MLS DC has suspended FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea for three games and fined him an undisclosed amount for deliberately kicking the ball at an assistant referee in the 24th minute of the game against Columbus Crew on May 12.

Yeah, three games. No card was given to Shea at the time which makes this one very intriguing. Injuries are bad for FC Dallas right now but I’d say the suspensions are starting to be the bigger issue there.

That wasn’t the only suspension today. The Disciplinary Committee also suspended Portland Timbers defender Mamadou Danso one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for striking Houston Dynamo forward Calen Carr across the head during the 82nd minute of the game on May 15

Sporting KC and RSL square off in the biggest match of 2012 - so far. (Getty Images)

What else can you say about the upcoming weekend in Major League Soccer? It’s damn full. Nine matches, eight of them on Saturday. Tons of interesting matchups across the board that should have everyone’s attention.

This could be the start of where we begin to see how teams will go for the rest of the season. Six weeks in and we know a good amount about each club but it always seem that once those first few games are out of the way that teams begin to separate themselves from one another at this stage. This season should be no different really.

I have a few items I will be looking at heavily this weekend, and here they are:

1. Getting off the mark. For both the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, this is a big weekend. Both have win-able home games against clubs that they should beat. Toronto gets Chivas USA, a club making the cross country trip while Philadelphia welcomes in the Columbus Crew, a team fresh off a 4-1 drubbing last week from the hands of the New York Red Bulls.

Even though it is still early, this could easily be a make-or-break kind of weekend for Aron Winter and Peter Nowak. Both of their clubs have been dreadful thus far this season and neither have found their way.

Toronto has to find a way to get their offense going with Danny Koevermans, while making sure that this gritty Chivas team doesn’t make it three straight on the road. Saying that Chivas is a pushover can’t be true anymore after wins in Portland and Salt Lake this season but a long trip to Toronto could be tough for Robin Fraser’s club. Toronto has to find their game and take it to Chivas early or else they could be staring at yet another loss.

For Philadelphia – the plan is simple – find the attack and make it happen against the Crew. Whether it be Danny Mwanga, Gabe Farfan, or someone even like Freddy Adu stepping up…someone has to take over for the Union attack.

2. Reaction to Mullan. It has been nearly a year since the dreaded tackle from Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan on Seattle’s Steve Zakuani. With Mullan’s return to Seattle set for this weekend, the reception of the veteran wing could be some must-see TV. To me, I hope the Sounder fans keep it classy when dealing with Mullan. I’m not saying they should shower him with praises and roses or anything like that but I do hope that the faithful there realizes that holding a grudge against a player that has already been forgiven for too long could come back to haunt them.

My guess it will end up being mostly boos from the crowd each time Mullan touches the ball. Thankfully most fans do get bored with booing the same guy over and over for 90 minutes.

3. Can the Quakes quiet the Red Bulls? Who would have thought six weeks ago that this could be an interesting match? I certainly did not with the way the Red Bulls started the first two games of the year. Now as we enter Week 6 you have one of the top offenses squaring off against one of the best defenses.

San Jose has done well so far this season at quieting quality offenses like Seattle and Vancouver while finding ways to get Chris Wondolowski the ball. Their style and pace on the wings has come alive with Marvin Chavez and Shea Salines but for me what is so impressive is their defense. Victor Bernardez and Justin Morrow have quietly become a force in the middle of the defense. They’ll certainly have their hands full with Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper, two of the hottest strikers in MLS.

The Red Bulls come into this match scoring 13 goals in the last three games, with Cooper and Henry doing most of the damage. So far this year the Red Bulls have been quieted by good defenses in Dallas and Salt Lake, while running all over Colorado, Montreal and Columbus. How they handle another quality defense like in San Jose will answer a lot about this team. If they can run up the score yet again this weekend, New York will certainly be a force to deal with for the rest of the season. If not, then we’ll know their kryptonite.

4. What formation does Schellas Hyndman put out this weekend? For most of the season FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has used the 4-1-4-1, a trusty formation that really works best with a healthy David Ferreira. But last week against the New England Revolution, he switched it all up going to a 4-4-2. The speed of the wings with guys like Brek Shea and Carlos Rodriguez doubled with the speed of Fabian Castillo up top made it tough for the Revs to deal with at times. This move was made to counter suspensions to Jair Benitez and Daniel Hernandez but with their returns you have to wonder what Hyndman will go to next.

