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.

Keepers:

Who they have: Pat Onstad, Tally Hall, and Tyler Deric.

Notes: As long as Onstad remains healthy this isn’t an area of concern for Kinnear. Big thing will the the development of Deric who has to be in some way the future keeper of this club. My bet is they will loan out Deric this season to a USSF Division II club or even a USL-2 club. They have to get him some playing time to get any sort of progression out of their first academy signing.

——————————————————————

Defense:

Who they have: Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson, Ryan Cochrane, Craig Waibel, Mike Chabala, Wade Barrett, and Andrew Hainault.

Notes: Getting a healthy Robinson back this season should be a big thing for the Dynamo. This group will still be solid with all the talent they still have in the back. One thing though will be getting some depth and some youth here.

I still believe if this group stays healthy they won’t have too many issues this season. I kind of see Kinnear trading for a defender to add depth at some point this season.

————————————————————————

Midfield:

Who they have: Kevin Harmse, Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis, Daniel Cruz, Erik Ustruck, Richard Mulrooney, Brian Mullan, Corey Ashe, Samuel Appiah, and David Walker.

Notes: Big change here will be seeing Cameron slide into the midfield. Honestly from knowing Cameron and seeing him play he’s probably better suited for the midfield than in the defense anyways. Houston will be looking for him to really step it up this season and carry the load in the midfield. Thankfully he does have some quality offensive players like Brad Davis to help out in the assist department.

Big thing here will be if guys like Ashe can step up play on the wings. If Houston’s wing play is weak this season so will their offense. Ashe, Davis, and Cameron have to step it up in order to keep the Dynamo near the top in the west.

————————————————————————-

Forwards:

Who they have: Brian Ching, Dominic Oduro, Luis Angel Landin, and Cam Weaver.

Notes: We know this, Ching will have to carry the load once again…that is if Landin doesn’t finally step up and play to his DP status. Those are two guys that will have to score the goals this season we know that but don’t sleep on Oduro or Weaver here. Oduro and his speed along with Weaver’s size are big parts to this groups offensive output. How Kinnear uses them this season will be key.

Landin, Weaver and Oduro will likely have to step up production though if Ching does make it to South Africa with the USMNT this summer. Should any dip in goals happen while Ching is gone this club will be in trouble.

More than likely we’ll see a trade for this group though at some point in the season. It seems like once a year Kinnear makes a trade for a striker within the league. I look for that to happen yet again this season towards the middle part of summer.

—————————————————————-

Overall:

The questions always surround this club each year about their offense and where it will come from. Now the question will be can they improve from losing two important players in their midfield. They can replace one with Cameron and they’ll get away with guys like Mulrooney filling in for Clark but will that be enough? I honestly doubt it.

Funny thing is we always doubt something with this club each year and yet they still show up when it matters. Kinnear knows what he is doing more than most coaches in this league do. He works his system well and always knows how to find the right parts for it. They won’t be flashy this year but they’ll get by. I think adding a couple more parts in the midfield on the wings and maybe a defender or two in the back for depth purposes will suit them well.

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.

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?

This should be the game we see the new guys play for New York in some capacity either as starting or off the bench. No word yet on how fit Albert Cedades is yet but I would imagine he will at least be involved in some way or another in this one. The club will also finally have Alfredo Pacheco for this one too, who finally got his ITC after a few weeks of waiting.

The biggest though may be getting keeper Jon Conway back in goal. Even though I am not the biggest Conway supporter (never thought he was all that good from the start), he is better than Danny Cepero. How big on an impact he will bring is totally up to him and his defense who has been terrible this season.

2. Can RSL win on the road?

Let’s face it, for me RSL has to start winning consistently on the road. Getting even a cheap road win will help their cause or getting a win over a crappy club like New York will help. Plus there is the revenge factor against New York for outting them in last year’s playoffs. And lastly there is some extra motivation to get their first win ever against New York.

If there was ever a time to get started on looking like a true contender it is now for RSL.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

Even with all the new guys for New York I am waiting to see Juan Pablo Angel light things up this season. He usually starts to pick it up after a few games and after hearing for weeks how bad the Red Bull attack is you’d have to think he’d take that a bit personal too. He should get off the mark here…should being the key word there.

