}} record.
= Decline and club dissolution (2009–2014)=
File:Jose Luis Real.jpg managed the club for six months at the end of the 2013 season.]]
File:Houston Dynamo players tren 2016 (4).jpg managed the club in the 2014 season.]]
The club hired Martín Vásquez on December 2, 2009. Vasquez had been an assistant coach at C.D. Guadalajara, and was the only player to that point to play for both the U.S. and Mexican national soccer teams. Vasquez lasted one season and was fired after leading the team to an {{Win-loss record|w=8|l=18|d=4}} record. Before the club hired its next coach, both Shawn Hunter (the chief executive) and Stephen Hamilton (the vice president of soccer operations) departed the club. On January 4, 2011, Real Salt Lake assistant Robin Fraser was announced as the sixth head coach of the club. Fraser was fired at the end of the 2012 season, with the team in last place in the Western Conference.
On December 12, 2012, the club announced the hiring of Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, known as Chelís, a former Primera Division manager. Chelís was fired halfway through the season with a {{Win-loss record|w=3|l=7|d=2}} record, a day after former coaches Ted Chronopoulos and Dan Calichman filed a lawsuit against the club alleging that they were fired for not being Latino. The team put out a statement after the firing, saying that "While serving as Chivas USA head coach, Sanchez Sola not always followed {{sic}} the patterns of respect and conduct implemented by Major League Soccer, as well as by Chivas USA."{{cite news |last1=Prindiville |first1=Mike |title=Chelis' firing raises more questions of Chivas USA |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/chelis-firing-raises-more-questions-of-chivas-usa |access-date=November 14, 2024 |work=NBC Sports |date=May 30, 2013}} José Luis Real was announced as the next head coach, with Sacha van der Most taking over as interim for a single match before Real arrived. Real led the team to a {{Win-loss record|w=3|l=6|d=12}} record and on November 25, 2013, the club announced that he would take over as manager of C.D. Guadalajara.
On January 9, 2014, Wílmer Cabrera was announced as the head coach for the club. In February of that year, the league purchased the club for $70 million from owner Jorge Vergara. By the end of the season, the club's average attendance hit an all-time MLS low of 7,063. On October 26, 2014, the club played its last match, ceasing operations the next day.{{cite news |author1=Pablo Maurer |author2=Sam Stejskal |title=The short life and long death of Chivas USA |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2162943/2020/10/27/chivas-usa-history-mls/?redirected=1 |work=The Athletic |url-access=subscription |date=October 27, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2024 |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528015605/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2162943/2020/10/27/chivas-usa-history-mls/ |url-status=live }} Cabrera ended his time at the club with a {{Win-loss record|w=9|l=16|d=6}} record.
List of managers
;Key
- Names of interim managers are highlighted in italics and marked with an asterisk (*).
- Match results contain all league games and MLS playoff matches.
See also
Notes
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