Typically Hyndman doesn’t like to make too many changes from game to game if he doesn’t have to but with the injury to Ricardo Villar, he may have to make a switch again when they host the Montreal Impact on Saturday. Replacing Villar in a 4-4-2 setup isn’t that difficult, seeing how he wasn’t that involved in last weeks game. But in the 4-1-4-1 setup, it proves to be a tougher challenge.

5. Battle at 15 points. Real Salt Lake head to the midwest to battle Sporting Kansas City, in the battle of the top two sides in the league. Each team has 15 points so far and SKC is undefeated after five games. Two extremely strong teams here, really no edge either way in my book as to which way this one leans.

Sporting will want to assert their speed and skill up front early in this one but so far this season they haven’t seen a defense quite like RSL. Jason Kreis’ club always plays tough against quality offenses like Sporting’s and this one will certainly come down to who blinks first.

I’m sure somewhere some executives at MLS are wishing this has been a national TV game for the league. IT would have been a great one to showcase.

6. Dreadful Timbers and Galaxy square off. John Spencer said recently that this last month has been hell, well I am paraphrasing him with that. I’m sure Bruce Arena is thinking the same thing about his club’s performances over the last six weeks as well. Both sides only have a win to bank on up to this point and neither look like the clubs most expected them to be at the start of the season.

Both teams need points but more importantly each need a big performance out of their defense in this one. Neither has shown up well this season and while you could make the point about their offenses not stepping up to the plate as well, it is the defenses that really win in this league.

7. Oh yeah, Houston and Chicago. Man I hate the unbalanced schedule for reasons like this one. Both the Houston Dynamo and the Chicago Fire have been on and off all year not because of poor play on the field but because of the schedule. Both teams have played just three games so far. Yes just three. How insane is that?

Hopefully this match will shed a little more light on just how good the Fire will be this season. I think what we’ve seen so far is they have some quality around the pitch but someone else has to step up offensive other than Dominic Oduro. The same can be said in a way for the Dynamo as their offense has to have some form of life here too.

Sporting KC will look to extend their Eastern Conference lead this weekend. (Getty Images)

The weekend is finally here, though I’ll be honest this week flew by for me. Major League Soccer has a full slate of games this weekend with seven on Saturday and two on Sunday. Only the Columbus Crew are off this weekend (just something we’ll be living with this season due to the unbalanced schedule).

Last week didn’t yield any draws (shocking right?) but I think this weekend will return to the old habit from last season.

I had plenty of talking points yesterday for this weekend. Now it is time to pick who will win.

Saturday

Chicago Fire at Montreal Impact – Montreal opens up their home slate in what could be one of the higher attended games this season. Its possible that 60,000 could be on hand for this game between them and the Fire, who were off last weekend. The Impact didn’t look particularly great in week one in their loss at Vancouver but given the large crowd and the emotions of playing their first home game in MLS, you have to expect they’ll be fired up for this one. Expect the Fire to be balanced and controlled in this one but at the same time Montreal will let their emotions carry them to a point.

WVH Prediction: Montreal 1, Chicago 1

Houston Dynamo at San Jose Earthquakes – This one takes place at AT&T Park, normally a baseball venue. Both teams are used to smaller spaces so this one could be physical. Houston struggled offensively in week one but I’d expect their defense to carry them a bit in this one. If they can get Brad Davis back into the swing of things it will put a ton of pressure on the Quakes back line. San Jose was decent in their week one win over New England but I don’t think a ton of people were particularly impressed with them. Seeing them against a strong defense like Houston’s will be fun to watch. This one feels like it will end level though with not a ton of surprises.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 1, Houston 1

New England Revolution at Sporting Kansas City – KC did just enough to win last week on the road in DC while the Revs couldn’t get much going offensively in San Jose. I’d expect more of the same out of these two in this one as KC was very strong last year in LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. As long as they maintain the high tempo and press the defense of New England this one should be an easy three points.

WVH Prediction: SKC 3, New England 1

Portland Timbers at FC Dallas – FCD has a ton of injuries going into this one but the biggest loss will be Brek Shea, who is away with the U-23 national team. Dallas should be alright as Dallas loves to spread out the field and look to make Portland chase the game. Timbers will have to rely on their bread and butter, set pieces, to score in this one. This one feels like a draw though given Dallas’ roster issues and Portland’s inability to win on the road (at least that’s how they were last year).

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, Portland 1

New York Red Bulls at Real Salt Lake – One thing to keep in mind is RSL rarely loses at Rio Tinto and they rarely lose to New York in Salt Lake in general. With the defensive and midfield issues the Red Bulls had against Dallas last week, I don’t think they’ll be able to handle a much better RSL team in this one on the road. RSL will force Thierry Henry into the midfield like Dallas did last week and that will be all they need to get easy turnovers from the other Red Bulls.

