New York hopes to get back on track with a win over rivals New England. (Getty Images)

The weekend is here folks. Yesterday was a busy day around the league with suspensions and fines being handed down plus a trio of signings that foreshadow a busy summer transfer window ahead.

But the weekend is here and nine games are on tap. Yesterday I broke down some of the bigger talking points and today I’ll give you my predictions of the weekend. Feel free to leave your own score predictions in the comments section below.

Saturday

Portland Timbers at Montreal Impact: Portland got away with a win last weekend on an own-goal. But hey after losing four straight they took it without any question. Now they head to Montreal to face an Impact squad that is still searching for some answers of their own to this season. Montreal needs someone to really step up offensively and in the midfield. Portland has the edge on talent but I think the road trip won’t be easy to the Big O.

WVH Prediction: Montreal 1, Portland 1

New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls: This one has the makings of being wide open given the way the Red Bulls play defense these days and due to the number of players they have out. Benny Feilhaber returns to the Revs lineup that has some talent in key spots. I like the Revs in an upset style pick here. After seeing both of these teams in person, the Revs do have the talent to slow down this attack and they have some quality of their own up front to put pressure on the Red Bulls early.

WVH Prediction: New England 2, New York 1

San Jose Earthquakes at Philadelphia Union: Every time I go against the Quakes they prove me wrong but for some reason this trip to Philly worries the heck out of me for them. They’re still missing some key players in the back and while I do love me some Ike Opara in the middle of the defense, I just have a gut feeling this will not be an easy trip for them. But saying all of that I do think a draw is very likely between these two. Goals to Chris Wondolowski and Gabriel Gomez.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 1, San Jose 1

Houston Dynamo at D.C. United: It is really hard to ignore what United did last week to New York. In a small way it was a coming out party for this group on the season. While I love the Dynamo’s defense and the news that Brad Davis is returning for this one, I can’t help but think the major difference between these two clubs on offense will be more than enough for the home side here.

WVH Prediction: D.C. 2, Houston 1

Vancouver Whitecaps at Columbus Crew: A very interesting match on the weekend slate for me. I like what the Whitecaps are doing this season but a road trip is always tricky for them. The Crew are well…interesting. I want to like where this team could be going but it is hard for me to see past some glaring holes in their midfield and attack. Let’s call this one a draw.

WVH Prediction: Columbus 1, Vancouver 1

Seattle Sounders FC at Chicago Fire: Two teams that haven’t gotten to play a ton so far this season. Seattle is still without Mauro Rosales and for the most part they are still waiting on Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson to get going here. Chicago has a nice run and gun style but I see them hitting a bit of a wall in this one. In the end, this one screams draw.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 1, Seattle 1

Toronto FC at Real Salt Lake: Given how RSL played on Wednesday in Dallas and only came away with a point tells me they will be out for blood on Saturday when they return home for the first time in three games. Poor Toronto.

WVH Prediction: RSL 3, Toronto 1

Chivas USA at Colorado Rapids: Inconsistent teams meet up in the Mile High city. Chivas has played better away from home this season than at home. But a trip to Denver is never easy for anyone. Somehow Colorado gets through this one with three points.

WVH Prediction: Colorado 1, Chivas 0

FC Dallas at LA Galaxy: Can Dallas finally break through on the road? Doubt it. With so many injuries piling up in the midfield for Schellas Hyndman, a road trip to finish out three games in eight days does not help the situation out.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, Dallas 0

RSL and TFC hope to end some winless runs this weekend. (Getty Images)

Midweek games here in Dallas never cease to amazing me at how much it breaks up my week. Normal weeks have me doing the same old thing but a game smack dap in the middle of the week is a nice break.

Last night’s RSL-FC Dallas game was a good one to get the new week started in Major League Soccer too. Even though both clubs were missing key players in big spots and neither truly looked like taking a hold of the game from the other, it got us going this week.

Now we head into the weekend where we see nine games on Saturday. You read that correctly, nine games. Big stinkin’ weekend.

