Delgado Recovered, Sets His Sights on 2014

October 29, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


It has been over a month since the youngster Marco Delgado, who claimed a starting role after the arrival of Head Coach Jose Luis Real, faced the first surgery of his career. On Sept. 23, Delgado underwent a procedure to repair the lateral meniscus in his right knee that ended his 2013 campaign.

The now 18-year-old midfielder made his debut in the Rebaño Angelino's starting lineup on June 29, and went on to record a total of 16 appearances when Real saw the Homegrown product's potential and entrusted in him a starting role after a 1-1 tie against the New England Revolution.

Although not recovering in time to see action in the final matches of the season, something that Chivas Director of Soccer Francisco Palencia says "would have helped us a lot," the midfielder - who also played on the back line - has returned to training and has his eyes set on the future with Chivas USA as well as the U.S. Men's National Team.

"I'm feeling pretty good, I feel that I'm getting back faster than I thought," declared Delgado. "My goal right now is to get ready for next season, get back to be fit so when I get there, I'm prepared and ready to fight for a position in the starting XI."

Since his surgery, Delgado has been working closely with the team's physical trainers to recover from his surgery and then resume his career with the Goats and the U.S. U-20 MNT.

"I'm focusing on getting back my touch on the ball, with more exercises on the ball and shooting. As a midfielder and as a defender you need to have good feet and touch. Besides I need to get in more training sessions so I can get some actual game fitness and soccer fitness in me," described the player.

Despite his injury, Chivas USA directors know that Delgado's progress and development have not been affected by this rough patch. His motivation and determination, along with his quality and desire to learn, continue to impress the Red-and-White executives, who see in the Glendora, Calif. native, "a talented youngster with a desire to triumph."

"Marky is a guy who already has good qualities to begin with, who wants to learn and comes with an enormous eagerness to transcend," explained Palencia. "He knows how to listen and how to apply that knowledge he gets from games and training sessions, and that's something very valuable that we have in him."

With the confidence from his technical staff and 2014 as his immediate goal, Delgado has a set mind and with determination he will continue to work toward accomplishing his dream of, "becoming a big-time player."

Melia ready for more activity

The ironies of a sports season can be evident by simply looking at the course of a player's activity and performance. At the end of the 2012 season, Chivas USA backup goalkeeper Tim Melia was able to record his first two professional appearances in the final two matches of the campaign while filling in for the injured Dan Kennedy.

Looking to build on that momentum and having recently signed a two-year contract extension, the fourth-year keeper came into the 2013 season as the clear-cut No. 2 behind the Rojiblancos' captain. But Melia's plans were put on hold as a back injury kept him out of activity for about four months.

The New York native underwent a back operation and worked his way all the way back to the point where he was not only getting starts in Reserve League action, he successfully reclaimed his spot as Kennedy's backup and again stepped in to start in goal for the Goats' final two regular season contests.

Perhaps no one more so than Melia is sorry to see Chivas' season come to an end, as the net minder, in his second year with the Rojiblancos, appeared to be getting into stride tactically and in terms of confidence. Yet, after a season in which its second half focused on establishing and laying a foundation and establishing a core, as well as a style of play moving toward 2014, the keeper acknowledged that after not coming away with the desired results, it could be beneficial for the club to regroup and put the season In their rearview mirror.

"The best way to recover is to just play another game and do better," Melia said. "It's unfortunate the season is over, but I think that right now we need to step away and recuperate."

The Rojiblancos often fielded the youngest team in the league and perhaps that youthful energy benefited the club to remain optimistic and driven heading into every week of play despite tallying just 26 points.

"It's definitely a resilient group, especially with some of the results we've had this year. We don't let it hang on us too much so in that aspect it's a good group."

For now, Melia says whatever nerves or reservation he had physically are long gone. His precautious approach for hitting the ground on a save or drawing contact inside the box has given way to the aggressive style of play that earned him the backup role last year. With approximately a month of full activity, the 27-year-old says he needs to build up his conditioning to truly get back to the player he can be.

"For me, [the question] was just how fast could I recover. I wasn't even expecting to be ready for this season, to be honest. My goal was to be ready to fully train at the end of the season. I definitely recovered a little early and I just have to go out there and work as hard as I can and get my body to where it was and move forward," Melia concluded.

Chivas near the end of work week with intersquad scrimmages

Chivas USA returned for their second of three training sessions scheduled for this week at the StubHub Center's Field 6 on Tuesday morning. The Red-and-White took to the pitch with a full squad at 9:30 a.m. (PT) and kicked off the morning with a jog around the pitch.

The group then gathered for stretches before breaking up into pairs for strength and resistance exercises. Afterwards, players incorporated ball work into their warm-ups by dropping off short passes with a teammate as well as dribbling the ball individually under the instructions of Strength and Conditioning Coach Armando Camacho.

The session then moved on to a distribution drill while rotating around three cones. The initial player would send his pass to the first cone to his right and run to occupy the vacated space after his teammate did likewise. The drill then changed by rotating the ball movement in the opposite direction. Players continued sharpening their reception and distribution work as well as completing variations of give-and-go sequences.

After moving on to participate in a finishing drill, the session culminated with six-on-six scrimmages in reduced space. The side that tallied would remain on the pitch to face the new challenging group. The competitions lasted for about 30 minutes and the squad then concluded training with a cool-down session followed by supplementary stretches.

The Goats will close out their work week with a third practice on Wednesday at Field 6 before having four-straight off days.



Major League Soccer Stories from October 29, 2013


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