[photo by Neil Williams]

It only took two hours, but Chivas USA has finally announced that they have passed on the option to pick up US Midfielder Benny Feilhaber. The decision means that Chivas retains their position on the top of the MLS allocation order.

Chivas USA Head Coach Robin Fraser:

“This was a really difficult decision because we had to look at a number of factors, first and foremost being if we take him and accommodate his salary within our salary cap, how much is that going to limit us going forward. Certainly we’re looking to address some needs on the team, and having Benny would’ve been great in our midfield, because he’s a very, very good player, but the fact of the matter is his salary would’ve been so high that we wouldn’t have been able to make any adjustments going forward. The summer window coming up is an important time for us and we’d like to position ourselves to make some moves that we think are going to further improve our team.”

“It was a difficult decision to pass on Benny, but we just feel that we have more needs than the one person could’ve addressed, and his salary would have inhibited our ability to make improvements that we think we need. Benny’s salary, given where we are, was not something that we were going to be able to take on, and so we then felt like it was important that we retain this number one allocation because as players come back through this mechanism, we will have first choice at getting them.”

Who will pick up Benny? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

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