Rocky Mountain Cup is on the line this weekend. (Getty Images)

The weekend is finally getting here. For those that know me and know what this past week or so has been like for me on the day job front, you know how excited I am to see the weekend ahead. A three day weekend in fact.

Time to take a look at the weekend ahead and we get started a day early with a game tonight in Dallas.

This is another weekend where there are plenty of quality games to discuss. Only three East v. West matches this weekend but the big focus will be on two rivalry games and a big showdown between KC and LA.

1. Revs hoping to make it three straight. Never would have guessed this version of the New England Revolution would be going for three straight wins tonight (and two straight road wins), this early in the season. Give credit to Jay Heaps for the hard work he’s put into this club. I think the big thing is seeing  Shalrie Joseph finally have some supporting cast around him is making the difference. Clyde Simms has been huge in the midfield with Joseph and the defense is slowly stepping up and is making things tough for other clubs. Saer Sene is gaining some confidence with two goals as well. New England hasn’t had a quality striker like Sene in some time and if he can keep it up the Revs will definitely contend in the East.

2. Canadian rivalry loses some steam. Both Toronto and Montreal lost last night, on the road just days before their first MLS match. Boy I have to say I wish this one had a little more leading into it than just a couple days after a bad performance. Montreal is slowly coming together but as expected the expansion club growing pains are pretty obvious when you watch this side. Toronto on the other hand comes into this one after an embarrassing loss in Mexico. So much was going right until it all went so very wrong last night. I’ll let others go through what didn’t go right for the Reds in Mexico but it is clear, no Torsten Frings or Danny Koevermans and this is club looks an awful lot like the team that was dreadful to watch early last year.

3. Red Bulls hope to continue statement run. Nine goals in two home matches is something else but getting another big outburst on the road will truly show folks if this New York Red Bulls side is indeed turning a corner or not here this season. I know I don’t show a ton of love to this club but I can’t find myself getting excited over a win against a Colorado side missing two key players in the midfield and a win over an expansion club. Also, we can’t ignore the facts that the defense is still giving up goals. If the offense has an off night someone in the back has to step up and play big. They may have won two straight games with nine goals but they also gave up three. Just sayin’.

4. Sporting goes for five. I keep feeling good with my preseason pick of SKC as the Supporters’ Shield winners. Four games in and they are unbeaten. Saturday night they go for five against probably the toughest team they’ve faced all season in the LA Galaxy. Yes, the LA boys are coming off a bad home loss to the New England Revolution but knowing Bruce Arena, he won’t let his team stay down for long. You have to like Sporting’s chances though in this one – at home in front of a sellout crowd – with that speedy offense. SKC has the type of attack that can and will cause problems for LA. I thin this one gets played a little closer to be book though as LA will press hard for a win to prove people that they still are the giant in the league. Thankfully this one is on national TV for all to see.

5. Two underrated clubs square off by the Bay. Give it up folks, the Vancouver Whitecaps are the ONLY MLS team to not give up a goal this season. Yes, you read that correctly. Sure they haven’t been scoring much lately either but it is still worth noting. You hats also must go off to the San Jose Earthquakes, as they have only given up a single goal this season back in the second week. I haven’t given either a ton of love yet this season but I am warming up to each of them the more I see them play. Defensively each side has improved so much from last season. This one will certainly come down to who makes a mental mistake first. The smaller field at Buck Shaw Stadium certainly helps the Quakes in this one but Vancouver has been solid this season at not letting quality strikers like Dwayne De Rosario score so you have to expect they’ll be all over Chris Wondolowski in this one.

6. Rocky Mountain high. One of my favorite rivalries in MLS is the Rocky Mountain Cup between Colorado and Real Salt Lake. Just like the Toronto-Montreal game I do wish this one had a little more time to hype up this week but the schedule makers put a RSL game in the middle of the week (boy was that one ugly huh?). This is one of those games that will come down to the midfield play of guys like Kyle Beckerman or Jeff Larentowicz. Both sides have shown the means to score goals this season so the defenses will be tested. I like RSL at home though in this one, even after the ugly midweek win over Montreal. Sometimes getting an ugly win out of your system helps you in the long run.

DC United fans are hoping for a return to playoffs in 2010. (Getty Images)

I wasn’t entirely sure I’d get to this offseason look at DC United today but extra time this afternoon came out of no where. So far these last couple weeks we’ve looked at a handfull of teams including Philadelphia, Chicago, Chivas, Colorado and Columbus.

Today is all about the Black-and-Red who have seen a pretty big change this winter. From Curt Onalfo taking over for Tom Soehn to seeing Ben Olsen retiring to not offering Christian Gomez or Luciano Emilio a new contract, this is a whole new United.

Let’s see exactly what they’ve done and what they need to work on before the season starts.

Keepers:

Who they have: Troy Perkins, Milos Kocic, Josh Wicks, Bill Hamid.