Quick Thoughts:

New York has to start scoring eventually here right? Going against a pretty decent defense in RSL it could happen but I’m not so certain they are quite there yet this season. They looked decent in their home opener against New England but other than that they’ve been a train reck this season. RSL on the other hand needs to start making noise if they want to be taken serious. So both clubs do have a lot riding on this early season game. In the end I like a draw for this one. New York will get off the mark here for the season and score a goal (or two) but I see RSL staying with them and nearly pull off the road win. Angel and Dominic Oduro get New York on the board while Will Johnson and Yura Movsisyan keep RSL level.

WVH Prediction: New York 2, RSL 2

————————————————————————————————————-

Kansas City Wizards – at – Chicago Fire:

1. Will Kansas City be able to keep it up here?

Two straight wins, with one being over one of the league’s best teams (and story) so far this season. Also throw in the fact that KC has actually done well at Toyota Park makes this a much watch for me. I’ve been down on KC for a while but if they can keep it up they could even turn me into a believer here early on this season.

For that to happen they have to get by a really good Chicago team. I don’t see the Fire caving in like last week and giving up three goals to KC. For one I don’t see KC scoring three goals in many games this season and for seconds Chicago is just too good of a club to not let that happen in back-to-back games.

2. When will the Fire really turn it on here this season?

Even though I’ve rated Chicago as the best club so far this season, I will be the first to admit they haven’t been that impressive. But saying that is also a testament of how good this team really is. They are slowly hitting their stride and are still winning (or tying) games in the process. It hasn’t hurt that guys like Marco Pappa, Chris Rolfe, and Brian McBride are all really playing well so far this season. A few weeks in and it could be time for the Fire to really start to break away from the pack here. You typically see clubs around this time of the year do so and I think Chicago could be that club this year who begins to pull away early.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

Josh Wolff for KC is someone I want to see finally break away and turn it on here this season. He is facing his old town’s club and you gotta think he’s eager to get on the board against them. KC needs him to start producing consistently here in order to become a real contender this season.

Quick Thoughts:

I gotta say this game may be one of the best matchups of the weekend that no one is really talking about. While everyone will (and to a degree should) have their eyes on the next two matchs for Saturday, this is the game that I am wanting to see. KC is starting to show some real promise here after the slow start but they need to show that the win last week wasn’t a fluke and that they can beat the big boy clubs of the league on the road. Beating Chicago would certainly do that. Thing is I just see the Fire responding to last week’s 3-3 result in San Jose with a win at home. They know they can do better defensively and will prove it against their eastern rival.Plus I just don’t think KC has an answer for Brian McBride here.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, KC 1

————————————————————————————————————-

LA Galaxy – at – San Jose Earthquakes:

1. Two bad defenses, one big rivalry, sounds like loads of goals right?

I think its a damn good possibility to see plenty of goals. San Jose isn’t playing at all like their tough defensive self that we saw a year ago. LA is just still playing like LA in the midfield and in defense. Throw in the rivalry factor and even the game being in Oakland instead of at Buck Shaw Stadium and you could be in for a real treat.

Oh yeah there is a guy name Landon that use to play for San Jose…I’m pretty sure he will be interested in scoring a few for his current mates against his old side.

2. What will San Jose do with their midfield?

The problem isn’t all the defense, its the midfield isn’t working out with Bobby Convey in the middle. It may be time for Frank Yallop to suck it up and place Convey on the wings where he belongs and move someone else into the middle that can actually handle the ball better. Just with LA and their midfield, if this unit does not improve soon enough this club won’t be taken seriously by anyone in the league as a true contender.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

Speaking of Landon Donovan. has been sort of a Quake killer since joining the Galaxy a few years ago. He has scored three goals and tallied two assists in five regular season games against San Jose. Looking at how San Jose has played thus far this season I would imagine they don’t have the answer for Donovan. That is unless they figure out what to do with Bobby Convey in the midfield. midfield a little more.

Quick Thoughts:

I do love a good rivalry. This one is still that even though the Quakes are a newer version here still. I do see plenty of goals in this one as neither defense has shown they are quite good enough to stop an attack on a consistent basis. Yes, Galaxy fans I know you guys got a shutout last week against Chivas, but that was in a card-infested game that really could have gone Chivas’s way in the end. Back to the game at hand though, I do like the homeside in this one. Even as messy as San Jose has played I do believe at home they are better than LA on the road here. Donovan will get his goal or two but San Jose is better offensively than LA is defensively.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 3, LA 1

————————————————————————————————————-

Seattle Sounders FC – at – Chivas USA:

1. Can Seattle bounce back from their first loss?

While they were down last week to KC the expansion Sounders showed some real grit. They showed to me that even while down they will still be in games and find ways to come back in them. In the end they didn’t due to the loss of Keller (which the more I looked at that the crappier the call became). This game will be a big test for their defense though as they will be without the aforementioned Keller and stuck with a no-named guy in a big early regular season game.

