Chivas Releases Defenders

Already the most porous team in Major League Soccer, Chivas USA weakened itself considerably Monday when the expansion club released starting defenders Ryan Suarez and Alfonso Loera.

Chivas parted ways with Suarez after he had a brief but fiery exchange with Coach Hans Westerhof after he was pulled in the 28th minute of Chivas’ 3-0 loss at Kansas City on Saturday.

“They’re trying to make me a scapegoat and I can’t accept that,” Suarez, a four-year veteran who became a father eight weeks ago and recently bought a home here, said Monday night. “Fair enough, I raised my voice to the coach, and I apologize like a man to the team and the fans.

“You fine a player, suspend him for a game. But not this, not after what I’ve given the team.”

The injury-prone Loera, one of eight Mexicans originally sent to the franchise by the Chivas de Guadalajara parent club, was let go, President and co-owner Antonio Cue said, because Loera did not want to sign a contract extension with Chivas USA (1-12-3), which has surrendered an MLS-high 38 goals.

The dismissal of Loera opens a senior international spot for Chivas, which, Cue said, has already reached a “handshake” agreement with Juan Pablo Garcia to join the team when his contract with Mexican club Atlas expires and the international transfer window opens in August. Garcia would take a junior international slot, however, presumably leaving the senior spot for Guadalajara midfielder Francisco Palencia.

Westerhof, 0-4-1 since replacing the fired Thomas Rongen, said Suarez did not adhere to his defensive strategy.

“We wanted the last line to go more in front, and he thinks otherwise,” Westerhof said after the game. “He made bad decisions in the game and we decided to change.”

Said Suarez: “That’s false; I was stepping up, a lot.”

An animated Westerhof made a swiping motion toward the bench, “like he was saying, ‘Come on down, have a seat next to me on the bench,’ ” Suarez said.

When Suarez came out, Westerhof, a Dutchman who speaks Spanish, put a hand on Suarez’s shoulder. Suarez swiped it away and yelled at him.

“I told him in Spanish, ‘Don’t touch me. Treat me with respect because I respect you,’ ” said Suarez, whose contract is not guaranteed. “Then he started speaking Dutch to me. That’s disrespect, speaking to me in a language I don’t understand.

“I didn’t cuss at him.”

Said Cue: “Coach Westerhof doesn’t want him in the organization