Five of the nine are East v. West matchups while the others are good ol’ conference clashes. Unfortunately we don’t have any big time rivalry games to really get us in the mood this weekend but New England-New York on NBC will be solid enough to hold us over on the rivalry front.

With plenty of games there will be plenty to talk about as well. 

1. The Big O getting some Timber. It may not be the sexiest match on the weekend slate but Montreal hosting the Portland Timbers has plenty to offer. For one, the Timbers are finally off the mark after a four-game losing streak and are hoping to find their way offensively against a defense that has had plenty of issues against quality attacks. Kris Boyd is loving life in Portland according to some, and is finally getting use to MLS defenses.

The Impact on the other hand have had a little time off here to get their act together. This group has the talent. After seeing them in person I can say there is plenty of it across the field but Jesse Marsch hasn’t found the right combination of that talent to get quality results out of the door. Either it is a combination of not having a big-time go to scorer or the fact that their midfield is probably missing a link on the creativity side or something else entirely, Marsch and the Impact still have a long way to go here.

2. Red Bulls down defensively. Just about every quality name that Hans Backe has on defense will be missing this weekend against New England. So what will he have to do instead? Hope to the soccer Gods above that Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper can run up the score to make up for it. Rookie keeper Ryan Meara has been good but given how many goals he’s given up this season, I’d almost be wiling to go ahead and say he isn’t the answer for them yet. But at the same time it is hard to say it when his defense is just standing still so much when quality attackers come down on them.

The Revs have a chance here to get going offensively in a game like this. New York showed last weekend in D.C. that they aren’t good at handling quick attackers with decent ball skills. New England does have a few guys that know how to dribble and a couple that have really good pace. Backe has a lot of work to do if Saer Sene, Kelyn Rowe and Lee Nguyen come down on them with pace.

It isn’t at all out of the question that this could be a 4-3 game.

3. Quakes show on the road. All the talk earlier in the week was about the San Jose Earthquakes. Writers like myself wrote about what a pleasant surprise they are and just how good they’ve been this season. They hit the road this weekend to face a Philadelphia Union squad that may give them trouble. Confidence is slowly building with the Union after two straight wins. Frank Yallop’s group has been so strong defensively this season on the road but an East Coast trip is always tricky for Western clubs.

San Jose just needs to keep it simple and effective. While their style of play isn’t at all sexy, their results are speaking for themselves here. The run and gun attack with Chris Wondolowski is still as effective as ever and with a couple missing links on the Union this weekend (due to suspension), he may have a little more room to be his dangerous self.

4. Sounders back in action. Hey remember the Sounders? Yeah, it feels like it has been weeks since we saw this club play last. Their Week 8 opponent knows exactly how they feel. The Chicago Fire have been on and off a couple times this season but are finally getting into the meat of their spring schedule. Both Seattle and Chicago have only played five games thus far here.

One thing will be clear, whoever can take a hold of this game will get the points. Chicago loves to play an open style where they find Dominic Oduro in space to run at defenders. We saw how effective they were last week in Toronto when Oduro and Patrick Nyarko were open and were running at defenders. Grant it Toronto’s defense is no where close to the same quality that Seattle has in the back but the Sounders will have to stay grounded in the midfield and now allow the open space that the Fire will be searching for. On the flip side the Sounders need to get Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson going here. While Johnson had been hurt to begin the season, he did play in their last game against Colorado. Each player needs goals here to get this team where most believe they can go, a MLS Cup.

5. Winless in three against winless in six. Yeah something will have to give Saturday night in Salt Lake. Either Real Salt Lake will end their three game skid (they did pick up a point in Frisco last night but no wins are no wins here) while Toronto is just hoping for points period here. At some point Toronto’s front office will have to look and decide if Aron Winter is the guy for the job. I thought he was, and so did plenty of other people. But when you don’t win a single game after nearly two months of play, plenty of questions have to be asked.