WVH Prediction: RSL 2, New York 0

Toronto FC at Seattle Sounders FC – Both had games in the midweek in the CCL, each ended in different results. There is little doubt in my mind that Toronto will have a let down in this one as Seattle will want to quickly get over the 6-1 loss at Santos. Both teams will be looking at their benches more for this one and that advantage still has to lean on Seattle.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Toronto 1

Vancouver Whitecaps at Chivas USA – An interesting game to look at here. Chivas was dreadful in their opener last week while Vancouver ran all over an expansion team. Chivas can make things difficult in the offensive end for the other side but Vancouver has a ton of scoring threats that should be able to sneak through them. The Caps are looking for their first road win in MLS and I think they’ll get it here since Chivas won’t have any of their main scoring threats for this one (Juan Pablo Angel is likely out with concussion-like symptoms).

WVH Prediction: Vancouver 2, Chivas 0

Sunday

Colorado Rapids at Philadelphia Union – The Union have to defend better in their open opener than they did in Portland on Monday. I do believe this one could get clogged up in the midfield though as Colorado takes their new formation to the road. Defensively they looked good last week but given the Crew’s lack of attacking options, I think Philly will provide a stiffer test.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 1, Colorado 1

D.C. United at LA Galaxy – Forth game in two weeks. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Honestly, LA at some point has to show their true grit, and I think they do it in this one.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, DC 0

The 19-player roster will be finalized March 20, the due date for all participating teams to submit their rosters to CONCACAF. The U.S. will compete in Group A which kicks off March 22 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

A total of 13 players on the roster come from MLS clubs, with D.C. United and the Philadelphia Union each contributing a pair.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)

DEFENDERS (6): Joshua Gatt (Molde; Plymouth, Mich.), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS (7): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia; Jacksonville, Fla.)

It was a quick trip to the Big D for United States Men’s National team coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Sunday. The US boss was on hand for the MLS season opener between FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls. He also was there to scarf Uncle Lamar’s statue in the North Gate at FC Dallas Stadium.

The spoke briefly to a few reporters before the game and offered up a few interesting nuggets. Klinsmann was definitely keeping tabs on some of the younger guys in MLS on Sunday with the likes of Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, George John and Zach Loyd on the field.

“We empower the players to be the driving force so when Brek comes in or hopefully George comes in hopefully the next time or stuff like that or Zach Loyd comes in we say you guys are in the driver’s seat. You’ve got to show us how much you want this, how far you can go, how much you’re able to suffer and obviously your qualities that are given to you that you worked hard on many, many years. There is a lot of special talent coming through the ranks in the U.S. or even youngsters all over the world that have U.S. passports. That was never the case in soccer 10 years ago,” said Klinsmann.

But looking further into the talent pool, Klinsmann mentioned how important players in Mexico are to the growth of the national team.

“We basically have a bigger roster. We have obviously 20-25 right now that we feel very comfortable with but there’s an even more extended roster we fill with the January camp players, a lot of them and stuff. Herculez is part of them. I mean all the kids that play in Mexico and other places, we have them all on the radar screen. The Mexican clubs are pretty kind of surprised that we have our coaches go down to Mexico. We’ve never had that before. We look at them all the time and what we still have to figure out at the end of the day is what is the internal ranking for us? We go into May, June and we have 22 spots and we’ve got to make the best out of it. There’s an established ranking in every national team program. They’re there for a reason. It doesn’t mean that you kind of downsize anybody else. It is because the spot is taken.”

BC Place will be rocking for the season opener. (Getty Images)

We are finally back to the normal weekly posts here. It is Thursday which means it is time to take a dip into the stories I’ll be focusing in on this weekend as Major League Soccer kicks off their 17th season.

We got things off to a bit of a bang last night in the CONCACAF Champions League, with Seattle downing Santos 2-1 and Toronto and LA playing to a 2-2 draw in front of a rocking crowd at the Rogers Centre.

The First Kick schedule this weekend last three days, spanning Saturday through Monday. The unbalanced schedule however means that there will be a team or two off each week. Both Seattle and Toronto will be off this weekend, thanks to their involvement in the CCL.

Let’s get started shall we?