But to Seattle’s credit they have enough veteran leadership on their roster to bounce back and the one of the best coaches in the league that knows what to do when faced with these types of situations.

2. How much longer will Chivas be able to keep up the streak?

All the talk about Seattle early on ended last week with the loss but Chivas is still last undefeated club of the west. Three wins and a draw the AmeriGoats are still top dog in the west over the Sounders. Chivas keeps plugging away with a rag-tag group of guys that no one figured would get the job done. Then again they’ve also played some pretty crappy teams thus far this season. Still 10 points early on is 10 points and we have to give Preki credit for that.

Last week was a big test against their chief rivals, but this one will be even bigger as Seattle has only given up one goal all season. I’m pretty sure Seattle will be looking to control the pace of this game early on which Chivas cannot allow. A team that pressures like Seattle could be the end of a great start unless guys like Sacha Kljestan step up and control the pace of the game from the first kick.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

I’m wanting to see Fredy Montero on the road here. We didn’t get to see him in Toronto a couple weeks ago for various reason and now that he has back and cleared of everything out there he should be able to focus again on soccer. That’s a good thing too as Seattle needs his goals on the road.

Quick Thoughts:

I don’t think anyone even thought this would be as big of a game when the schedules came out a couple months ago. Probably what will be the most watched matchup of the weekend will be this one. I think it will be fairly close early on as Seattle figures out how to respond on the road after their first loss of the year. If they get rattled early by Chivas it will be interesting to see how well the handle it. In the end I see this one shaping up to be a draw, Chivas scores in the first half and Seattle responds early in the second half with Montero.

WVH Prediction: Chivas 1, Seattle 1

————————————————————————————————————-

Colorado Rapids – at – Houston Dynamo:

1. Will Houston be able to put a stop to Conor Casey?

Casey has been one of the biggest reason why Colorado is doing well so far this season. The past three games Casey has stepped up and become a big leader for this club on the field and it is producing not only goals but results. Colorado looks nothing like the club that stumbled out of the gate against Chivas on opening weekend. Houston will probably look to counter some size with size as they finally can use Canadian defender Andrew Hainault. That will definitely be a matchup worth watching if Hainault is in the starting XI for Houston.

2. Will Houston finally get off the slide and score consistently?

I think this matchup is a good one for Houston to get some goals in. Colorado isn’t always the best away club and for the most part no one does well in Houston. If it is the weather or the smaller field or whatever Robertson Stadium has been a nightmare for most MLS clubs since Houston started playing there a coupl years ago.

Ade Akinbiyi should be called into action for Houston as well in this one. It will be interesting to see not only how good this well-traveled striker really is but how well he links up with Brian Ching. If those two pair up well early on this could just be the signing that Dominic Kinnear was waiting for.

3. Player to keep an eye out for.

I really want to keep a tab on Omar Cummings again for Colorado. Even though I think Houston has the defense to control Casey and Cummings, I just see his speed being too much to handle after dealing with the physicality of Casey all day.

Quick Thoughts:

Even though the Rapids have been playing well lately I just see this as a game that gets Houston going here this season. We know they typically start slow each season but I just don’t see a Dominic Kinnear lead team go winless in their first five games. Houston is always a handful at home and should still be on Sunday.

WVH Prediction: Houston 1, Colorado 0

————————————————————————————————————-

Toronto FC – at – FC Dallas:

1. Is Dallas really going to turn things around or was that just a tease?

Some of the guys here in Dallas are saying that the club just needed one good result to get them going here this season. Honestly I don’t buy that at all but that is just player speak from them. While they got a good result on the road a week ago they still looked pretty bad in the process. It was more poor finishing on TFC’s part than Dallas actually putting two and two together here this season.

