Chandler to Make Victory Debut

By: Anne | July 7th, 2007

Forward Aaron Chandler, selected by MLS team Columbus Crew in the 2007 SuperDraft, is expected to make his debut with the California Victory in tonight’s game against the Portland Timbers. The 23 year old Riverside native played for USF from 2003-2006, making 66 appearances in 75 games, scoring 28 goals and assisting with 16.

Vic’s Head Coach Glenn Van Straatum is hoping that the addition of Chandler will give the Vic’s speed up front and turn some of their draws and one point losses into wins. ”Once we score one or two goals a game, and we dominate the midfield, and we are consistent in the back… and play our game with some faster movement in the front,” said Coach Straatum, “I think we have the potential of picking up a lot of points.”

The Vic’s have experimented quite a bit with different formations, explained Van Straatum, and have not initially found the 4-4-2 formation successful. But the addition of Chandler to the squad could potentially change that. “Now we have Chandler, we get some more speed, maybe we’ll have the second forward there that we need. Right now we are using our strength to come from different angles from our midfield. It’s a little bit unorthodox.”

Tonight’s game against Portland is one of the last opportunities for preparation before the Vic’s US Open game against MLS team the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday. “These 5 days are very important, I told the guys,” says Van Straatum. “Every time we’ve had challenges on and off the field we have been able to persist and ….this again is a challenge that we have to be ready for.”

As the Vic’s enter the 2nd half of the season, Van Straatum remains positive. “I can’t tell you how many challenges I have put in front of this team and I feel that they are stepping it up.…is it fast enough? Obviously I want it to be faster. But again the good thing is we have a good half behind us. We have the confidence of playing the big teams. Now we have to battle against the other teams that are ahead of us, that should be behind us… The 2nd half, I’m going in with a lot of confidence.”

The Victory kick off tonight’s game at 7:00pm at the Kezar Stadium.