Birahim Diop is one of the many new players for Kansas City this year. (Getty Images)

Even with all the strike talks for Monday (or Tuesday…or whenever) I’m still going on with some 2010 season previews for Major League Soccer. Today I wanted to center my focus around the moves in and out that hav been made with the league this year.

As some of you know I’ve been doing my best to keep track of these moves with my offseason player movement page listed above. Each club has made some moves this winter, some definitely more than others. Now the question comes into mind of which moves were good, bad and which will pay off in the new season.

The United Nations comes to Kansas City

Looking at what the Wizards have done this winter makes some folks giggle. Of the newcomers eight of them are from out of the country. You have three Englishmen (Ryan Smith and Craig Rocastle, Korede Aiyegbusi), a Canadian (Teal Bunbury), a Frenchman (Stephane Auvray), a Scandinavian (Jimmy Neilsen),  a Colombian (Pablo Escobar), a Moldavian (Igor Kostrov), and a big guy from Senegal (Birahim Diop).

I guess those guys really like BBQ or something. Amazing that KC was able to get that many international players to come there. Now comes the question of whether all this change really will pay off. Last few clubs that did a massive influx of foreign talent (though Bunbury and Aiyegbusi were drafted so I kinda won’t count them in this here) didn’t fare too well from what I recall. Maybe KC is the team that bucks that trend in 2010. Continue Reading…

Most of you should know by now I’m a big supporter of the Jared Montz podcast.Well today we get an early treat as Montz has sent me his podcast a bit early to put on here. His guest today is Philadelphia Union midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi. I keep forgetting that Miglioranzi has been around the league for nearly 10 years.

You can subscribe to the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast for free in iTunes by clicking here.

Enjoy!




Every team has that one guy that will either help lead them to the MLS promise-land or be partly the reason why they are stuck at home in November instead of seeing the playoffs. These are you X-Factor players.

I have one (maybe two) guys for each MLS team that are those X-Factors for this new season. Some guys are really no brainers while others may surprise you a bit. Its safe to say that each club needs a big year out of their X-Factors.

If you think I’m way off base on someone or think I missed a sure-fire X-Factor please list it below. Continue Reading…

Starting to wonder if this video promo will even matter. Hopefully we get to see this match next week. (H/T to MLS Insider for posting)

I have to say the local media coverage in Philadelphia is impressive. Then again anything is impressive when you compare it to the MLS coverage down here in Dallas, which if it weren’t for Buzz Carrick and Steve Davis there wouldn’t be nearly anything reported. But enough of that, SF over at The Offside Rules had this up earlier and it is too good not to repost.

Toronto's O'Brian White looks to break out in 2010.

Normally in my season previews I go team-by-team but this year as I mentioned earlier in the week I am doing something a little different. Instead of the old way I’m trying something new to break up the content and give folks a little more room for discussion.

Today’s topic is all about who is the next guy to be a big impact player in this league. Or for someone to finally come out of their shell and help lead their club to the playoffs or even better a MLS Cup. I know a lot of these previews depend on the league and the player’s coming together on a new CBA but for the sake of things we’ll be optimistic here and say they do come to terms on something soon.

So I went club to club and asked a few folks who they thought would be the next big thing for their clubs. Some clubs will have just one guy to watch out for and some will have two. If a guy you think is going to break out this season isn’t on this list, hit the comments below with your reasoning behind it.

Now some are rookies and others are guys that have been around the league for a little while. I tried to balance it out between those two groups. Continue Reading…

For a while now we’ve said here on this blog that MLS Cup 2010 was likely going to be in one of three places, Toronto, Philadelphia or New York. Turns out that is just the case as a couple sites have reported the four (yes four) cities that are in the running for MLS Cup 2010. Apparently the league has heard bids from each city and will be picking a host in the very near future.

Those cities are three mentioned above with LA being the fourth.

Deep down I see it coming to either Toronto or New York in the end here. But let’s look at each cities’ chances here.

New York (Red Bull Arena): A brand-new stadium, which happens to be the best stadium the league has ever seen to this date, in the league’s biggest media market. I think all they had to do was show up with a couple photos of the facility and the league was probably already hooked.

The thing about Red Bull Arena is most of the cool stuff that will be around the stadium hasn’t been built yet. I’d say the league may hold off until 2011 for the MLS Cup. By then all the cool little things around the stadium should be in place and this truly will be a great venue in and out for hosting a MLS Cup.

Philadelphia (PPL Park): The new stadium on the waterfront in Chester is a nice one. The thing going against their bid (which was a good one) is the fact that the stadium won’t be finished until summer. Which also means a lot of items around the stadium may not be done by then either. My wonder is if their bid contained PPL Park (which I assume it would) or if they went bigger by going with the Linc.

Toronto (BMO Field): I saw their pitch in PDF form, and it was pretty cool. We’ve all heard about the promise of Toronto hosting a MLS Cup by 2012 but this year would make the most sense with the new grass field at the stadium. Now that the FieldTurf is gone it makes more sense to go ahead and give Toronto this game.

What could go against Toronto is the two new stadiums in the US. I still see this being the year Toronto gets to host the game…even if it means hosting a game in November in cold weather. (note: remember the first few MLS Cups, they were in nasty cold weather in the Northeast)

LA (Home Depot Center): This venue is really a fail-safe for the league. Its in the second biggest market and the stadium can easily host a good MLS Cup. This really however is probably a backup plan for the league should something go wrong with one of the three eastern bids.