The 2010 Crew look a lot like the 2009 Crew, does that mean another Supporter's Shield is on the way? (Getty Images)

I had hoped to get this post out of the way earlier in the day but some issues on the back end of my site kept me busy all day (some PHP bug!). But I felt like it was still alright to move on with out look at each Major League Soccer club and how they are doing this offseason.

Today we go back east and look at the two time defending Supporter’s Shield champion Columbus Crew.

The offseason hasn’t been too busy for the Crew but they were able to make some big noise at the SuperDraft with a couple of their selections. Continue Reading…

Could Bobby Convey be headed home to Philly? (Getty Images)

The speculation has begun for the Philadelphia Union and their expansion draft that takes place tomorrow afternoon. The 15 clubs released their protected list last night and now the Union have a full list of guys that they can get 10 players from. And the talent is there for Union to get off on a good foot here.

I do have a feeling a deal or two will be worked out tomorrow but that is just a hunch.

Below are the ten I believe the Union could go for tomorrow. I went fairly defensive minded as I think that may be the way Philly goes since they haven’t made any moves yet like Seattle had already done by this time last year. Defense is always a good place to start with a roster and they can fill in the holes offensively this winter. Some of these I may be off on but we’ll see. Continue Reading…

A lot of end-of-season awards in Major League Soccer are just as tight as the playoff race. I’ve been tracking the Rookie of the Year and MVP races for some time now but I figured I would weigh in on all the awards for once since we are in the final few weeks of the season.

MLS MVP Award:

1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew: His club may be playing well without him but his numbers still make a serious case for MVP this season. He should be back soon, which can only mean his soccer IQ on the field will enhance the Crew even more here.
2. Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy: 19 goals in just 21 games. I think that may be all I need to say here. Earlier I thought his production wasn’t enough for the MVP this year but I am thinking otherwise now.
3. Shalrie Joseph, New England Revolution: He and his club may be stumbling but that should all work itself out once the Revs clinch a playoff spot.
4. Darren Huckerby, San Jose Earthquakes: If this were a half-season MVP I would probably have a tough time picking between Schelotto and Huckerby. Both have been stellar in the second half of the season. Huckerby has only been here for a half season, just think what he can do for a full year.
5. Juan Pablo Angel, New York Red Bulls: He’s forth in goals this season in the league but I don’t think that will be enough to get him this award this year.

Others in the discussion:

Javier Morales, RSL; Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chicago; Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas; Jamie Moreno, DC United; and Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA.

Continue Reading…

It almost seems like being the best rookie this season is like a death wish. Either you start out on top and fade quicker than anyone thought, get hurt or…well get hurt some more. That seems to be the nature of things right now in the league for our crop of rookies.

Usually by now we have a solid understanding of who will win what award by the end of the season. The thing is this award may be the most up for grabs right now because of injuries and players finding themselves out of favor with their coaches.

Take the number one pick in the 2008 SuperDraft Chance Myers. He started the year out and before the mid-season he was out of favor with the Wizards coaching staff. Not because of attitude but because of performance. Usually number one picks are suppose to be good but Myers certainly was not. His decision making seems careless, which has caused numerous goals scored against KC.

Then you have LA’s Sean Franklin. For a while we figured he was the best rookie, then injuries took their place and knocked him off the top. More recently poor play has hurt his chances of getting this award, not to mention the overall play of his club.

Then you had New England’s Kheli Dube. Finally it seemed like we had a rookie that knew what he was doing. Playing well, scoring goals and making people in New England forget they had an injured Taylor Twellman on the bench. What happens to Dube? He got hurt and hasn’t been seen from in about a month now.

So who has stepped up since then? Anyone? The door was open when Dube went down for guys like Chicago’s Patrick Nyarko and Chivas USA’s Justin Braun. But both went down before anyone could even place their name at the top of a list.

So what’s the list look like now? Some names are still there but some are rising to the top very quickly anymore.

Continue Reading…

Today just seems like as good of a time as ever to update this list. Seeing how it has been nearly a month’s time since our last view at this list. Some rookies are shining in league games and in once case in SuperLiga games.

With only ten or 12 games left on the year (depending on the team) some guys have to make a serious push in the final months of the season to get votes here. A couple guys are still well ahead of the rest. Some guys have fallen completely off the watch and some new faces have come up in recent weeks.

I think there is finally a true order to this list as well. Before I had said there was no need to have a true order until we had seen enough out of some players – well I think we have now.

And as always, feel free to pipe in your own thoughts and comments on this list with a list of your own.

1. Kheli Dube, New England Revolution – For most people now, Dube is the front runner for this Rookie of the Year award this season. Four goals in 15 games this year for the rookie is some solid numbers. What may be more impressive is the fact that he was a Supplemental pick! Not a SuperDraft pick! Continue Reading…

Its about that time of the month again to update the rookie watch list. Since our last update a couple rookies have emerged a little more, while some are still taking a back seat as the summer months roll on.

I think now that we are halfway through the season we can have a better understanding of who is in this race and who is not. Some guys have floated on that bubble, while others are starting to place themselves in the true discussion for this award. A lot has to do with playing time, how their clubs are doing and what impact they are actually making on the field.

Still no true order to this list though, that will still come later on. Feel free as always to post your short list or discuss mine. Continue Reading…

I realize it’s been well over a month since I last updated this watch list. For good reason too, there was no need early on to update this kind of a list from week to week. That will come more in handy once we hit late August and September here. But since summer is starting up its a good time to revisit this list and give it a swift update.

A few more rookies are really starting to make an impact on their clubs here as we move forward and approach that half-way line of the season (believe it or not we are only a couple weeks from that). More rookies are starting to get playing time as the US Open Cup rolls around and even more so in league play. They are either earning their spots in practice or are filling in for injured veterans. Either way, some are starting to make the most of their chances here.

Again, this is a watch list, so for now there isn’t a real order here on the players. Though before long expect the order to be one of a ranking-style, but that won’t come until later this summer I would assume. I know I said before I would need a few weeks to truly get a top five, well it looks like I need more time on that. Mainly I want more time on that.

Here we go… Continue Reading…