A couple quality veterans in Major League Soccer could find new homes this winter. Both Toronto FC and FC Dallas are both putting a veteran midfielder on the trade market.

Last week it was reported that FC Dallas was shopping Dave van den Burgh, just a year after he was traded to Dallas from New York. Now today the same New York team could be getting both van den Burgh and TFC defensive midfielder Carl Robinson. Duane Rollins at the 24th Minute is reporting that TFC is hoping to trade Robinson in the coming weeks in order to move up in the draft and New York is a club that is interested.

New York landing both van den Burgh and Robinson in trades would instantly improve their pathetic midfield that could barely produce anything last year. The big wonder is will a deal get done for those of these players before a new coach is with the club. Continue Reading…

Jeff Cunningham had reasons to smile late in 2009. (Getty Images)

This season was certainly a tale of two halves for FC Dallas. Things got off to the rockiest of starts that saw fans across North Texas grew more upset with the way things were being run in Frisco while the end of the year sure seemed to show things could actually be headed into the right direction for 2010.

Yes the rocky start to the season was mostly due to the club’s inability to market the team properly to the fans and let’s face it the on-field product just plain stunk. The club didn’t win their third game until the end of June.

But July brought a change, Kenny Cooper bolted town and somehow from there things picked up. It also seemed like the less General Manager Michael Hitchcock was in charge of moves the better the team got. Schellas Hyndman started trading around for his kind of guys. He sent Marcelo Saragosa packing for Atiba Harris. Later on he moved Drew Moor for Ugo Ihemelu. And at the same time he also picked up Heath Pearce on allocation and Kyle Davies from Real Salt Lake the defense started to take shape.

What was even more important than those moves were ones that happened before the season and even one from the season before started to actually cash in. Dave van den Burgh who came over from New York started producing just as he was expected. David Ferreira gave fans a reason to like the partnership with Brazilian club CAP once again as he started to link up with a rejuvenated Jeff Cunningham.

Yes Cunningham certainly enjoyed the ladder half of 2009. It was amazing to see him score 16 of his league leading 17 goals after Kenny Cooper left town for Germany.

While the club failed to reach the post season on the final day of the season with the loss to Seattle the club did provide reason to the fans in Dallas that this club has the ability to really turn things around for 2010.

What Went Right In 2009:
Once Hyndman got his guys in the lineup his defense started to actually defense Dario Sala’s goal. They went from giving up a couple goals a game to shutting teams out when it mattered most. Thanks to Cunningham in the second half of the season the team found it’s offense again. Hyndman started to prove at the end of the year that he may be worth it as a coach after all.

What Went Wrong In 2009:
Despite the nice finish to the season 2009 was still a bit of a disaster for this club. It wasn’t just the on the field issues early on with this club it was the front office digging a deeper hole with the fans of this club, especially the really loyal fan base that has been with the team from the beginning. Decisions not to market the club or improve existing issues within the club left a lot of people this year in Dallas with a bad taste in their mouths. But the decision to let Michael Hitchcock go after the season was certainly a good step for the club. But again it won’t be enough unless the owners start caring a little more about this club and the city it’s in.

What’s Next:
For this club coming up will be trimming the fat of this club. Pablo Richetti has already been shown the door and a trade will most likely come once the window that kind of thing opens again after MLS Cup. Look for the Andre Rocha loan to end and he be sent back to Brazil as well as a few other cuts that made no sense to make in the first place (Daniel Torres, Steve Purdy, etc.). From there I believe the club is looking to re-sign Dax McCarty. At the end of the day this club just needs to continue to build on those solid young players they have and add one or two veteran players to fill the gaps. I really believe this club is a player or two away from really, and I mean really making a run for things in 2010.

Its kind of weird to see the Cotton Bowl hosting MLS once again but tonight it happens. The New England Revolution travel to Dallas to play part of a double header that will pretty much only boost Dallas’ dreadful season attendance figures.

