Coaching Staff

Robin Fraser, Head Coach

Robin Fraser was named Chivas USA’s sixth head coach on January 4, 2011, taking the role after a distinguished 10-year MLS playing career and four successful seasons as an assistant coach with Real Salt Lake. A standout for several MLS clubs and a veteran of the United States National Team, Fraser brings a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach to his new role at Chivas USA.

Most recently, Fraser, 44, has become one of the most widely respected Assistant Coaches in Major League Soccer due to his work in four seasons with Real Salt Lake under Head Coach Jason Kreis. Since he joined RSL in 2007, the club won an MLS Cup (in 2009) and has set a record for most consecutive home matches without a loss, currently at 25 league games and 33 matches in all competitions. Fraser, who earned his USSF ‘A’ Coaching License in 1993, also served as the Director of Coaching for youth club Arizona Futbol Club for two years and the head coach of the RSL Arizona Under-17 team following his retirement from Major League Soccer.

In 10 MLS seasons as a player, Fraser established himself as one of the league’s top defenders, earning two MLS Defender of the Year awards in 1999 and 2004, as well as earning five appearances on the MLS All-Star Team and MLS Best XI (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004). The LA Galaxy’s first-ever pick in the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft (fourth overall), Fraser played in 260 games (256 starts) with three teams, the Galaxy (1996-2000), Colorado Rapids (2001-2003), and Columbus Crew (2004-2005).

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser attended high school in Miami, Florida, before attending Florida International University. After receiving his United States citizenship in 1986, the central defender made 27 appearances for the U.S. National Team, making his debut on June 1, 1988 and playing his final game for the U.S. on July 6, 2001. Fraser, and his wife Ashley, have two daughters, Danielle and Nicola.

Greg Vanney, Assistant Coach

Greg Vanney was named an Assistant Coach at Chivas USA on January 4, 2011, joining friend and former teammate Robin Fraser on the technical staff at the club. A former MLS All-Star and veteran of the United States National Team, Vanney joined the Red-and-White from the Real Salt Lake organization, where he served as director of the RSL-Arizona Academy youth development program.

Vanney, 36, enjoyed a distinguished career as a player in MLS, abroad, and with the United States National Team. In MLS, Vanney played 10 seasons (1996-2001, 2005-2008), primarily with the LA Galaxy, but also with FC Dallas, the Colorado Rapids, and D.C. United. A three-time All-Star and two-time Best XI selection, Vanney made a total of 270 regular season appearances (258 starts), with 22 goals and 23 assists. He also made 65 appearances with French First Division club Bastia from 2002-2005, and with the United States National Team, played in 36 games from 1996-2006. Participating in the qualifying for three FIFA World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006), Vanney was also a member of the squad that won the 2005 Gold Cup.

Since his retirement as a player, Vanney has been active in the coaching ranks, holding his FIFA ‘A’ License and working as a coach, scout, and program director. He has served as Director of Soccer Operations at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona, managing the facility which has hosted several MLS teams in preseason. Vanney also has served as the director of the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy, a residential youth soccer academy with teams playing at the top level of youth soccer in the United States. Vanney has also worked with U.S. Soccer in several capacities, including as a scout and coach at the youth levels.

Carlos Llamosa, Assistant Coach

Carlos Llamosa rejoined Chivas USA as an Assistant Coach on Jan. 25, 2009, bringing the World Cup veteran and MLS Cup winner back to the club where he finished his playing career. The Colombian-born Llamosa played in MLS from 1997-2007, including his final two seasons with Chivas USA, and made 29 appearances with the United States National Team after gaining U.S. citizenship in 1998. Starting the 2010 season, Llamosa is in his third season with the Red-and-White.

Born June 30, 1969 in Palmira, Colombia, Llamosa immigrated to the United States as a 21-year old in 1991, after five years as a professional in Colombia. Playing in local leagues in New York City, he was spotted by then-D.C. United coach Bruce Arena, who selected him in the 1997 Supplemental Draft. Llamosa then began an MLS career in which he won two MLS Cups (1997, 1999), the CONCACAF Champions Cup (1998) and Inter-American Cup (1998), and was a three-time All-Star (1999, 2001, 2002), playing for D.C., Miami, New England, and Chivas USA in 2006 and 2007.