2. How important is this game for Toronto?

Honestly the Reds need to get this win and get the ball rolling on their season here. They are about to enter a huge stretch of games over the next three and a half weeks and if they can come out that stretch well they will need to begin it with a big road win in Dallas. We know Toronto is capable of pulling off a road win and scoring some goals, its just a matter of time before it all clicks. We said before this home-and-away series with Dallas that Toronto needed four points to feel good about themselves, they need those three points on Sunday. Guys like Amado Guevara and Rohan Ricketts need to step up and take some pressure off FCD-killer Dwayne De Rosario.

3. Player to keep an eye out for on Sunday.

I think for Toronto to get a good start they either need to get Chad Barrett going or bench him. More than likely he will be a starter so keep an eye out for him. This is honestly a make or break kind of game for him.

Quick Thoughts:

Most of the time I would like Dallas at home against an unproven road team like Toronto. Thing is the Red Stripes have given me no reason to believe in them yet this season. Toronto out played them a week ago and probably will do the same this weekend. Like I said its an important game for Toronto, they need to get going here this season. While Dallas need to do the same they just need to figure themselves out more before it can happen.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 2, Dallas 1

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.

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?

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.

I must say this was one of the more impressive wins out of this young Dallas club all season. They showed heart for 90 minutes and really never quit like we have seen them do in recent games. There were a lot of nervous faces out on th pitch late in the game, especially in the final seconds. But when it was all said and done Dallas walked away with three points and moved right back in the thick of things in the western conference.

The loss for Chicago showed us a couple things. One, it was hot and this club tires quickly in the heat; two, Blanco flops a lot; and three, without Jon Busch in net this club may not be where they are if it weren’t for him.

Sure Cooper had the goal for Dallas and was the man of the match for them, but to me Busch stood out as the man of the match overall. Nine saves on the afternoon, the one that beat him he wasn’t going to get anyways. A couple more later in the game I don’t know how he got.

I was left wondering after this game if this is more of the same out of the Fire now. Defense is slowly showing their weaknesses, their offense isn’t packing the same punch, and their depth is in question. Sure, once Brian McBride comes things should pick back up but right now this club looks to be going into a mid-season slump of some sorts.

It definitely was not the same road side that we had seen all season. Hard to believe it was their first road loss of the year. But given their track record in Dallas, its not all that shocking.

As for the Hoops. Just like I said earlier, they showed heart. I loved the fact that they never stopped going for goal in this game once they had the lead. Out shooting a club like Chicago is what this offense needed. And a shutout is easily what the doctor ordered for the defense.

Ferruzzi made the right moves in the line up in what should be his final game. Too bad its his final game, I think the club would be better off for the rest of the year with him. But that is for another day.

More weekend recaps on the way in the morning….

Anyways, I think this is a great chance for New England to get a solid home win against a fairly decent side like Dallas. The Revs haven’t been consistent enough at home for some people’s liking, as evident in last week’s draw against DC. If they can put it together for 90 minutes tonight like I think they will, people will start giving them more respect at home like they deserve.

Dallas is coming into this match a bit banged up, as they’ve only gotten one win in their last seven matches. No Dario Sala again in goal for the Hoops (which means Ray Burse in goal (left)), and more than likely no Dax McCarty on the wings. Plus the looming coaching decision is still on-going for the club. The more it goes on the more it will beat down this club. Believe it, they won’t act like it does but it does.

New England probably still won’t have Taylor Twellman for this one as he is still on the injury list. But that hasn’t really mattered for the Revs who haven’t lost in four straight matches.

I think the strength on New England in the midfield will over match the youth of Dallas in the middle. As much as I like guys like Andre Rocha for Dallas, he won’t be able to do enough to push Dallas over the bar. Dallas really needs Juan Toja to step back into early 2007 form here this season, so far he’s largely been a dud this season for the Hoops.

If Dallas can get Kenny Cooper or Dominic Oduro the ball early in space and allow them to create, they could shock the Revs, who’s defense hasn’t been the best in recent weeks. But getting by Matt Reis will be another subject.

I like the Revs at home, in front of a big crowd or at least a late arriving big crowd. It should be a good atmosphere as we really haven’t seen a doubleheader with a MLS game and a friendly in a year or two. It should be fun.

The difference should be the play of Steve Ralston in the middle, feeding guys like Adam Cristman or Sainey Nyassi.

WVH Prediction: New England 2, Dallas 0

More weekend previews on the way today…keep checking back for more!

In other words, May is pretty much over and its time to look back at what was good about it now that we are nearly a third of the way through.

