Brian Ching will be called to lead the Dynamo yet again. (Getty Images)

The 2010 season presents a challenge for Dominic Kinnear and the Houston Dynamo. First of all their top two stars from a year ago are now gone to Europe. Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark left a big hole in the midfield and some would even argue that the club is still recovering from the trade of Dwayne de Rosario from last winter.

Today we take a gander at where they are right now going into the new year. So far the Dynamo have shifted some players around drafted a couple guys that may never see time on the field and for the most part done very little in terms of player movement this winter. We’ve actually heard more news surrounding this club’s potential stadium deal than new players joining the roster this winter.

Let’s take a look at who the Dynamo have and where they still need to go before the new season starts next month.

Continue Reading…

Dominic Oduro heads back to Texas. (Getty Images)

Every year it seems Dominic Kinnear makes a small move that pays off in a big way down the line.

This could very well be that move as the club announced today that they have traded for forward Dominic Oduro from New York in exchange for a 2010 first-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft and a 2011 second-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft.

Houston may have sent a little much in terms of draft picks to New York but this move makes plenty of sense for Kinnear’s bunch. Oduro was not thriving well in New York and was likely to get traded or waived this summer anyways by Juan Carlos Osorio.

The Dynamo needed more depth up front and Oduro’s speed is exactly the type of player that Kinnear likes to get around this time of the year. I think under Kinnear and with the help of veterans like Brian Ching, Oduro could do very well in Houston.

The move also make sense for New York who are reportedly hoping to sign one of their academy products, either midfielder Dilly Duka or forward Johnny Exantus. Most reports suggest they will go with Exantus, though I have heard talk of Duka getting a Generation adidas contract with the Red Bulls. Time will tell on either one of those two. Honestly I’d love to see both get signed but I doubt that will happen this summer.

Kind of hard to believe we are already five weekends into the new season. For those keeping score at home after this week we will be a sixth of the way through the season…well for most clubs at least.

Another six game weekend slate for us, with four on Saturday and two for Sunday kicks. Every club is in action this week (including tonight’s game) except for Columbus, and let’s face it they need the week off to figure out things here.

As always feel free to post your game predictions below.

Real Salt Lake – at – New York Red Bulls

1. Will we finally see the reinforcements for New York? Continue Reading…

Just caught wind that this deal is now official.

New York Red Bulls traded Dave van den Bergh and the No. 14 overall pick in the MLS Draft to FC Dallas for forward Dominic Oduro, the No. 11 and the No. 18 picks in the draft.

Just about what we expected earlier as far as picks go. They swap first round picks and Dallas gives up one of their second rounders, something Schellas Hyndman was looking to do anyways.

My bet this will put an end to the talk of Dallas trading up to get the number two pick from Toronto. I just don’t see them doing that now. But I will go into that later on. More trades seem to be flying in too…Mike Magee to LA? We will see.

Dave van den Burgh may be doing his celebrations at Pizza Hut Park now.

It sounds as though there is a possible pre-draft trade in the works between FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls. Buzz Carrick is reporting that the two sides have agreed to swap international players on their rosters. Dallas would send forward Dominic Oduro to New York for winger Dave van den Burgh.

Interesting swap really, Carrick also mentions some draft picks will be involved in the deal but he couldn’t varify which picks. My feelings they will be a second round pick from Dallas going to New York and probably a forth round pick going to Dallas. Just speculation on my part but looking at what the two clubs have in terms of picks that makes the most sense.

From the top I love this deal for both sides. New York gets a salary cap relief in a big way by getting a much cheaper Oduro. Most may recall in the summer Juan Carlos Osorio wanted Oduro in a trade but couldn’t get him at the time. He really had little to work with then during a playoff push. Now he apparently struck the right deal with the Hoops.

For Dallas it works out because they need a strong presence on the wings. There is no doubt that van den Burgh will provide that for the club. Plus it so happens his wife if from Dallas so the deal also makes sense for him personally. You know what they say, “wife happy, life happy”.

Nothing is official yet but I would imagine if this deal is as legit as it sounds we will probably know something more before Thursday.

After the sale of Jozy Altidore to Spain, New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been shopping around the world for a replacement striker. Right now he is mainly targeting three here in the States as the international transfer window closed for MLS clubs last Friday.

The three Osorio is looking at right now, Colorado’s Omar Cummings; Dallas’s Dominic Oduro; and USL-1 side Atlanta’s Macoumba Kandji.

Osorio is hopeful to get something done next week but as we all know landing Kandji will not come easy as there is still a $200,000 transfer fee for him. The Red Bulls are hoping a sale of Michael Bradley will go through to allow the club to get enough allocation for the transfer fee. Those who don’t remember Bradley was a member of the Metrostars before he went to Holland. When he was transfered the league tacked on the usual claus to get a portion of a transfer fee to the next club that Bradley goes to. Its a typical practice that the league usually tried to do for outgoing players.

Anyways, if Osorio isn’t patient enough for Bradley’s transfer, they are hoping either Cummings or Oduro can be the quick fix (no pun intended).

According to the New York Post’s Brad Lewis, Osorio is hoping that recent trades and signings for Dallas will help land Oduro in the Big Apple since Oduro has fallen into the late-game sub for the Hoops. Cummings may be tougher to sign now that Colorado is going through a bit of a coaching change.

In all honesty, I highly doubt Oduro is going anywhere right now and the same can probably be said for Cummings. Both speedsters still have plenty of vaule to their clubs and I can bet their coaches aren’t looking to ship them off anytime soon. Plus, what exactly will New York give up in return? Draft picks? While both would take them, I would hope each would as for a high draft pick in return since both Oduro and Cummings were surprise picks for each club.

I think each getting mentioned is just a plan B and C for the Red Bulls if they don’t land Kandji.

More than likely the Red Bulls will try to be patient as possible here and sign Kandji once the money situation sorts itself out. They want to get a striker in before the end of the year to pair up with Juan Pablo Angel. The thing is I feel this could be too late for the club and in the end it could be a difference of making the playoffs and not.

Either way its just a quick fix for the club, who looks to sign another Designated Player in the off season.

What do you all make of Cummings and Oduro being mentioned out there? While both are good are they really what New York needs right now?

Nothing like picking up a win at the right time for Marco Ferruzzi and his FC Dallas players. Coming into the game today with the Chicago Fire, the Hoops were riding a three game winless streak along with some shaky play for the past two months.

But that didn’t stop the home side from putting away their old rivals from the north 1-0 on a hot afternoon.

Kenny Cooper extended FCD’s home dominance against the Fire to 11 games, dating all the way back to 1999. Yeah, that’s one of those sports streaks that is in the impressive category.

It truly was the right time for the Hoops to get a win though. Going into a week where they are expected to get a new head coach, it was a perfect way to end the interim Ferruzzi era. The interim coach pulled out all the stops in this one, which felt like a rivalry game once again between these two sides.

Cooper gets on the board early for the home side and they never looked back. Chicago honestly never really got into the game. Blanco and company looked beat by the heat and Dallas nearly made it a two or three nil game in the second half with Cooper and Dominic Oduro. Continue Reading…