Another amazing stadium opens this weekend. (Wilf Thorne / Houston Dynamo)

All eyes this weekend will be on Houston. Major League Soccer get to open up yet another soccer specific stadium and BBVA Compass Stadium will certainly be a proud one to display to the world. The bright orange seats and the oven-like feeling inside will almost certainly give the Dynamo a tough home environment to deal with.

Aside from that Week 10 in MLS also has some other good games of note including a huge showcase game in Seattle between Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders. That clash will open up the Western Conference race a bit and show who really is the top dog in the league.

There are plenty of talking points for the weekend so here are some items I will be keeping a close watch on.

1. BBVA Goodness. I said yesterday in my predictions of New York and Houston that the Dynamo would likely not come out on top. The club would have their mind’s elsewhere and mostly they would be on Saturday’s home debut at their new stadium. Houston comes into this match with a respectable road record of 2-3-2 after seven games. Good but not great and certainly better than previous clubs who’ve started out the season with long road stretches while a stadium is being finished.

The Dynamo need a spark though. They’ve been marginal in seven games and really were just playing like a road team throughout. Hopefully the home game, in front of their fans, in a new environment that they can call their own will be enough of a spark to see just how good this team really is.

2. Can the Impact stay hot? I said it earlier in the week in my weekly recap, Montreal is the hottest Eastern Conference team going right now. Yeah, going 3-1-1 in their last five tells you that Jesse Marsch is finally hitting some of the right buttons. The midfield is coming around nicely and the defense isn’t giving up a ton of ugly mistakes.

They host the struggling Galaxy in one of the final games at the Big O this season for them. Naturally this will be another big draw for the expansion city. David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and company all come to town hoping to finally get going for good here this season.

Honestly, after nine games you have to think the Galaxy may be as good as they’re going to be here this season. They obviously have the talent to do some serious damage still in this league but something hasn’t clicked for them this season and I don’t see it happening on the road in a game like this. Montreal plays a physical brand of soccer, not one that LA will do well against unless someone sees an early red for the Impact.

3. Sporting to get back on track. Two straight surprise losses to Portland and Montreal have everyone really wondering about Sporting Kansas City. The club started out strong winning seven in a row before falling in their last two. Either clubs have figured out how to contain Sporting or maybe Peter Vermes’ side just hit a bit of a wall here. No matter which way you look at it if they go three in a row without a win, some serious questions will be raised about them.

They head to Chicago this weekend to face the Fire, a club that is still searching for an identity. The Windy City bunch are coming off a solid home draw to Real Salt Lake last night. Marco Pappa is looking dangerous by the minute for the Fire and defensively Frank Klopas’ side is getting better as well – last night’s shutout proved that.

4. Pioneer Cup weekend. This isn’t a major rivalry in MLS but FC Dallas and Columbus do play for a shiny trophy. The two Hunt Sports Group franchises are struggling big time though at the moment. Each side is dealing with a ton of injuries to key players and both come into this game searching just for points.

If anything this could be a game that comes down to the wire. Dallas looked strong last night against Seattle for the first 60 minutes or so but just failed to convert any chances. Columbus on the other hand has an offense that you really can’t write home about here so far this season. Six goals on the season puts them near the bottom of the league in that department. Dallas isn’t a ton better with 10 goals scored but something tells me after last night that they’ll have a better shot at things with Blas Perez back on the field.

5. Battle for the top spot. While San Jose may have something to say about things on Sunday with their game against Chivas USA, both RSL and Seattle will be dogging it out Saturday night to try and take hold of first place in the Western Conference and MLS. Each side are playing very well these days and the Sounders are certainly the hottest club in the league right now.

Sigi Schmid was wise and lucky enough to rest some key players last night in Dallas for Saturday’s game. He mentioned afterwards that getting Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales some rest will certainly go a long way for this weekend’s result.

Defensively though should be a fun clash. Seattle is on a nice shutout run while Salt Lake proved in Chicago that they can win without Nick Rimando in goal.

6. New York looking for more. I have to give it up to the Red Bulls. Without Thierry Henry they continue to grind away at the 1-0 results (now three in a row). Dax McCarty has stepped up nicely as a leader in the clubhouse while the young defense in front of rookie keeper Ryan Meara continues to shine.

Hans Backe has finally gotten his side into position to succeed in my mind. At 19 points after 10 games, the credit goes to the unlikely sources like Meara and McCarty.

