Brek Shea sits atop the MVP race, can he hold on to it? (Getty Images)

With only a few weeks left in the season the awards race in Major League Soccer is pretty dang hot. The MVP race alone is very interesting this season. In my book if I had to vote today for the top three in the MVP race would be fairly simple but there are a few dark horse candidates to keep a watch on.

The Top Contenders

Brek Shea, M, FC Dallas: This one is fairly simple. If Shea isn’t at the top of most folks list right now it means they either hate Dallas or don’t watch the league at all. The second one probably speaks more truth than anything if someone doesn’t have Shea in their top three once it is time to vote. Shea has done everything right for Dallas since the injury of last year’s MVP, David Ferreira. He’s scored plenty of big goals and has come up with a few quality assists. Simply put, Dallas is nothing without his service from the wings.

Mauro Rosales, M, Seattle Sounders FC: In a way Rosales has really just come on strong in the last two months but overall he is a huge reason why the Sounders are in the thick of things in the Supporter’s Shield race. His five goals and ten assists are something to marvel over but for me it comes down to his distribution and setting up the Sounders’ attack. I don’t see Lamar Neagle or Mike Fucito getting the goals that they have gotten this year without Rosales. Bold statement to make, sure, but it is one I feel pretty good about.

Landon Donovan, M, LA Galaxy: Of course, another season with Donovan in the MVP mix. His 11 goals and three assists will keep him in the discussion even though he hasn’t played as many minutes as Shea or some of the others here.

Still In The Mix:

Thierry Henry, F, New York Red Bulls: The New York Red Bulls’ season goes with Henry. As he goes, the club goes. He may lead the league in goals scored with 12 and have four assists on the year  but the way his club has played these last couple of months are hurting his MVP chances. He needs to continue to score goals and help get his club in the playoffs to get this award.

Brad Davis, M, Houston Dynamo: Another player who’s team goes as they do. Davis is always overlooked but there is no reason why he should be. His league-leading 13 assists are the main reason why the Dynamo are even in the playoff hunt to begin with. You want a valuable player to a club, look no further than to Davis.

David Beckham, M, LA Galaxy: Donovan and Beckham will likely cancel one another out in this race but consider Beckham’s stats at the moment, 12 assists and two goals isn’t bad at all. To be fair, this has been his best season to date as a member of the Galaxy.

Jack Jewsbury, M, Portland Timbers: You want some good stats? Seven goals and eight assists. That’s quality folks. Portland would be a really bad expansion team without Captain Jack.

Dwayne De Rosario, M, DC United: Another player with monster stats on the season, nine goals and eight assists. What will hurt him is he’s played on three teams this season. That really shouldn’t be the case as he’s really helped improve United’s offense.

Some Potential Dark horses:

Dominic Oduro, F, Chicago Fire: Hard to ignore Oduro right now. He’s scoring loads of goals (and missing loads too). He’s a long shot at best but he’s worth mentioning.

Sebastien Le Toux, M, Philadelphia Union: I think if he can continue his scoring (six goals on the year) to go with his assist numbers (eight assists), he’ll easily move up this order here. Last night’s great come back performance against New England was a sign that Le Toux will be in the mix.

Kyle Beckerman, M, Real Salt Lake: With Javier Morales going down earlier in the season, it was Beckerman who had to step up and be the midfield general. Looking at things today, RSL isn’t far away from an automatic bid into the playoffs.

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?

Wowzers. We heard about the rumor all afternoon and thought it died off as quickly as it came out. But things have a funny way of working out don’t they? DeRo gets out of Toronto, a place he apparently has a love-hate relationship with. He goes to a star-studded New York squad that continues to get deeper by the minute.

Holy cow, I just had a thought of their lineup with him in it. Think of it for a moment. They have guys like Rafa Marquez and Tim Ream in the back, the midfield with DeRo in it now along with Joel Lindpere and Dane Richards, with Thierry Henry and Juan Agudelo up top. Absolutely sick.

New York is a contender for right now, there is real no other way of putting it. If they don’t win it all this year, something will be terribly wrong because this addition really should set them a level above the majority of clubs in the league. Though saying that I still see Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy giving them fits on any given day.