I don’t like the Reds chances though in this one. RSL looked hungry last night in Frisco and could have gotten three points easily. I don’t believe RSL has gone winless in four games under Kreis, and I wouldn’t expect it to happen this season either.

LA appears to be stacked again up front. (Getty Images)

Time for the final positional ranking group today, the forwards.

To recap, here are the keeper rankings from last week, Monday’s defender rankings, and yesterday’s midfield rankings.

For me the forwards were fairly cut and dry. The top eight or so teams were pretty simple to figure out and really you could argue any way between them and probably not be too wrong about it. After that teams 9-16 have a lot of questions to answer but all could make their way up the rankings by the season’s end. And the bottom three were fairly clear to me as well.

1. Los Angeles Galaxy – Hard not to place them at the top. With the likes of Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle, the Galaxy should have the top offense in the league again this season. The question will be, how long will it take them to get on the same page though. Keep an eye out for Jack McBean down the pine on the depth charts. The kid has the chops to be a stud in this league one day.

2. Seattle Sounders FC – Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson. Boy that duo could either be great or a bust. I think the thing with Johnson that not many are bringing up is the fact that he won’t be expected to carry this club on his own like his days in KC or even as far back as Dallas. Montero will still get the bulk of the goals and Johnson will definitely have the best midfield distribution that he’s ever gotten. 

3. New York Red Bulls – So much talent up front it is scary. Thierry Henry will still make the headlines and lead the team in goals while Kenny Cooper will likely see his fair share. The biggest question will be about what happens with Juan Agudelo. He’s got too much talent to just sit on the bench in my book but he could jump over Luke Rodgers in the depth chart if Rodger’s visa issues never get sorted out.

4. Real Salt Lake – As long as Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio continue to work at a high level and maintain the number of goals they’ve scored the last couple of seasons together, this club will be one of the better offensive side yet again. I do worry a tad about their depth behind those two as it is a bit unproven but knowing how Jason Kreis develops players, they will be fine. I’d expect we’ll see a little more of Cody Arnoux this season though, he’s got the tools and skills to be a stud.

5. Toronto FC – I’ve been super high on the Reds this winter and it mostly boils down to how Danny Koevermans is in his first full year in Toronto. I believe he has the ability to be a Golden Boot winner if all the stars align properly for him there. Joao Plata and Ryan Johnson are two underrated players in my book, they’ll definitely contribute their fair share as well. I think Toronto finally has an offense that their fans can be proud of here.

6. D.C. United – Biggest question in my mind is when will Dwayne De Rosario and newcomer Hamdi Salihi be on the same page with one another. I think once that happens this group could lead the league in goals. We know DeRo can score his fair share and Salihi proved in the preseason that he can score a bunch as well. The depth is a little aged and could be iffy though as Josh Wolff and Miacon Santos are good but not great options.

7. Vancouver Whitecaps – Boy did Martin Rennie go out and snag as many strikers as he could this offseason. I like it to be honest. I think with Eric Hassli, Camilo and Sebastien Le Toux, this group will score goals in bunches. I rated them this low simply because I think there will be some growing pains as these big names get used to one another. Still it is hard to argue with the amount of quality talent this group possesses. Big question will be the progression of Omar Salgado and rookie Darren Mattocks. Both could be major players for them this season.

8. Sporting Kansas City – The talent is there and is still young but after seeing what Peter Vermes was able to do with this bunch a year ago, I have little doubts in my mind that they will be strong again this season. Adding Bobby Convey to the mix certainly helps and if rookie Dom Dwyer can be any bit as good as CJ Sapong was a year ago they will be set.

9. Philadelphia Union – I really think this is Danny Mwanga’s breakout season. He’s looked good in this first two seasons but this should be the year he finally breaks out and carries this club offensively. This group is extremely young however, only one player over the age of 30 (Lionard Pajoy), but I like where they are going with that youth. Chandler Hoffman could be exciting to watch in his rookie season.