Notes: Obviously when they made the deal to get Perkins it was to sure up this area. Wicks was too on and off last year and Kocic and Hamid aren’t quite ready to take over. Perkins gives them stability in between the pipes and will help them win. No need to look elsewhere for any additional keepers right now. I am curious to see Hamid develop though, hopefully he’ll get some PT in some US Open Cup games.

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Defense:

Who they have: Julius James, Marc Burch, Dejan Jakovic, Devon McTavish, Bryan Namoff, Jordan Graye.

Notes: I like certain parts of this group like Burch, McTavish, Namoff and Jakovic but the rest not as much. Injuries are always an issue and right now Namoff is out with some sort of head injury and those can linger long depending on how bad of an injury it is.

If I were Onalfo I’d be worried about this bunch. Perkins will probably have to come up big for them more times then they’d like to admit right now. DC fans may answer this easier than I can at this point but who is the leader in the back out of this group? They have some veteran players but not one that you know right away is going to step up, maybe I am missing something here.

Right now I see them defending like Onalfo’s KC teams, solid for a game with a shutout and then give up two or three in the next.

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Midfield:

Who they have: Floribert N’Galula, John DiRaimondo, Danny Szetela, Christian Castillo, Clyde Simms, Tiyi Shipalane, Rodney Wallace, Brandon Barklage, Santino Quaranta.

Notes: This group will be fine if two things happen, Castillo lives up to the billing surrounding him and if Quaranta can help create some offense on a consistent basis. I do where they are in the back part of this group in terms of defensive midfielders.

Another interesting question will be whether or not N’Galula, the young 22-year old former Manchester United product will do anything of note. If he can be productive in the midfield for Onalfo he could end up being one of the bigger steals of the winter by any club.

With Christian Gomez gone you have to wonder where the offense will come from this group though. I think defensively in the midfield they will be fine and even on the wings they should be good with Castillo and Quaranta. They still however need that go-to guy in the midfield that will help with the attack, a playmaker if you will. Right now I just don’t see that. Maybe one of these young guys will surprise me.

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Forwards:

Who the have: Danny Allsopp, Chris Pontius, Boyzzz Khumalo, Jaime Moreno, and Adam Cristman.

Notes: An interesting group to say the least. One hand they are fairly young with Pontius and Cristman but on the other they aren’t with two 30+ year olds in Moreno and Allsopp.

I like the Cristman move for Onalfo and United though. You know he is familiar with Onalfo and his style of play. Moreno we know is going to get his normal amount of goals, mostly from the penalty spot.

I think the big thing to see is whether or not Pontius continues to develop into a goal scorer and if Allsopp can come in and produce at least six to eight goals. I think if those two things happen DC should be fine in the goal scoring department.

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Overall:

This will be an interesting season for the Black-and-Red. For one they are very young in respect to other teams in the league. Just like Philadelphia they only have three guys right now on their roster over 30 years of age. Finding a leader other than Moreno will be interesting to see. Hopefully someone steps up and leads this team because there will likely be a big drop off in leadership with Ben Olsen retired now.

With Gomez and Emilio out it looks like United aren’t looking for a big name product from South American to step in like they normally do. Its a risky move not to bring in a bunch of signings but as we’ve seen in recent years out of DC it doesn’t always work out. Instead they are now focusing on talent here and adding one or two pieces from outside MLS. I like the move on their part but it may take a while to produce well.

But we’ll see, this is a club that is bound to make a move or two more before the season starts so it will be interesting if they add depth in the back, find a playmaker and most importantly someone to be a leader.

Blanco and Burch were both red-carded for violent conduct.

The league is looking into this matter and apparently the on the field issues aren’t the only thing from this. Apparently according to sources, Blanco also headbutted a DC United official on his way out of the game. No photos or video of that yet but still it sounds like a sticky situation for the Mexican star. To me it sounds like emotions are boiling over due to his club’s recent form.

You be the judge.

Here is a video where you can see Blanco punch at Simms at about 28 seconds and then slow-mo at around 40 seconds. Towards the end you can also see Blanco head back towards Simms.

In a week where a few players shined more than others, it would take a solid performance like a hat trick to get the attention of the voters. Had there not been a hat trick out of either one you could easily place the award on a number of players like Matt Reis, Jon Busch, Rohan Ricketts, Alejandro Moreno, or Kenny Cooper.

But in the end it was either one hat trick or another. Emilio or Buddle. Take your pick because either one was fine indeed.

Buddle showed off his head, Emilio showed his dangerous feet.

To me I had to look at the goals scored. All six were solid efforts but to me I ended up enjoying Buddle’s headers a bit more than Emilio’s strikes. Two of the three goals from Buddle on Saturday in Oakland against the Quakes came from his noggin. The first header was a beautiful diving header, the second was just an all out effort to beat his man and create the separation needed to head home the goal.

So again to me, Buddle’s trick was better than Emilio’s. Some may see it different but they both really were something special.

The goal of the week is a different subject. Many solid goals. I believe the five in line for goal of the week are all worthy of selection.

But in the end I’m going with a strike from distance from DC United’s Clyde Simms.