CHIVAS USA PREVIEW: A LOT OF IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED CHIVAS USA READY TO MOVE PAST FIRST-YEAR STRUGGLES.

Byline: Matt Zimmerman Staff Writer

CARSON - One year later, the bluster is all but gone.

No more ``futbol esta aqui'' proclamations are coming from the offices of Chivas USA, which posted the worst record in Major League Soccer last season as a first-year expansion club. The bold words that turned into embarrassment as Chivas USA won only four games to tie an all-time MLS low have not been heard from the league's only Mexican-owned team, the spawn of highly popular Club Deportivo Guadalajara.

Instead, Chivas USA spent the offseason completely remaking that 4-22-6 team in an effort to avoid a second consecutive campaign as, literally, ``the Goats'' of MLS.

``I think the first season is a learning experience for everybody,'' first-year Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley said. ``And without a doubt, there were lessons that everybody picked up on, things that I think have been changed a little bit. And, hopefully, it has taken us in the right direction.''

Chivas USA investor-operator Antonio Cue spoke openly last fall about the ``lessons'' Chivas USA learned in its first season in MLS, primarily that winning in MLS proved tougher than the team had anticipated. Days before Cue's statements, Chivas hired Bradley, MLS' all-time winningest coach, with 114 regular-season victories.

Despite his credentials, Bradley's three-year tenure with his hometown MetroStars ended in disappointment last season, when he was removed with three games remaining. Chivas USA snapped up the coach, a former Bruce Arena assistant with D.C. United who guided Chicago to the 1998 MLS Cup in his first season as a professional head coach. Bradley's teams have never missed the playoffs.

``In reality, you always have something to prove, and the challenge of building a good team, the challenge of winning a championship, is there every season for every team,'' Bradley said. ``The most successful players and coaches understand that and enjoy the process of pushing things and trying to get it to the level where that group of players comes together and has a real good idea of what it will take to win something.''

After beginning a roster makeover with the midseason acquisitions of star Mexican attackers Francisco ``Paco'' Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia last summer, Chivas USA continued rebuilding once Bradley was in charge. Trades for defensive midfielder Jesse Marsch and forward Ante Razov provided Chivas USA with veterans who had played for Bradley during his five seasons in Chicago.

Marsch and Razov fought through injury-plagued 2004 campaigns, and Razov scored only seven goals last season in 25 games with Columbus and the MetroStars. Like his coach and new team, 2006 will be Razov's opportunity to put 2005 behind him.

``I think the club, for sure, has a lot to prove,'' said Razov, who is MLS's No. 4 all-time goalscorer with 84. ``I've got to first and foremost prove to myself, which I know I can do. I'm confident in my abilities, and this preseason has shown that I can still go out there and compete with the best forwards out there. I'm looking forward to a big season from myself and my team.''

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who spent time with the U.S. national team earlier this year, anchors a rebuilt defense that will include Mexican legend Claudio Suarez. He joins teammates Ramon Ramirez, Palencia and Garcia on the path previously taken by Mexican stars Jorge Campos, Carlos Hermosillo and Luis Hernandez.

``For many of those guys that played, they were here at the very beginning of the league, to really lay down the foundation,'' Suarez said. ``Now, even this team, Chivas USA, can (drop) the players that weren't at the proper level, that came to the USA thinking it was going to be easy. But I think the proof is it's a competitive league, and that's why it's not going to be easy.''

Matt Zimmerman, [phone]

matt.zimmerman(at)presstelegram.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 3 boxes

Photo:

no caption (Ante Razov)

Box:

(1) PLAYERS TO WATCH

(2) ROSTER

(3) 2006 SCHEDULE