10. Portland Timbers – Landing Kris Boyd was a huge deal for Portland but it was also a big risk. I think he’ll provide plenty of goals however and we’ve already seen him bag one in the preseason. We know teams will mark him closely which is why Jorge Perlaza will have to step up more this season. Outside of those two are two younger strikers in Eddie Johnson and Bright Dike. I do believe Dike will have a strong season though off the bench for them.

11. San Jose Earthquakes – Chris Wondolowski has been a stud for two seasons in San Jose. That much carried this group to this high of a ranking. Look out for Steven Lenhart though to help carry the load this season. Outside of those two the depth is very thin.

12. FC Dallas – Blas Perez is the main man in Dallas but can he stand up and lead this team? Based on what I’ve seen in the preseason out of him I think it is certainly possible that he could be in the Golden Boot discussion. That being said this depth behind him is young, very young. I keep thinking that each season Ruben Luna will finally break out and be a solid contributor and this could finally be that season that he does so. I gotta think that Schellas Hyndman isn’t done adding depth to this position though.

13. Colorado Rapids – They’re this low simply due to the injury of Conor Casey, once he returns to full strength and gets back on the same page as Omar Cummings this ranking should be higher. The bigger question will be how newcomer Jaime Castrillón adapts to the league. From what some are saying, he’ll be a very strong contributor for them this season. But after those three the depth is very thin.

14. Houston Dynamo – I love Brian Ching and I think Will Bruin is talented but boy does this group lack a lot of bite after them. Can they find a double-digit scorer for this season? It’s been a score as you can mentality since 2008 out of this group and with Ching not getting any younger, it makes it hard to rate them any higher than this.

15. Chicago Fire – Dominic Oduro had a fantastic season last year and Patrick Nyarko provided plenty of assists. But the thing is this club lack a true target forward. Also, there are wonders around the league as to whether or not Oduro can replicate his form from last year. I think he will but someone else has to step up with him to lead this team in goals. Newcomer Federico Puppo could be the key to this group though, if he figures out how to play in MLS quickly enough, this group could be much higher by the season’s end.

16. Chivas USA – They got Juan Pablo Angel…and that is nearly it. I do like Alejandro Moreno still but the talent after the main two is such a big drop off. Rookie Casey Townsend looked good in the preseason and will likely be the wildcard of this bunch going forward this season.

17. Columbus Crew - Olman Vargas and Emilio Renteris could be good together. Keyword is could though. Renteria is a bit injury prone and after those two the depth is very young. Home grown player  Ben Speas could be the X-Factor of the bunch, the management in Columbus are very high on him and where he could help take this team.

18. Montreal Impact – I’ve always been a fan of Justin Bruan and I do believe a new location will help restart his career. Playing along side Mike Fucito will be interesting to watch and those two could easily elevate this group to be higher down the road. The depth is very thin however and they won’t get their top draft pick (Andrew Wenger) until May.

19. New England Revolution – A ton of questions surrounding this group going into the season. Newcomer Sene didn’t look great in preseason and José Moreno hasn’t joined the club yet to help provide a boost. The depth is thin and there really isn’t a proven goalscorer out of the group.

Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle head to Montreal in exchange for Eddie Johnson. (Getty Images)

The allocation was quick and swift for striker Eddie Johnson. The former FC Dallas and Kansas City man was quickly selected by the Montreal Impact via the allocation order today. The Impact quickly tweeted out that they would be trading him though.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/impactmontreal/statuses/170635982683639808"]

Montreal took a big gamble by using their allocation spot but they did go out and make a big deal for Johnson. They sent him to the Seattle Sounders for Lamar Neagle and Mike Fucito.

Wowzers. That is quite a trade folks.

Seattle fans will likely hate this deal to the very core as Johnson hasn’t been a top level striker for nearly four years now. Giving up two quality players in Neagle and Fucito is a major gamble for Seattle. But saying all of that, given the likes of Fredy Montero, Alvaro Fernandez and Mauro Rosales on the Sounders roster right now, Johnson won’t be called or asked to carry the team on the offensive side of things. That is good.