New England comes into town on a fairly hot streak despite the fact they just lost one of their key players Steve Ralston for the rest of the year to a knee injury. The loss of Ralston shakes up their midfield a bit and could put a damper into their offense. Thankfully for Steve Nicol, his club has done well recently defensive wise in slowing down teams like Seattle.

Dallas however will pose a bigger threat offensively that New England hasn’t faced in a few weeks. The hot streak of Jeff Cunningham and company leads many to wonder if Dallas is on the way up even though their playoff hopes henge on going undefeated from here out.

Look for Dallas to press hard in this one early as they cannot afford to even drop points with a draw in this one. New England will have to rely on a swift counter with MVP candidate Shalrie Joseph leading the way.

I think this one ends in a draw tonight with the way New England plays defense and the fact that they always seem to find success against Dallas in Dallas. I don’t know if the Cotton Bowl site will really have any affect on the game but it will be a nice turn back the clock kind of night for the boys in the red stripes.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, New England 1

Loads of goals this week in MLS. Some were good and others were so-so. Throw in a few PKs and it was a busy weekend in MLS.

There are plenty of goals this week, especially since we had a 6-3 game and a 3-2 game.

Order of video: Frankie Hejduk, Maicon Santos, Dave van den Burgh, Jeff Cunningham, A.J. DeLaGarza, Dax McCarty, David Ferriera, Jeff Cunningham, Edson Buddle, Chris Rolfe, Jamison Olave, Josh Wolff,  Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Dwayne De Rosario, Conor Casey, and Nana Attakora

Cam Weaver and Dave van den Burgh battle again tonight. (Getty Images)

There’s nothing like kicking off a week with a good in-state derby. Tonight we get just that for week 21’s kickoff as the Houston Dynamo travel to Frisco, TX to face FC Dallas. Both clubs are coming off big wins from last weekend and look to take ownership of El Capitán, the prize given to the winning club in the season series.

So far this season Houston has gotten the better of their northern rivals by beating them 1-0 and 3-1. The Orange would love nothing more than to do it again for a clean season series sweep.

Dallas may have gotten their offense off the ground last week against Kansas City but looking at what kind of defense they are going up against I think it will be tough for them to get more than one by the Dynamo defense. Sure Houston let in three last week to DC but I just don’t see Dominic Kinnear’s bunch doing that again.

Houston should be able to control things in the middle with Brad Davis and Stuart Holden, which should allow Brian Ching to find openings in the Dallas defense.

I think the difference will come down to guys like Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron in the back for Houston going against Jeff Cunningham and Dave van den Burgh for Dallas. I’d like to think that Dallas can keep their offense flying here but they’ve never really been able to dominate Houston since the Dynamo were moved to Houston a few years ago. I also wouldn’t expect a good crowd for this one as no one in Dallas likes to travel to Frisco on a week night with all the traffic around here.

Anyways, I see Houston carrying this one out and extending their lead in the overall standings.

WVH Prediction: Houston 2, Dallas 1

Week number 20, hard to believe we are already here and in almost in August for that matter. But indeed the dust has settled on the All-Star break and it is time to get back to work for several MLS clubs this weekend.

Some clubs will get games in the middle of a long week like DC and Toronto. While a couple sides are off all together Chivas (thanks to the X-Games) and New York (thanks to the CCL). Then there is LA who host a big time friendly against FC Barcelona on Saturday.

As always feel free to leave your score predictions below to this week’s action. Continue Reading…

The second half of the season is getting under full swing this weekend. Plenty of good games all over the place to discuss as we head closer to the All-Star break later this month. Some very important clashes in each conference this weekend could really reshape the standings after Saturday night.

Most of the 15 clubs are in action except for RSL, DC and New York. I think most Red Bull fans are excited to see the club actually get a weekend off for once here. Still we have six big games to talk about, all on Saturday. Don’t forget about the Gold Cup this weekend too, the US has one more group game left before heading on to the quarterfinals.

Feel free as always to leave your predictions and thoughts below. Continue Reading…