The Red Bulls have to deal with a Philly club that is still struggling to find a footing into this season. The Union have one of the worst attacks in MLS right now and defensively have struggled to stay in games. I’d imagine this one will be a physical affair, possibly one that sees a few cards. But given the style of play out of these two sides right now I really wouldn’t expect anything more than a 1-0 or 2-0 game here.

Dax McCarty is on the move yet again. (Getty Images)

Yes, this is indeed real. Dwayne De Rosario has been traded from the New York Red Bulls to D.C. United in exchange for Dax McCarty.

Let that one sink in for a moment. DeRo for Dax. Straight up.

De Rosario began the 2011 MLS season with Toronto FC, registering one goal and one assist in two matches before being dealt to the New York Red Bulls on April 1. Since then he has scored two goals and bagged four assists.

McCarty went to United on November 24, 2010 following the MLS Expansion Draft, in which the Portland Timbers acquired the midfielder with the first overall pick. McCarty had two assists on the season with D.C.

Man, talk about a trade that will certainly mix things up in the Eastern Conference. In a way I want to think that New York is getting the better end of this deal as McCarty will certainly be a solid addition to their midfield for Hans Backe. McCarty should thrive in New York’s possessional attack, he never really got a chance to shine in D.C. this season in my book.

As for the other side of the ball, DeRo going to his third team this season is baffling. I like the move for D.C. as it gives them an element in their attacking midfield that they’ve lacked this season. Its a gamble for sure as DeRo is always a tough guy to deal with in the locker room but if he shows up and leads, this club will certainly be pushed up into the playoff discussion here.

I also think that this could be a deal that DeRo wanted as New York was probably unlikely to give him the kind of money that he truly wants at the end of this season. My gut also tells me that New York could be opening up some cap space to sign a new keeper too. Just a hunch.

What do you make of this trade? Who got the better end of the deal?

I’m sure by now you’ve seen this practice kick from D.C. United’s Dax McCarty as the US National Team training camp before the Chile game. Yeah, its pretty ridiculous.

Like I said in my short recap of that US-Chile game, McCarty looked like the real deal once again and a big reason why D.C. United should enjoy a much better season than the one they had last year.

I’ll get into those seasonal previews next month, I really feel its a waste of time doing those sorts of things this early in the preseason. Same goes for doing Power Rankings this year.

I only have a few notes to discuss from the US-Chile game.

• Dax McCarty looked great. Well for D.C. United fans that is. I cannot tell you how much Dallas will miss this guy in 2011 but United fans have to be grinning from ear-to-ear today about the future of their club with this guy.
• The Teal Bunbury-Juan Agudelo combo is the wave of the future for the US. I truly believe that more than ever now. Sure we still have the likes of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore to play striker for the US but Bunbury and Agudelo are showing right away that they are ready to take over when called upon.
• Zac Loyd could indeed be the answer the US is looking for in terms of a left back. Its one game for him and I may be a tad biased but I really liked what I saw out of him.
• Again it may have been one game but Tim Ream and Omar Gonzales did nothing for me. More Ream than Gonzalez.
• And I’ll agree with the notion that saying this game wasn’t meaningless either. This is a good set up game for the Egypt friendly next month. Hopefully its a momentum building game in Cario.

Yes, it happened that quickly. I think maybe Portland is trying to get the band back together from Maryland’s NCAA title run in 2008 now that they have Wallace teamed up with recently acquired Jeremy Hall.

On the surface this trade is a total shocker but I don’t underestimate what this deal could mean for Portland. I’d imagine the extra allocation will come in handy to try and keep someone like Robbie Findley on board. (Edit: I read thing wrong originally, why on Earth did Portland give up allocation in this deal?) Wallace is a younger and cheaper version of McCarty too. We saw in Wallace’s rookie season that he can be extremely good in the midfield in a holding position.

As for D.C. they get a rock in the midfield to go with Clyde Simms. Honestly that will mean so much for their defense next season. McCarty is a massive upgrade for their midfield and one that will help them get out of the cellar. Really this is the first good move D.C. has made in about two years.

Click here for the link to Montz’s podcast page.

Yesterday some MLS players helped kick off the weekend by walking on the red carpet. FC Dallas’ midfielder Dax McCarty was one of those lucky players. Enjoy the red green carpet video below as you start your Friday.

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.

Keepers:

Who they have: Dario Sala and Josh Lambo.