Fucito scored six goals and added three assists in 28 appearances, 17 of those as a starter, across all competitions in 2011. He also appeared in three career MLS playoff games.

Neagle scored five goals and added two assists in 23 matches for Seattle last season, tied for third on the team lead.  He made two playoff appearances, one as a starter, scoring a goal.

Montreal is coming out of this deal looking like total winners. It’s a gamble both ways but in the end you have to favor the Impact on this deal.

Eddie Johnson is coming back to MLS. (Getty Images)

Well boys and girls, this feels like a  broken record. Former FC Dallas and Kansas City striker Eddie Johnson is back with MLS.

The league announced on Thursday that it had agreed to a contract with the 27-year-old veteran. Johnson will go into the league allocation process, and his new club will be determined on Friday.

For those wondering about the allocation process the top clubs are as follows:

1. Montreal
2. Vancouver
3. New England
4. Toronto
5. Chivas USA

I’ll post the full order later on but that should give you a good sense of who could be in the running right away. Colorado was mentioned yesterday by Steve Goff in a tweet that they could be interested in Johnson. The Rapids come in on the order at number  14.

Johnson always looked like he would return to MLS after leaving Kansas City back in 2008.

My best bet is someone like New England or even Chivas take a stab at him. Yes, even Chivas the same club that passed on a few players in last year’s allocation order.

Eddie Johnson is ducking his way out of his MLS deal. (Getty Image)

Just as quickly as Major League Soccer announced that they had signed striker Eddie Johnson, the deal looks to be in jeopardy. If you look at the league’s website the article announcing the deal is also gone. Here’s why:

Steve Goff is reporting this morning that Johnson is having second thoughts about signing with the league and is asking for more money. Only one team was said to be okay with the salary figured that were asked for too.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/soccerinsider/status/103835136939917313"]

Johnson balked at a three-year deal that would have started off with a pro-rated year of $175,000 and gone up to $275,000 by 2013.

Johnson, who is currently out of contract, can continue to look for a new deal in Europe. He could still end up in MLS as the roster freeze deadline in the league isn’t until September 15.

Eddie Johnson is back in MLS! (Getty Images)

There isn’t a whole lot to report here yet. Eddie Johnson is back in Major League Soccer, the league announced the signing today during a press conference to talk about the new amendment to the Designated Player rule.

Johnson will be allocated to a team on Thursday.

For those wondering who has the first crack at Johnson, check out the most recent allocation order that I posted last week. Chivas USA has the first crack at him but the way things have gone this season, they will likely pass on Johnson.

My best guess is either Chicago or Seattle ending up with him. The Dynamo recently signed Carlo Costly so them taking a striker makes little sense today.Toronto is loaded now up top and Sporting KC is as well. That leaves Seattle and Chicago (and Columbus as a distant third choice).

If Chivas is smart they take Johnson and trade him away to a club that could use him. They need the extra allocation anyways to sign Juan Pablo Angel (a deal that should be announced today or sometime this week).

I’ll have more on this later this week when Johnson is allocated to a club.

Eddie Johnson during one of his few happier times with Fulham, celebrating with fellow American Clint Dempsey. (Getty Images)

All I can say is it is about time for the Grown Ass Man to return to MLS. Goal.com had a post about US Men’s National team forward Eddie Johnson saying he would consider returning to MLS.

His agent Richard Motzkin said EJ is looking at his options all over Europe and in America.

“Eddie is taking some time off after the season to get in the right frame of mind when making this decision,” Motzkin told Goal.com. “We are speaking to various clubs around the world that have expressed their interest and he wants to make sure that he makes the right choice.”

Motzkin says that Johnson would be open to rejoining MLS if the opportunity fit what he was looking for. Motzkin, however, claims that Johnson still has an option to play in Europe as offers from Scandinavia to Germany have materialized.

