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…

I had meant to get this up yesterday but I’ll admit I got side tracked and it didn’t happen. Anyways below are the highlights from Saturday’s exhibition between FC Dallas and the University of Tulsa.

FC Dallas routed Tulsa 7-1 in this one as David Ferreira and Atiba Harris scored two goals apiece while Brek Shea added three assists. Dallas was without Jeff Cunningham but the offense didn’t lack one bit. I was particularly impressed with Shea and his assists, that’s a good sign that he could see plenty of minutes this year for Schellas Hyndman.

Dallas fans are hoping for a little more to cheer about in 2010. (Getty Images)

After a couple days away from this series we are back, today with my hometown team FC Dallas. So far we’ve looked at Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC and Philadelphia in this pre-season look in on how each club is looking as they gear towards the new season.

FC Dallas comes into pre-season camp looking pretty good after a solid finish to the 2009 campaign. Schellas Hyndman has made a couple moves and could be prepared to do a couple more before the season starts. Right now there are a few trailists on the pre-season roster but that doesn’t always mean they’ll be there on opening day.

Let’s take a look in now and see what Dallas had done and what else they need to take care of before the new season.

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.

While the day seems to be lost on everyone’s Twitter feeds being down, I figured it was a good time to get back in the award discussion once again here. Instead of waiting for putting this in the evening links and thoughts I figured I would break this discussion off into it’s own post for the day.

With a couple weeks left in the season the Newcomer of the Year award is starting to actually get a little tighter. For months it’s nearly been all Seattle Sounders leading the charge but now a couple other names are starting to emerge on the list and if some lead their clubs into the playoffs you can bet they will snatch up some of those votes from folks like myself.

Here is my top five for the Newcomer of the Year. Feel free to list yours below.

1. Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders): The one getting all the press is still Montero though he finally has some true company for this award. The more he produces in the final weeks the better his chances are at this award.

2. David Ferreira (FC Dallas): To be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of this guy early on in the season but since Jeff Cunningham got hot so did he. Ferreira finally found his way in the league and now he is starting to look like the playmaker that Dallas was hoping he’d be. You have to believe that if Dallas somehow makes it into the playoffs Ferreira will be a big reason behind it. He does have a lot of ground to make up to win this award though.

3. Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders): Keller’s stock continues to be in a holding pattern for this award. Not that its a bad thing and he has certainly done his part to get the Sounders where they are at right now.

4. Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy): LA returns to the playoffs for the first time in a couple years and believe it or not it has a lot to do with Ricketts. Now if he leads his club to a Supporter’s Shield title in the final weeks of the season you can bet he will move up these charts.

5. Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders): The last of the Sounders in my top five. He’s been a rock in the midfield for this club all year. Just a shame that no one signed this player before this season because he has potential to be a big time player in the league for years to come.

Others in consideration: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle), Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle), Eduardo Lillingston (Chivas USA), Gregg Berhalter (LA Galaxy).

Jeff Cunningham will have to continue his MVP form tonight in San Jose.

You want some playoff type drama? Good because tonight’s midweek clash between San Jose and Dallas offers just that. Win and continue on in a the little hope of reaching the playoffs, lose or tie and you season is pretty much over.

Dallas won’t completely be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss tonight but you can pretty much put a good dollar or two on the long list of things that need to happen for them to get in to only grow with another loss. A win certainly makes all things that much more interesting as the Red Stripes continue up the standings here thanks to the boot of Jeff Cunningham and the helping hand (or boot for that matter) of David Ferreira.

Unlike their current place in the standings these two should put on a good game tonight based on their current runs. Dallas is 3-1-1 record in its past five matches, scoring 14 goals in those games. San Jose is on a very impressive run, posting a 4-0-2 mark since the All-Star break.

Dallas will need to find a way to get Cunningham involved early and in space. On a smaller field like Buck Shaw Stadium it could be tougher for them to do so. They’ll also have to keep a close eye on the always sneaky Ryan Johnson. Should Johnson get the proper space in the box he will certainly put away a goal or two for the Quakes.

I think this could be a draw but I am going with the more desperate of the two teams wanting points for a playoff run right now and that is Dallas. The Quakes have been quietly impressive as of late but Dallas just looks like a club possessed to get into the post season again here. While I think their chances are slim to do it a win will certainly get them closer here with a couple games left to go. Cunningham continues his remarkable run with another goal.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 2, San Jose 1

Plenty of good goals this week for you all here. I’ve put together the usual mix of goals that I thought were goal of the week material. A couple really jumped out at me like Arturo Alvarez’s goal against Dallas, as well as Omar Cummings’ game-tying goal against RSL.

If you think I missed a goal, please let me know below.

Order of goals: Taylor Twellman (New England), David Ferreira (Dallas), Arturo Alvarez (San Jose), Kenny Cooper (Dallas), Omar Cummings (Colorado), Edson Buddle (LA), and Stuart Holden (Houston).