WVH Player of the Month: Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chicago Fire – With two goals and five assists on the month, its hard not to look over Blanco for the month’s award. He gobbled up the player of the week award last week and has been really consistent all month. Despite the one loss at home to Houston, the Fire have been on a roll as of late, winning three out of four in the month of May. Blanco has been a key element in that play that has put the Fire near the top of the MLS table.

Others in consideration: Dominic Odoro, FC Dallas; David Beckham, LA Galaxy; and Danny Dichio, Toronto FC.

WVH Goalkeeper of the Month: Matt Reis, New England Revolution – The Revs played solid in May and largely due to the goalkeeping of Matt Reis. I pretty much had made my mind up between Reis and Chicago keeper Jon Busch for this before last night’s game against DC. While Reis doesn’t have the stellar numbers in the goals-against category as Busch (thank the Fire defense for that) but Reis is up near the top in most goalkeeping categories.

Others in consideration: Jon Busch, Chicago Fire.

WVH Defender of the Month: Gonzalo Segares, Chicago – When your club has six goals on the year and you are getting some national team recognition from your home country because of it, its time to get honored. Segares has been one of the key members of the Fire defense this season and his play has been stellar as the Fire have given up only six goals, six goals…yeah in the first third of the season the first have given up six goals. Not bad at all.

WVH Youngerst of the Month: Dominic Oduro, FC Dallas – A little homer pick on my part but the Birdman has really come through for the Hoops as of late with three goals off the bench. He finally made his way into the starting lineup against Houston this past Wednesday and probably will be on Sunday against Colorado. The late game-winner against RSL was really enough for me to put him here in this position.

WVH Coach of the Month: Preki, Chivas USA – I give it to Preki over a couple other coaches because his club has found a way to work through the injuries and post a decent month (2-1-1, with one game left tomorrow). Its Preki’s way of figuring out who to play in place of injured stars on defense. Anytime you post an above .500 month when your club has upwards of nine guys out to injury you are doing something right as a coach.

WVH Goal of the Month: David Beckham’s 70 yard striker against KC. – Look even though I thought it wasn’t the goal of the week I have to give credit where it is due because this is what Beckham was brought in for, to make amazing goals like this happen. Sure, if someone else in the league had done this I would be putting them here too but this is the kind of stuff we expected out of Becks and its is what we are getting.

WVH’s Best XI for May:

Keeper:
Matt Reis, New England – see above

Defense:
Gonzalo Segares (Chicago) – see above
Sean Franklin (LA) – one of the biggest reasons why LA is doing so well right now
Gonzalo Martinez (DC) – After further review, he and Gallardo were this club’s best pickups in the offseason.

Midfield:
David Beckham (LA) – Still getting what we paid for out of Becks.
Blanco (Chicago) – see above
Kheli Dube (NE) – three goals this month, all at key points in the game for the Revs.
Andre Rocha (Dallas) – second in the league in assist, and no one knows about it.

Forwards:
Kenny Cooper (Dallas) – second in the league in goals, biggest reason why Dallas is second in the west.
Danny Dichio (Toronto) – Torched DC in two games for three goals.
Chad Barrett (Chicago) – Believe it or not Barrett is having a good season this year.

I know the league has already voted for Blanco as the player of the week with his goal and three assist performance on Sunday against the Red Bulls. While I think that was a sold week, I am going in a different direction. Blanco, Chad Barrett, David Beckham, Jorge Flores, and Danny Dichio all had nice weeks.

In fact this week came down to Dichio and one other guy for me, Dominic Oduro of FC Dallas. I know this may come across as a homer pick since I live and write out of the Big D these days but after the week FC Dallas went through, a performance like Oduro’s can easily lift a club through anything. Which is why Oduro’s two goal effort in the final ten minutes of the game is good enough to beat out Blanco and Dichio here.

So again, week number nine goes of the way to the Birdman, Dominic Oduro.

Goal of the week was pretty hard to find as well this week. You had David Beckham’s long range blast, Tom McManus’s rocket of a shot, Danny Dichio’s three goals to pick from, Dominic Oduro’s two late goals to pick from, and a nice cool goal from Kansas City’s Claudio Lopez.

While I thought Lopez and Beckham had nice goals and Odoro’s caught my eye for different reasons. The goal of the week has to be Tom McManus’s rocket of a shot against Chivas USA. Its up there for me in terms of goal of the year so far with a couple of Sasha Kljestan goals.

And the replay…