Obviously MLS would be a good choice for him as it would help get him the proper playing time that he needs here. If he wants to stay in the national team picture, he needs playing time. Look at what Charlie Davies has been able to do in his season with D.C. United. While Davies situation is a bit different than Johnson’s, it does show that he should be back in the national team picture before long with the way things are going.

Getting back into MLS will be a tricky thing with EJ. He’ll want a big contract, similar to one of a DP. Before he left for Fulham from MLS he did have a fairly large contract at the time in the league and one that would have been grandfathered into the DP role had he stuck it out here (I recall him making around $600k or so in his last season in MLS).

Teams like Philadelphia, Chivas, Houston and Toronto would all love to see him return without the DP tag. I say this because they’d have a crack at him through the league’s allocation process, Chivas being the top team. If he goes the DP route he’ll have more of a say in where he goes. The thing is, you have to wonder exactly how many clubs would be willing to use a DP slot on a guy like EJ.

I still stand by my comments a while back saying that he needs to return to MLS. I could see him go to a Chicago or even a Houston if he returns as a DP. Both have the money and possibly the cap space to make a move if they decide to. Plus, both could use speed up front to help get their offenses going. I know the article also mentions Seattle as a possible landing spot in that route but I don’t buy that notion. Just because Seattle has money, it doesn’t mean they’d go for someone like EJ. I can’t see EJ fitting in well under Sigi Schmid.

So if EJ does come back, where do you want him to land? Also, do you think he is DP worthy?

I came across an article on MLSSoccer.com earlier this morning and really thought it was worth discussing. The article is about former MLSers and other Americans/Canadians abroad that should return home to play in MLS. I can’t say I disagree with many on this list and I have a couple more that probably just need to suck it up and return home so they can actually see some playing time on the field.

We know its tough for a young player to head to Europe when they get the big contract. For some it works out. You have a decent group of Americans now in Europe that see playing time on a consistent basis but others struggle. I think Stuart Holden put it well recently in an interview (sorry couldn’t find the link). He said that MLS set him nicely for a move to Europe. Had he gone straight away and not gotten a few years experience in MLS first he would be struggling to see any sort of playing time because the adjustment is so tough for younger players.

For some of these guys below the adjustment was either due to them going to Europe at the wrong time in their career, coaching changes…or constant coaching changes, injuries or whatever.

One of the biggest obstacles in getting any number of these guys back in a MLS uniform is money. Most of these guys have earned more in Europe and will expect to that much here in MLS. Well, that probably won’t happen.

I’ll give you the five mentioned in the article and a few others worth discussing as well.

Eddie Johnson – I’ve thought for a while he needed to return to MLS. He’s been with Fulham since he left MLS a couple years ago. The Grown-Ass Man has seen loan spells to two other clubs that yielded some playing time for him. His contract runs out with Fulham next summer which would be the perfect time for a MLS team to make a pitch to him. He can still score and grabbing a guy like him for a late season push could be the difference in winning a MLS Cup and not reaching the playoffs.

Benny Feilhaber – He’s still very young but I’ve thought for ages he should give MLS a shot. His contract ends in the summer as well and he would be a big upgrade for anyone’s midfield. He may be just entering his prime but maybe a trip back home could help get his career back on track after a couple slowish seasons.

Carlos Bocanegra – This is more of those he’s done plenty and now its time to come home for a couple seasons before he hangs it up. I kind of doubt he’ll come just yet but maybe in a year or so he’ll give it a shot. He’s a natural leader that could really help a number of clubs in the back.

Rob Friend – I had to do a little more studying up on this guy. He’s Canadian and would obviously be a draw to Vancouver or Toronto (or even Montreal). He’s 30 but probably would be an instant upgrade on offense for TFC should he ever make the treck back home to the great white north.

Eddy Sidra – Not a common name for some MLS fans. He’s still very young and would be a nice defensive addition for either Canadian side. The article mentions he’s a free agent at the moment so why not make a play for the young defender?

