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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sounders fans will agree, it was equally as nice to see Montero scoring again here.

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.

It is finally here, Major League Soccer’s first kick of 2011. The long wait (or short wait if you think the offseason has been rather quick like I do) is over and the games will pick up in a hurry starting tonight. It seems to be a new tradition for MLS, the first kick of the new season begins at Qwest Field for the third straight season as the Seattle Sounders play host to the LA Galaxy.

The Sounders look for revenge against the Galaxy, who knocked them out of the MLS Playoffs a season ago. On the flip side, the Galaxy are hoping to keep their hot streak alive against the Sounders.

The bar has been set high for both clubs going into this season. LA has title hopes and fans in Seattle expect even bigger things for the two-time US Open Cup champions. The Galaxy have beefed up their lineup a bit with guys veterans like Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk. Seattle on the other hand made a few moves while keeping most of their 2010 bunch intact.

Tonight will be all about controlling the tempo of the game for these two. LA will want to silence the Qwest Field crowd yet again (last year they dominated Seattle here) by keeping possession and pressuring the Sounder backline that let in their fair share of goals last year. If LA gets off to a quick start it could be a long night for the hosts. The Sounders have to use their speed on the wings (if Steve Zakuani is able to play tonight of course) and find ways in space to get Fredy Montero and Blaise Nkufo involved in the attack.

With JPA, Donovan Ricketts and Omar Gonzalez all likely to miss tonight’s game for LA, it gives Seattle a solid shot of being in this one. Bruce Arena’s club has had Sigi Schmid’s number these last two years but tonight feels like a draw to me. LA will get on the boards in the first half in this one with LA mounting a comeback late.

Player to watch out for: Landon Donovan, the dude just loves the spotlight in games like this.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 1, LA 1

Montero was thought to be headed off to Europe before long but seeing the Sounders make him a permenant piece to their club shows promise that he’ll stay in MLS longer. He’s a vital player to their offense as he’s lead the team in scoring in their first two seasons with 22 goals and 17 assists in 56 league appearances.

It will be interesting to see how this deal affects the rest of the Sounders this offseason. Sounders at Heart posted a great look at what this deal really means for the Sounders.

To me this deal looks good. It keeps a young player in the league and allows the team to move forward, possibly in a more creative sense to do things this winter. I’d imagine the Sounders will be looking heavily to build their depth through the SuperDraft and with some Home Grown Talent as soon as they can this winter.

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).

David Beckham is back to his old tricks. (Getty Images)

Smell that? Its the smell of October which means playoff soccer is right around the corner. Only three weeks left in the season and already we know of five clubs going to the post season dance. Three spots remain with really four clubs going for them. Sorry Toronto and Chicago you know your chances are longshots at best at this point in the season.

Hard to believe we are down to this, the final couple weeks of the season. Some things still remain the same way they’ve been all season long though, LA is still on top with RSL and Dallas closely behind and New York and Columbus continue to battle it out in the east. Week 27 is in the books for now and boy was it a great weekend of action even with a couple ho-hum draws on the table.

Becks is Back

Add me to the list of folks playing the hype here for the Galaxy now that David Beckham is scoring on free kicks again. Lets just say that LA looked very good in their win last night against Chivas USA. Edson Buddle returned to his scoring form adding to his league-leading tally. But how about that kick from Becks? Classic David Beckham if you will but the important thing here is that Beckham is starting to look good for the Galaxy at the perfect time for his club.

I do think this goal will serve as a bit of notice that Becks is back but then again so should be the Galaxy. With three games remaining the Supporter’s Shield remains theirs to lose here. Sure Dallas could catch them but that’s far off I think even with their amazing unbeaten run they have going on. RSL could catch them as well, which remains the most likely but I’ve said before their schedule isn’t nearly as favorable as LA’s.

Tying Marks

Boy it was a big night in the Big D. I know FC Dallas pulled out their usual 10k crowd at Pizza Hut Park but on a OU-Texas weekend in Dallas that number is actually fairly impressive. But the story in Frisco is the tying of two records, the league’s unbeaten streak number (18) and for Jeff Cunningham the league’s all-time scoring mark.