1. Great White North. The first game being mentioned to start the season off is in fact a game pitting two Canadian teams against one another. Last year it was the Vancouver Whitecaps hosting Toronto FC, but this year the Caps will host the newest club to MLS, the Montreal Impact. Vancouver went out and snagged nearly every available striker that they could get their hands on in the offseason including a trade with Philadelphia for Sebastien Le Toux. The Caps looks strong in the preseason, winning the annual Disney Pro Soccer Class in Orlando. They scored a ton of goals and their defense proved to be up for the challenge. If Vancouver’s defense can be as tough as some think they can be, then I’d expect them to steam roll over the expansion Impact here.

I like what Jesse Marsch has done with his expansion club though. The big thing will be getting the chemistry right early. Once guys get on the same page with one another they could do well but it will take some time.

2. DeRo and Salihi. The two big names lead D.C. United into what could be a big make or break season for Ben Olsen. His team is young but talented. The big thing however is getting Dwayne De Rosario, the 2011 MLS MVP, on the same page as newly acquired Designated Player Hamdi Salihi. The two didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time in the preseason together. But one thing is clear, both know how to put the ball in the back of the net. Salihi showed in Charleston, SC last week that it won’t take much for him to find the back of the net.

3. New boss in Denver. I’ve always been a big backer and fan of Oscar Pareja and I knew it was only a matter of time before some MLS team took him from FC Dallas (truth be told most FCD fans were hoping he’d stick around long enough to take over for Schellas Hyndman when he retired). Pareja now has a team to call his own in Colorado and will be employing a new formation for the Rapids, a 4-3-3 set up. I like the idea of this club in that kind of formation but they do have some issues on the flanks and in the defense that could make this a challenging transition. Anthony Wallace is out for several months now, which means the full back spot is going to be up for grabs. Also, the midfield isn’t getting any young with Pablo Mastroeni and Brian Mullan.

The bigger question will be who scores for this team until Conor Casey returns. To answer that you have to look no further than to Omar Cummings and newcomer Jamie Castrillon. Pareja went south and picked up a few Colombians and Castrillon could be one of the better ones to come to MLS in some time.

4. CCL fatigue for LA? Its certainly possible to expect some sort of let down for LA as they travel back across the country to host a very talent and dangerous Real Salt Lake team this Saturday. LA showed last night that they can be beaten pretty easily in defense without Omar Gonzalez on set pieces. Look for Javier Morales and company to exploit that issue in LA’s defense.

But saying all of that also means that LA does have the ability to come back from any score. We saw last night that a two goals lead against LA means nothing with the likes of David Beckham, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane in the line up. I really feel that once those four are on the same page that no one, and I mean no one will be able to contend with them. Salt Lake is pretty close to LA’s level so this one should be a fantastic season opener.

5. Quakes and Revs bring intrigue into new season. One thing is certain, not too many people outside of Boston or San Jose really know what to make of the San Jose Earthquakes or the New England Revolution going into this new season. The Revs have a new manager in Jay Heaps and he has some talent on his roster. The big question boils down to who will score for this bunch. That won’t be the question for Quake fans as we know Chris Wondolowski is already looking good going into the new season. As long as someone steps up with him the Quakes could be a dark horse contender out West this season.

While this game doesn’t have the big story lines to it, I wouldn’t be shocked if it is one of the more interesting games this weekend.

6. NBC and MLS. We get our first real look at what NBC will bring to the table for MLS broadcasts. We know of the booth set up with Arlo White and his color commentator on the field (yes on the field, not in the booth) Kyle Martino. I’m pumped for this one merely because it is here in Dallas and I’ll be attending this one. Dallas is expecting a sellout or at least something very close to one for this game against Thierry Henry and New York. FC Dallas CEO Doug Quinn stated yesterday to the press that less than 2000 tickets are left for this season opener and more than likely they’ll get to the sellout.

Having NBC do this game is obviously huge for both teams and the league though. I do believe the league and NBC picked a good opener with New York and Dallas. Plenty of stars to showcase between Brek Shea and Henry. Too bad Rafa Marquez is suspended for this one though.

7. Year of the Timbers? Monday’s lone game should be a fun one. Portland hosting Philadelphia in prime-time on ESPN2 is exactly how the league needed to close out it’s first week of the season. Two up and coming teams, in front of a rocking JELD-WEN Field crowd. That makes for good soccer and good TV in my book. (Note for Dallas folks, I’ll be hanging out at the Big D Soccer Pub Night, come join if you are in town)

Both the Union and the Timbers made plenty of interesting moves in the offseason. Portland added Kris Boyd to their attack and he will certainly be tasked with being the difference maker in this one. But keep an eye out for second year stud Darlington Nagbe. I think we’ll see him infused into the offense a little more this season.