On the Toronto side of things I think they made out pretty well with this deal. While I could care less about the Borman side of things (that was probably more a money part of the deal than anything else), I do like the addition of Tchani for them in their midfield. They must see that Julian de Guzman isn’t working out well for them and Tchani can compete for a starting spot right away. Plus adding a draft pick next year, even though it will possibly be a very late one, is always a nice thing to get in any deal.

Freddie Ljungberg and Dwayne De Rosario training with Celtic. (photo via SNS Group)

What can I say, I’m not totally shocked by any of this Dwayne De Rosario news today. The writing was on the wall months ago when he scored a goal and his normal celebration went out the window as he pretended to sign a check as a gesture to the Toronto FC management to pay him better.

Today De Rosario has been spotted training with Scottish giant Celtic despite TFC releasing a statement that he has not been given permission to train with any club. We know its the silly season so any thing like this should really be taken with a grain of salt and probably a nice healthy shot of vodka. But the photos were pretty interesting for any MLS fan as he was jobbing behind former Chicago and Seattle DP Freddie Ljungberg.

“[De Rosario] is in today,” Celtic manager Neil Lennon told the media on Tuesday. “He’s a similar player to Shaun Maloney, he likes to play off the left and come inside. He is a skilful, sharp and intelligent player. Again it’s an opportunity for us to have a look and see what he can offer us.”

“We were unaware of Dwayne’s plan to train with Celtic and we will contact them to understand the situation,” he said in the statement. “Obviously, if there is interest in a short-term loan arrangement by either him or Celtic, they will need to approach us and the league formally, and we will consider based on what is in TFC’s best interest.”

You have to love the back and forth between Celtic, Toronto and DeRo here.

But as we’ve all seen so far this winter any player can pretty much go “train” or “be on trial” with any club at any given moment. We saw that with Sporting Kansas City’s Teal Bunbury earlier in the month when he was training in England with Stoke. The English side said it was a trial while SKC said the young striker was just training. At the end we know it was just a training stint with the club so it is possible this could just be what DeRo is doing here. Training, nothing else.

But we know there has to be more to this story than just training with a power like Celtic. The way Toronto continues to handle this mess of a situation seems give us all the indication that there is more to this story than we really are being lead to believe.

To me I think the wheels have already fallen off between DeRo and TFC. Though if DeRo did go against his contract with the club and league for this training week with Celtic then he’s more at fault here than the club. But I have to believe that there is something not being said here and that Toronto had knowledge of this well before it happened but they just don’t want to admit to anything here at the moment. Call it a failed attempt to make DeRo happy and he walked if you will.

These next few days/weeks should be very interesting in Toronto. For a club with no manager at the moment and really no direction things are certainly more interesting than in most MLS cities at the moment.

What do you think? Is the club not giving us everything that is going on here? Is DeRo to blame for any of this? Who’s side are you on here?

David Ferreira takes home my MVP vote. (Getty Images)

For a couple weeks now I’ve held off on reveling my end of the year awards. I mainly wanted to see the season end and the playoffs begin before I wrote this all out. Plus I honestly had no idea how I wanted to present this. But on Election Day it just feels right to tell you all how I voted in this year’s MLS Awards.

First of all I’m going to leave out the pointless awards like Ref of the Year. I still don’t get why we vote on that in the first place since we know about all the officiating issues in MLS. I also won’t list things like Humanitarian of the Year or things like that. Most of you probably could care less about awards like that anyways.

Anyways, I’ll start with some awards that will be announced by the league here in the coming days and end with the big ones. I’ll also count them down by my vote as well, remember the media (and probably players/GMs/coaches) gets three slots for voting.

Defender of the Year

3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)

2. Nat Borchers (RSL)

1. Jamison Olave (RSL)

Why Olave: To be real honest between Olave and Borchers it wasn’t easy. It was a 1a and 1b type of vote for me but more times than not I felt Olave was the better of the two this season. Had we done this vote back in June I believe Gonzalez would have taken it home but just like the rest of the year for the Galaxy, Gonzalez too had some issues in the latter part of the summer. Olave was more consistent this year than he’s been in the past as well which was refreshing to see.