I always said this season would be special for Cunningham in that regard. After last year it just seemed like Cunningham was destined to at least tie Jamie Moreno for the all-time mark in goals but it looks more and more like this will be the year he breaks the record. With three games remaining and the way he’s been scoring lately you have to figure he’s good for at least one more this season.

Kudos for Jeff too. Earlier this year he wasn’t having the best of times again but after sticking with things he slowly turned his dud of a season into one that he’ll never forget. Kind of hard to believe he’s at 11 goals on the season too at this point. Back in June we wouldn’t have guessed he would even hit seven or eight on the year.

Now as for that club record for FC Dallas. The 18-game unbeaten run is pretty darn special. One more win or draw and they’ll at least have the chance to go down as one in league history for fewest losses in a season. I believe San Jose a few years back may have lost only four or five but in a slightly different era in MLS only losing a handfull of games in a season is pretty impressive.

Dallas still has to close the year out at home to Colorado and then on the road to RSL and LA. It won’t be easy getting to 21 games here but if any club can do it I do think it would be this one.

Mile High Shocker

The biggest result of the weekend was also the biggest shock of the weekend in Denver. I don’t think anyone, even die-hard D.C. United fans would have predicted their club winning in Dick Sporting Good’s Park this weekend but some how, some way they did shocking the Rapids 1-0.

Yea, let me say that again D.C. United beat Colorado in Colorado 1-0 this weekend. Writing it once just didn’t do it justice enough considering D.C. hadn’t won there since 2000.

Furthermore Ben Olsen has now tied his predecessor Curt Onalfo in wins for the year with three. Onalfo was 3-12-3 with United before he was let go. Olsen has done a decent enough job since taking over and grabbing three more wins, two in places I’d never dream of them winning at this season in Colorado and Toronto.

MVP Update

I may do this as a separate post later on today or this week but the MVP race for this season continues to remain one of the toughest in recent memories. But for now I believe its down to four guys; David Ferreira (Dallas), Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia), Landon Donovan (LA), and Fredy Montero (Seattle).

You could make an argument for someone like Omar Cummings in Colorado or Guillermo Barros Schelotto in Columbus. But those four continue to remain my top picks here and at this point in the season its hard to really decide who deserves the nod.

If you go on goals and assists in the year it has to go to Le Toux who leads the combo with 13 goals and 10 assists on the year. But then again Ferreira also has seven goals and 13 assists. Montero has 10 goals and nine assists while Donovan leads the league in assists with 14 and has also bagged seven goals.

Its anyone’s guess at this stage really. Le Toux will be pressed hard by the Philly faithful and deservingly so. Some folks unfortunately will have problems with voting in a guy who didn’t at least get his team into the playoffs. I say that’s BS. Without Le Toux Philly would possibly be the worst expansion club of all-time as he’s been apart of 23 of their 32 goals this year.

I hate going homer on you but Ferreira may be my selection if I had to vote today. But again I’ll go more into that later on.

Hanging By A Thread

Kansas City has only themselves to blame at this point. They gave New York all they could handle last weekend and yet nothing was able to go in for them. Peter Vermes’ side continues to still look like the biggest threat to Colorado, Seattle and San Jose for that final playoff spot as their schedule remains the nicest of the four.

But the thing is I wonder if its already too late for the Wizards. At this point they’ll need to at least go 3-0-1 in their final four games. A tall task considering they still have Seattle at home coming up and then a Tuesday-Saturday swing as they travel to Chicago and to New England before closing out the year at home to San Jose.

Again it won’t be easy. Their hope stating out is to catch a tired Seattle squad at home. The Sounders have the USOC final this week. You have to figure they’ll have some tired legs in this game.

Steve Zakuani and Seattle host RSL tonight. (Getty Images)

A lot could change tonight in Seattle after tonight’s clash between the Seattle Sounders FC and the defending MLS Cup champions Real Salt Lake. For one its a chance for RSL to leap over Columbus and LA for the top spot in the league’s overall standings and take possession of the Supporter’s Shield race. But for the hosts, the Sounders could use another win to put further distance between them and the three clubs from the east (Toronto, KC, and Chicago) that are knocking on the playoff door.