Philly will certainly be interesting to watch this season as they move on from having Le Toux and will rely more on Danny Mwanga and Freddy Adu. Both are young but I have a good feeling about Mwanga being a dark horse Golden Boot contender this season.

I’m kind of like Daniel at Big D Soccer, it will likely happen after the Olympics next year – not this winter. The only way a FCD and MLS sell Shea this winter is if they get a monster deal for him. What I mean by that is if the transfer figure is in the $10-20 million range. There is a reason why FCD signed him up with a deal through 2015 earlier this year, they wanted to make sure they’d get a hefty transfer fee for him in return when they did sell him.

Brek Shea sits atop the MVP race, can he hold on to it? (Getty Images)

With only a few weeks left in the season the awards race in Major League Soccer is pretty dang hot. The MVP race alone is very interesting this season. In my book if I had to vote today for the top three in the MVP race would be fairly simple but there are a few dark horse candidates to keep a watch on.

The Top Contenders

Brek Shea, M, FC Dallas: This one is fairly simple. If Shea isn’t at the top of most folks list right now it means they either hate Dallas or don’t watch the league at all. The second one probably speaks more truth than anything if someone doesn’t have Shea in their top three once it is time to vote. Shea has done everything right for Dallas since the injury of last year’s MVP, David Ferreira. He’s scored plenty of big goals and has come up with a few quality assists. Simply put, Dallas is nothing without his service from the wings.

Mauro Rosales, M, Seattle Sounders FC: In a way Rosales has really just come on strong in the last two months but overall he is a huge reason why the Sounders are in the thick of things in the Supporter’s Shield race. His five goals and ten assists are something to marvel over but for me it comes down to his distribution and setting up the Sounders’ attack. I don’t see Lamar Neagle or Mike Fucito getting the goals that they have gotten this year without Rosales. Bold statement to make, sure, but it is one I feel pretty good about.

Landon Donovan, M, LA Galaxy: Of course, another season with Donovan in the MVP mix. His 11 goals and three assists will keep him in the discussion even though he hasn’t played as many minutes as Shea or some of the others here.

Still In The Mix:

Thierry Henry, F, New York Red Bulls: The New York Red Bulls’ season goes with Henry. As he goes, the club goes. He may lead the league in goals scored with 12 and have four assists on the year  but the way his club has played these last couple of months are hurting his MVP chances. He needs to continue to score goals and help get his club in the playoffs to get this award.

Brad Davis, M, Houston Dynamo: Another player who’s team goes as they do. Davis is always overlooked but there is no reason why he should be. His league-leading 13 assists are the main reason why the Dynamo are even in the playoff hunt to begin with. You want a valuable player to a club, look no further than to Davis.

David Beckham, M, LA Galaxy: Donovan and Beckham will likely cancel one another out in this race but consider Beckham’s stats at the moment, 12 assists and two goals isn’t bad at all. To be fair, this has been his best season to date as a member of the Galaxy.

Jack Jewsbury, M, Portland Timbers: You want some good stats? Seven goals and eight assists. That’s quality folks. Portland would be a really bad expansion team without Captain Jack.

Dwayne De Rosario, M, DC United: Another player with monster stats on the season, nine goals and eight assists. What will hurt him is he’s played on three teams this season. That really shouldn’t be the case as he’s really helped improve United’s offense.

Some Potential Dark horses:

Dominic Oduro, F, Chicago Fire: Hard to ignore Oduro right now. He’s scoring loads of goals (and missing loads too). He’s a long shot at best but he’s worth mentioning.

Sebastien Le Toux, M, Philadelphia Union: I think if he can continue his scoring (six goals on the year) to go with his assist numbers (eight assists), he’ll easily move up this order here. Last night’s great come back performance against New England was a sign that Le Toux will be in the mix.

Kyle Beckerman, M, Real Salt Lake: With Javier Morales going down earlier in the season, it was Beckerman who had to step up and be the midfield general. Looking at things today, RSL isn’t far away from an automatic bid into the playoffs.

Jeff Cunningham is now the all-time goal scoring king in MLS. His PK against Seattle was number 134. Just a crazy number considering how young the league is. Congrats Jeff.

Other winners this week were of course the Seattle Sounders, who won large at home against Columbus. Dallas made a remarkable come back in KC and don’t look now but the Chicago Fire may not be dead just yet.