Keeper of the Year

3. Donovan Ricketts (LA)

2. Nick Rimando (RSL)

1. Kevin Hartman (FC Dallas)

Why Hartman: Between the time he took over and his injury Hartman was the biggest reason why FCD went on that amazing run that they did. In 20 games this season he had 9 shutouts, and only 12 goals against. I know Rimando had a stellar year and I get why folks will vote for him. RSL fans can blame me on being too close to the action here with Hartman but I really had no hesitation in voting this way.

Rookie of the Year

3. Michael Stephens (LA)

2. Danny Mwanga (Philadelphia)

1. Andy Najar (D.C. United)

Why Najar: Why not really? He was easily the best player on their team this year and should become the first academy product in the league history to win this award. He was consistent when others were not this season and provided a true spark for D.C. when they really had nothing else going for them this season.

Comeback Player of the Year

3. Jason Hernandez (San Jose)

2. Chris Albright (New York)

1. Bobby Convey (San Jose)

Why Convey: I’m still curious what Brek Shea came back from (he’s one of the three nominees with Albright and Convey). Anyways, to me it was down to Albright and Convey. Yes Albright missed 2009 while Convey just stunk up the place last year. For me it was about getting back to where he should be as a player and that’s what Convey did this year. Not to say Albright doesn’t deserve this award because he does, I just felt Convey made a bigger comeback from being so bad last year to so much better this year.

Newcomer of the Year

3. Ryan Smith (Kansas City)

2. Joel Lindpere (New York)

1. Alvaro Saborio (RSL)

Why Saborio: He lead his club in goals and really gave me no reason not to vote for him in this award. Lindpere was amazing for New York’s turnaround though so we can’t ignore what he did. I was just more impressed with the fact that a lot of clubs couldn’t figure out how to deal with Saborio this year.

Coach of the Year

3. Peter Nowak (Philadelphia)

2. Jason Kreis (RSL)

1. Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas)

Why Hyndman: This may have been the hardest award to vote on outside of MVP. I put Nowak over Hans Backe because I was very impressed with how Nowak guided Philly through their expansion season. I believe he’s set them up perfectly for 2011. Then it came down to Kreis and Hyndman. Both had equally impressive campaigns in 2010 and we can’t ignore that enough. I went the direction that I did not because I was closer to the team here in Dallas than RSL but it came down to that 19-game unbeaten run. Sure there were a ton of draws with this Dallas team but due to the way Hyndman constructed this team for this season it was impressive to see their “never say die” attitude.

MLS MVP

3. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)

2. Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia)

1. David Ferreira (FC Dallas)

Why Ferreira: Again the toughest award to vote on, probably ever. So many worthy choices but I stuck with Ferreira like I stuck with my pick of Hyndman. It wasn’t just that unbeaten run that was impressive from him and this bunch but Ferreira was the leader and the guy that just got stuff done for Dallas. We saw that in the opener in the playoffs against RSL, he just finds ways to get the team on the board. I was shocked to not see Le Toux as a finalist because let’s be honest he deserved it, then again so does Wondolowski.

WVH Best XI For 2010

(Voting format was a 3-5-2)

Keeper: Kevin Hartman

Defense: Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Omar Gonzalez

Midfield: David Ferreira, Sebastien Le Toux, Dwayne De Rosario, Javier Morales, Guillermo Barros Schelotto

Forwards: Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle

Reasons behind Best XI: First of all the way the league handles this is crazy. A 3-5-2 is always tough to vote on especially when they place guys out of position. I’d rather have Donovan placed in the midfield and Ferreira in the forwards but this is out it goes. I know some are thinking no Wondo in the forwards? Well Buddle was the leader going into the day I voted and Donovan was the top assist getter in the league too. If I had to vote on this again today I may replace Buddle with Wondo.

Javier Morales is one of a few players in the running for MLS MVP. (Getty Images)

I said earlier in the week I wanted to touch on this year’s MVP race. Well today looked like a good one to do it seeing as how I don’t care about Liverpool’s sale to John Henry and company and I feel a bit lazy to talk about the USOC Final from last night. What can I say its also a busy day around these parts for me.

