MLSsoccer story on Valentin

[bobbyake]

MLSsoccer story on Valentin: Valentin gets on-the-job training for Chivas USA

[Z.I.P.]

I saw the first half of this game on TV. Chivas coach Robin Fraser has his work cut out! As far as Valentin goes (and I really wish Christian Miles on Fox would stop calling him Valenteen -- his brother played for the Galaxy, maybe that's the reason lol), he looked like a rookie...a bit murky on his touches and footing at times, but I saw no major mistakes. He's playing the single back (sweeper) in the center...so I can only assume Fraser must have a good deal of confidence in the 19 year old. Chivas' biggest problem so far is not the defense, but the lack of scoring. If that doesn't change, this will be another long season.

[yazan07]

I saw the first half of this game on TV. Chivas coach Robin Fraser has his work cut out! As far as Valentin goes (and I really wish Christian Miles on Fox would stop calling him Valenteen -- his brother played for the Galaxy, maybe that's the reason lol), he looked like a rookie...a bit murky on his touches and footing at times, but I saw no major mistakes. He's playing the single back (sweeper) in the center...so I can only assume Fraser must have a good deal of confidence in the 19 year old. Chivas' biggest problem so far is not the defense, but the lack of scoring. If that doesn't change, this will be another long season.

Actually, I think they might be pronouncing it right and we were pronouncing it wrong at Akron for two years. Check out his audio diaries that he made while the U20s were in Guatemala. He actually pronounces his own name as Valenteen, which makes me think that is the correct pronunciation. Also, these two segments are really funny, and feature not only Zarek, but his 'special guest' Perry 'whats cookin' in the' Kitchen. If you have free time, I would definitely give them a listen.

[Z.I.P.]

I saw the first half of this game on TV. Chivas coach Robin Fraser has his work cut out! As far as Valentin goes (and I really wish Christian Miles on Fox would stop calling him Valenteen -- his brother played for the Galaxy, maybe that's the reason lol), he looked like a rookie...a bit murky on his touches and footing at times, but I saw no major mistakes. He's playing the single back (sweeper) in the center...so I can only assume Fraser must have a good deal of confidence in the 19 year old. Chivas' biggest problem so far is not the defense, but the lack of scoring. If that doesn't change, this will be another long season.

Actually, I think they might be pronouncing it right and we were pronouncing it wrong at Akron for two years. Check out his audio diaries that he made while the U20s were in Guatemala. He actually pronounces his own name as Valenteen, which makes me think that is the correct pronunciation. Also, these two segments are really funny, and feature not only Zarek, but his 'special guest' Perry 'whats cookin' in the' Kitchen. If you have free time, I would definitely give them a listen.

Yaz, you have convinced me that you are ABSOLUTELY correct! I know that older brother Julian Valentin (national champ at Wake Forest) always had his name pronounced with a "soft 'i'" (like Tim). However, I found in his UA bio that the father is named Manuel, SO I will henceforth pronounce it in the Spanish method, "VAL-en-teen". I have long disliked the Fox broadcast of Chivas' games. They've always attempted to make the team a "semi-official" team of the Mexican-American community, and gone out of their way to hispanicize every aspect of the team, so I assumed they were carrying on in that direction. So, I guess in this case, Christian Miles actually has gotten it correct -- there's a first time for everything!

Take a look at the the blog written by Chivas goalkeeper Zack Thornton. A great article about Zarek's youth, schooling and relationship with Julian.