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A few others worth throwing out there:

Freddy Adu – It won’t happen probably due to him and his agent being stubborn about where plays but he’d actually find playing time if he came back to MLS. I’d imagine the expectations would still be places on him if he did which could keep him from ever returning back here.

Frank Simek – He may have just signed a two year deal with Carlisle United so he could be a couple years away from considering it unless he helps them reach the EPL next year (unlikely at the moment it seems).

Mike Grella – Another young guy that has seen his moments already in England with Leeds and now Carlisle United. He was loaned out this season to get more playing time and so far he’s only seen limited action.

Paul Stalteri – Another Canadian to keep watch out for. He’s still in Germany at the moment but the playing time for this 33-year old isn’t all that great. He’s a little older than most TFC or Whitecap fans would want to see come back to them but I’d imagine he’d be a much better improvement for the Reds over someone like Nick Garcia.

Charlie Davies – Yes I know he finally returned to the first team bench this weekend but I still have a hunch he’ll be in MLS before long. I hope to be proved wrong for his sake though as I’d love to see him get back to where he was at before his horrific car crash.

Kenny Cooper – The move to Europe hasn’t been a smooth one for KC Junior. Either its a lack of playing time or another loan spell that doesn’t work out for him it seems like nothing has really gone his way so far since leaving FC Dallas.

Marcus Tracy – Another one I still have a hunch will come to MLS before long. He skipped out on playing in MLS a couple years ago even though he was drafted by the Houston Dynamo. Things looked nice starting out for him in Denmark but only 15 appearances since joining Aalborg in 2009 doesn’t bode well for his future.

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I’m sure there are plenty more that are really in need of a better playing situation and returning home to MLS would be a good fit. Feel free to add them below. Just keep in mind that I’m not saying any of these guys are going to come back to MLS tomorrow or even next summer. Just an opinion that I think they’d be better off back here.

John Spencer talks about each signing. (Photo via Portland's press conference)

The Portland Timbers are already taking shape before their first MLS season next year. Today they announced the signing of four players to their MLS roster including three players from their 2010 D-2 roster. All three Portland players were former MLS players and are now returning to the league as well.

The signings included forward Ryan Pore, midfielder Bright Dike, goalkeeper Steve Cronin and striker Eddie Johnson. The only non-Portland player to sign was Johnson who is coming up from the Austin Aztex.

During the announcement Technical Director Gavin Wilkinson stated the club would likely sign at least two more players from their D-2 roster before the expansion draft next month. Most believe those two will either be Ian Joy, Khalif Alhassan or Mamadou “Futty” Danso.

Portland went very attacking minded in their first round of signings which kind of leads me to believe they’ll go defensive in the expansion draft. If their other two signings are from their club I think they’ll be defensive as well but if they go outside of their club again like they did with Johnson I’d imagine they’ll be filling out their midfield some.

Three of the four signings today are proven goal scorers in the D-2 level but two of those three (Pore and Dike) weren’t able to see much on the MLS level before.

About The Four

Ryan Pore had plenty of time in MLS before with Kansas City but was probably never utilized well during the time of Curt Onalfo’s run managing the team. He’s been very good with Portland these last two seasons which leads me to think he’s found a system that works for him. New Portland coach John Spencer will likely know how to use Pore too next year.

Bright Dike was drafted by Columbus in the first round this past year but never made an appearance in a MLS game with the Crew as they released him before the start of the season. I have a feeling Dike will enjoy playing against the Crew next year.

Eddie Johnson was a surprise pick in some ways as most expected Portland to sign only guys from their roster but they pulled a Seattle and went outside of the box in this signing. Honestly I love it as Johnson is a guy that knows his way around goal and could turn out to be another Sebastien Le Toux type of player.

Steve Cronin was the only non-attacking player signed today by the Timbers. He’s been very good with the Timbers the last couple of seasons after spending time in LA. No doubt he’s got MLS quality but it will be interesting to see how he holds up against better attacking teams like RSL and LA this time around in MLS.

What did you all make of the signings today by the Timbers?