This year’s MVP race is a hot one. I don’t think that can be said enough really as there are easily six to eight players in the running for the award. I’ll go ahead and say this list below is no ranking because right now today I honestly have no clue who I’d vote for. I know who I am leaning towards but if I had a ballot in my hand today I know it would take me hours to complete it. The race is just that damn close this year.

We have a two groups of players though in the running this time around, your playoff bound guys and your non-playoff bound guys. I’ll go with the playoff group first since it is a bit larger.

Playoff Bound

Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) – Based on stats you have to include Donovan who clearly makes his team better. He leads the league in assists with 15 and also has offered up a cool seven goals on the year. Not shabby but I do wonder if it will be enough to win the award for the second straight year. Probably to get there he’ll have to help lead the Galaxy to an unbeaten run to finish the season by notching a few more assists and dropping in a goal or two.

Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy) – Some folks will disagree to include the potential Golden Boot winner on the MVP list but why not? MVPs typically score lots of goals and Buddle is no exception. He cooled off a bit in the summer which was expected after he was blazing hot to begin the year. Its no secret he’ll need to get his goal numbers up to at least 20 to really catch people’s eye for this award though.

Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake) - I’ve seen plenty of rants and moans from the RSL folks about how Morales isn’t being discussed as a MVP candidate this year on other sites. Well RSL folks those sites are crazy to dismiss Morales in this award because as you know RSL is a lot different without him on the field. His stats are solid but his play and leadership are what makes this guy a MVP in my eyes. I have a feeling however he’ll be the Shalrie Joseph of this year, you know the guy who deserves it the most but will come up short in the running.

David Ferriera (FC Dallas) – He’s probably the guy I’m leaning towards if I had to vote right now for this award. Still the competition is stiff this year and Ferriera will likely need to help keep this amazing unbeaten run in tact if he has a shot at winning this award this season. Tough to say that but its likely true that some voters will overlook him if Dallas stumbles once down the stretch.

Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) – You saw last night exactly how good Seattle can be when they want to. Montero is a big reason because of that. He cooled off a bit in September so he’ll need a big October to get some votes here but believe me there is good reason to count Montero in on the voting this year. Not only has he put in his share of goals again this season but his assist numbers are up and he’s helping make guys like Steve Zakuani and Sanny Nyassi better.

Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids) – Based on stats alone you have to include him in the race. Boy lately he and the Rapids have been on fire (except for that D.C. game). Cummings’ 12 goals has helped push the Rapids back into the playoff picture for the first time since 2006.

Non-Playoff Players

Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC) – Hard to deny what DeRo means to Toronto. Take him off the team and you can imagine exactly how bad of a year this club would have had. It was already pretty bad towards the end but I’m sure it would be worse without him. His 13 goals have lead the team but he’s clearly the heart and sole of the club. Something you can’t replace which kind of sounds like “most valuable” to me.

Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union) – If I’m the Union faithful and the Union front office I would be doing a full on media blitz to get Le Toux up for the MVP. Nothing like trying to get some extra media votes by hyping up your best player. Le Toux has carried this expansion club like no other. There’s no getting around the fact that his 13 goals and 10 assists are impressive. No other player can say that right now this season that they have at least 10 goals and 10 assists.

Others of note: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose); Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus); and Juan Pablo Angel (New York).

Chicago Fire host Toronto FC tonight in a big time eastern conference clash. (Getty Images)

To say tonight’s contest is a must-win for both parties involved is indeed and understatement. Both Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire sit outside of the playoff zone and are either five (TFC) or six (Chicago) points back of eighth place today.

Both teams are struggling too as of late. Chicago had chances last weekend against LA to put the Galaxy away for a second time this season but a late set-piece miscue allowed the Galaxy to snatch a big draw. Toronto on the other hand were unlucky to come away with any points in Dallas as they were missing three important pieces to their roster due to international call-ups.

The Fire have a little more room to breathe in terms of the standings as they’ve only played 20 games while most clubs have played 22 at this point in the season. Still even with those extra games in hand the Fire have to make the absolute most of their chances. Not having Gonzalo Segaras (suspension) or Marco Pappa (Guatemala call-up) tonight doesn’t help their chances out.