Llamosa became a naturalized U.S. citizen on Oct. 23, 1998, and two weeks later made his debut for the United States National Team. The defender played a total of 29 matches with the U.S. between 1998 and 2002, including appearances in the 2002 World Cup victories over Portugal and Mexico. Llamosa holds a U.S. Soccer Federation “A” License.

Daniel Gonzalez, Goalkeeper Coach

Daniel Alejandro Gonzalez joined Chivas USA on January 24, 2010. A former Argentine youth national team goalkeeper, Gonzalez played professionally in Argentina and the United States from 1979 to 1996, and has been coaching at various levels since retiring as a player. Gonzalez served as the Goalkeeper Coach for the Colorado Rapids from 2000-2003, and is reunited with Vásquez, as the two were teammates on the Memphis Storm in the American Indoor Soccer Association in the late 1980s.

Gonzalez began his soccer career with Colegio La Salle Rosario in 1975, playing with the club for four years before joining Rosario Central of the Argentine First Division, where he played from 1979-1982. Also a member of the Argentine U-20 National Team, Gonzalez moved to the U.S. in 1982, playing for the NASL’s Ft. Lauderdale Strikers for two seasons. He later played on several indoor and outdoor professional teams in the U.S. until finishing his career with the Memphis Jackals of the USISL in 1996.

Coaching at several youth clubs, Gonzalez also was a part of the Colorado Rapids’ staff from 2000-2003, serving as a goalkeeper/assistant coach. He has been a goalkeeper coach and the Director of Coaching for three high profile youth soccer clubs, first with St. Vrain FC of Colorado (1997-2005), then with Middleton-Yahara Soccer Club in Minnesota (2005-2008) and California Rush Soccer Club (2008-2010). Gonzalez holds a U.S. Soccer Federation “A” License.

Kevin Esparza, Team Administrator and Assistant Coach

Born in Orange, California on January 11, 1972, Kevin Esparza joined Club Deportivo Chivas USA as Team Administrator and Assistant Coach after spending two seasons (2003-2004) with the Los Angeles Galaxy as an assistant coach. Having worked at the youth, club, high school and professional levels, Esparza brings over 19 years' coaching experience to Chivas USA.

Previously, Esparza was Director of Coaching at Desert United Soccer Club in Palm Desert, California, where in addition to heading up the technical staff he was in charge of the club's women's U-17 and men's U-14 teams, as well as tournaments, camps and clinics. In 2003, he coached the Irvine Strikers, and prior to that had served as an assistant coach of the men's team at the University of California – Riverside. Esparza had worked previously at the university level, as an assistant coach of the men's and women's teams at Chapman University from 1996 to 1999. In 1996 Esparza coached the Orange High School men's varsity team to the CIF Championship. He was head coach at Orange High for three seasons, and assistant coach for one.

Esparza has also worked for the Southern California Olympic Development Program (ODP) since 1999, serving as a scout for talented male and female players ages 13 to 18. He also was assistant coach for the ODP U-14 and U-16 boys' teams in 1999 and 2001, respectively. In 2001 he served as an assistant coach to the Southern California U-16 men's team that won the ODP National Championship. His ODP head coaching career includes stints with the Southern California B15, B16 and 1986 Boys teams. Esparza studied and played soccer at Santa Ana College and Chapman University. He currently resides in Orange, California.

Jim Liston, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Jim Liston, a co-founder of the Competitive Athlete Training Zone (CATZ) and a leading expert on creating and delivering exercise programs for elite athletes, was named Chivas USA’s Strength and Conditioning Coach prior to the 2011 MLS season. The CATZ Sports Performance Center was also named the official performance trainer for the club, with Liston working on physical training for the club, and CATZ co-founder Kevin Wentz helping the Red-and-White with physical therapy.

CATZ has trained hundreds of professional and Olympic athletes at more than a dozen locations nationwide, and worked with the LA Galaxy from 1998-2003, during which time the team made it to six finals, and won an MLS Cup, a U.S. Open Cup, and the CONCACAF Champions Cup. CATZ sent a Strength and Conditioning Coach to the Columbus Crew in 2007 and 2008, when the team won the MLS Cup, and currently works with the Boston Breakers of WPS.

Liston specializes in improving athletic performance and reducing the risk of injury, and presently serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Clinical Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California. He holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters in Health Science from Springfield College, and has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1995.