Notes: Right away you can see the depth is an issue in this department. Word has it they are after another 30-something keeper named Ora Nikolov. Honestly I don’t like them going after another old keeper, they already have one in Sala. Honestly I want to see more Lambo and his development here. If they can get a solid back up to Sala they will be fine but you have to figure that they’ll need someone for at least a half dozen games or so because we know Sala is bound to pick up an injury at some point in the season, he always does.

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Defense:

Who they have: Daniel Hernández, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benítez, Heath Pearce, Aziz Ansah, George John, Anthony Wallace, and Kyle Davies.

Notes: Honestly this is probably the best bunch of defenders Dallas has seen in a number of years. Defense has always been some sort of an issue with this club in the past but the solid collection of young and veteran players in the back that should be solid enough for the season.

More than likely from the way things seem at camp right now Pearce and Hernandez will be in the midfield rather than in the back four. Bringing Ansah in this winter helped make the move for Pearce possible and one that I am very curious to see.

Dallas probably could still go after another center back as right now their options are fairly young with John, Davies, and the slightly older Ihemelu. Right now one of those open spots could go to Steve Purdy who is in camp and fighting for a roster spot. I’d honestly rather see another option there but at this point if it isn’t a foreign trialist or someone on loan then the pickings are slim.

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Midfield:

Who they have: Dax McCarty, Bruno Guarda, Eric Avila, Marvin Chávez, Zach Loyd, and Bryan Leyva.

Notes: On paper this is a very young midfield. Chavez is the oldest at 26. Still with guys like Pearce and Hernandez likely to be in the midfield this season it balances things out a good bit. Hyndman loves players who play multiple positions so that will also explain why there are only a few midfielders actually listed here. Forwards like Atiba Harris and David Ferreira also can play in the midfield too.

For me this group is the make or break part of this team. With no Dave van den Burgh this year (or at least it is looking that way for now) it seems like McCarty will be called to do a lot of the grunt work in creating offense while Harris, Pearce, and Hernandez will be called to hold things on the wings and in defense. This time last year I was on the camp that wanted McCarty out of Dallas but after his play last year I fully want him there. He’s turning into a very solid player and one that is highly underrated.

This group could still use some depth though going forward, particularly on the wings and I’m not entirely sure if I like Hernandez as the defensive midfielder going into the start of the year yet.

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Forwards:

Who they have: Jeff Cunningham, Andrew Wiedeman, Brek Shea, Atiba Harris, David Ferreira, and Peri Marosevic.

Notes: If Cunningham is as productive as he was in the second half of last year then there is really no need to make a lot of notes on this group. Honestly this group, even as young as it is right now is probably one of the more underrated forward groups in the league. Ferreira turned out to be one heck of a signing last year for Dallas once he (finally) got use to the style of play in MLS.

I do hope to see more of Shea and Marosevic this year, and to a lesser extent Wiedeman. Their development is so vital to the future of this club and I do worry some that they may not be getting enough playing time right now. Hopefully that thought will go away this year with more time on the field.

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Overall:

One thing is clear right now, the types of players Hyndman is going after (other than old SMU players) are versatile. He wants guys that can play all over the field to cover any depth issues that the club may have. Not a bad move on his part because it does create a lot of competition between the players for certain spots.

Right now though there are a couple areas that need patched up like the center back and on the wings in the midfield. Both are more in terms of depth right now than actually finding new starters. It will be curious to see if they do find a trade partner for van den Burgh’s player rights or if that will just fizz away here before the season. Also finding a solid backup keeper will be key as well.

Dallas has a shot to be really good this year if all the pieces fall in line like they were towards the end of last year. Though another slow start could make people question Hyndman’s tactics even more. Should be fun to watch though.

McCarty Re-signs with FCD (link) – Good stuff by Dallas to get one of their better midfielders back for next year. Hard to believe he was pretty much dead in the water to start 2009 in most people’s eyes here. Glad he and Schellas Hyndman got rid of whatever issues they had with one another.

Move the Crew? (link) – This came down last week from Jason over at MatchFit USA. I wanted to post something about it over the weekend but my travel schedule got in the way. Honestly I don’t agree with the comments to move the club. Sure they struggled at the gate but if you go on this model then you need to move about six other clubs.

Hall of Fame Nominees (link) – Gotta love the long list of guys and gals up for HOF. Earnie Stewart, Peter Vermes and Thomas Dooley definitely get my vote without question. Marco Etcheverry, Peter Nowak and Carlos Valderrama are some of the non-Americans on the ballot that are worth a vote as well.