Toronto will get their three main Canadians back for this one. Dwayne De Rosario, Julian de Guzman and Nana Attakora all returned to the Reds for this one after last weekend’s friendly against Peru.

This one will have to come down to midfield play though. Freddie Ljungberg will have to find ways to create chances for the Fire in this one and get fellow DP Nery Castillo involved. Castillo hasn’t contributed much since joining the Fire last month. He’ll need to pick up the slack with Pappa out in this one.

Toronto will have to play compact in defense and shutdown the work of Ljungberg and company.

I feel this one will end level though. Both will be charging for the three points but neither have given us reasons to pick them in recent games. I’d say each will get one a piece.

Player to watch out for: De Rosario – He has to take charge and regain his MVP form from earlier in the year to get TFC over the hump here.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 1, Toronto 1

Dwayne De Rosario goes head-to-head with his old mates from Houston tonight. (Getty Images)

Week 14 in Major League Soccer looks to get kicked off with a bang. The Houston Dynamo travel north to face their old mate Dwayne De Rosario and Toronto FC at BMO Field. TFC looks to continue their impressive home record this season while the Dynamo are hoping to begin getting some consistent play going forward in the second half of the season.

Both teams are hoping to use tonight’s match either way to move up the standings a bit. Toronto can inch a little closer to their rivals from Columbus and New York with a win tonight. The Dynamo can move into a three-way tie in the western conference with a win as well.

Houston has to cut down on their mental errors across the field, especially in the back where they’ve look nothing like their old self. Houston will also hope to lockdown the Reds offense which has been cold lately despite getting a couple draws in the standings.

Toronto will rely on former Dynamo midfielder De Rosario in this one. He’s likely to be the main offensive part in this one for Toronto but they’ll also need a big game from guys like O’Brien White and Chad Barrett. If one of those two can help out DeRo then Toronto stands a great chance at getting three points in this one.

Houston has been tricky to pick this season and their defense still worries me and their offense sees to be too hot and cold for my liking. I think Toronto will get a win tonight and continue their impressive play at home.

Player to watch out for: Dwayne De Rosario – He’s only a goal away from tying the league lead for goals with Edson Buddle, so you know he’d like to take over that lead tonight against his old club.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 2, Houston 1

Philadelphia Union take their show on the road to Toronto tonight. (Getty Images)

Its a big week for Toronto FC, not only have they made a few changes since their last game (a 4-1 loss at New England) but they will also be making their home debut for the season. BMO Field will also be debuting it’s new grass surface, the grass that fans all across the league have been begging for in Toronto since the club launched in 2007.

Philadelphia comes into town tonight, making their first trip to Toronto. They’re riding the waves of their first win in club history thanks to a Sebastian Le Toux hat trick on D.C. United last weekend.

I look for this to be a fairly physical game, even with Philly’s win over D.C. they’re still an expansion team and you can expect plenty of fouls out of them on the road. Also, Toronto will likely foul a decent bit with all the new parts on the field who aren’t familiar with the MLS style of play.

The Reds are out to get their first win and if they want to do so they need to get their offense in check. With only one goal to their name this season they have to find a way to get guys like Chad Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario and O’Brian White involved more often. Defensively they’ll have to slow down the attack from Philadelphia by keeping Alejandro Moreno and Le Toux in check.

The big thing will come down to wing play and I absolutely love how Philadelphia is doing with the wings in the midfield. Roger Torres is a guy more folks need to talk about here as one of the best newcomers in the league this season. His pace and skill in the midfield is helping the expansion side come alive for manger Peter Nowak.

I’m curious to see how Toronto’s new bunch of players do. Preki added three defenders over the last week in Latvian Raivis Hscanovics, Russian Maxim Usanov and Canadian Adrian Cann. The thing is I have to believe it will take some time before they improve this defense.

In the end here it looks like Philadelphia will likely pick up some road points here. There just isn’t enough to like about Toronto yet this season even though I know Preki is going to turn this club around eventually. It just won’t happen tonight.

Player to watch out for: O’Brian White – He has to be the man that comes alive for the Toronto offense tonight. Sometimes its about taking some chances and he, along with the rest of the Reds, need to take some chances on Chris Seitz’s goal.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 2, Toronto 1