Seattle stumbled last week in New England after a terrible 10-minute stretch that saw them go from potentially winning a game to losing 3-1. Blame it on their busy schedule or jetlag but the Sounders lost their edge for a few after going 5-0-2 in their previous seven matches.

RSL on the other hand gained a big win at home once again over the New York Red Bulls. It was a statement win in some folks eyes even if it wasn’t all that pretty at times. Jason Kreis’ bunch continue to impress here as they find ways to get results. RSL is 11-1-6 since April, not a bad record to have at all.

The champs are a still a bit vulnerable on the road this season. Their 3-4-4 mark away from Rio Tinto isn’t anything stellar. I’d imagine RSL will lean heavily on Alvaro Sabario for offense tonight in this one. He scored a goal the last time these two met earlier this year in a 2-2 draw.

The Sounders will obviously continue to lean on the hot foot of Fredy Montero. Seattle showed earlier this year that spreading RSL out on the wings with the play of Steve Zakuani will do wonders for their attack. Doing that tonight will be a key in winning this game for the Sounders.

I’d expect RSL to go physical against Montero in this one too. That may be a key to getting a result in this one. I like RSL even away from home but my heart leans a bit towards Seattle. So for the second straight day I end up with a draw. Seattle will push for three points that they really need right now but RSL will find a way to get something behind Kasey Keller.

Player to watch out for: Alvaro Fernandez – The only DP on the field tonight (Blaise Nkufo is out) will need to put his stamp on this one. Going through him on the wings along with Zakuani will create more chances for Montero and Nate Jaqua up top.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 1, RSL1

LA continues their slump with a recent loss to Kansas City. (Getty Images)

A few clubs took a step forward this past weekend while others were taking two steps back. For the first time nearly all season the standings appear pretty tight in various spots. Up top is becoming increasingly closer as LA drops points yet again while RSL, Dallas, Columbus, and New York all sneak up on the Galaxy.

The final three spots for the playoffs still remain pretty open too. Seattle did their part getting three points this weekend, as did Colorado. The gap between 6, 7, and 8 is there but that last playoff spot is slowly starting to be anyone’s game between San Jose, Chicago, Toronto, and Kansas City.

Week 22 is in the books folks but its weird to think that we can actually say a handfull of clubs are nearly out of the running this year. Yes done. Before September. That’s how things go as the league expands.

Below are some other nuggets of thoughts I had on this past week in MLS.

1. LA continues to sink.

Speed kills and LA has little of it to show for. With Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan now producing on the same level as earlier in the season the Galaxy have gone from unbeatable to very beatable in a matter of two months. Since the World Cup ended the Galaxy have lost their way. In all competitions since July they are 3-6-1. See that middle number? Yeah its growing against teams they should beat, like Kansas City at home. No way on earth the Wizards are better than the Galaxy right now (no disrespect Wizards fans your club is getting much better) but the fight and hunger isn’t there from Bruce Arena’s team.

But back to my main point on the Galaxy. Their lack of speed continues to be an issue as it was a year ago and a couple years before that. Yes they’ll get David Beckham back in the lineup soon enough and I do believe that will be a nice spark to their lineup but speed wise they have none to burn while other clubs are burning all over them. You want to beat LA, just pull a quick counter on them and see what happens.

Its the age in the back and in the midfield that is hurting this side. Its the weakness that has been there all season long that we just ignored because they couldn’t stop winning early on in the season. It also doesn’t help that the quality young players like rookie Michael Stephens that they have are hitting that late summer wall.

2. Montero is the talk of the town.

Right now the MVP race is a two horse thing between Seattle’s Fredy Montero and Dallas’ David Ferriera. Why those two Colombians? Simple really, they both just get results for their clubs. Montero definitely had the upper hand this weekend as Ferriera and Dallas just looked a bit lost in Columbus in the 0-0 draw to the Crew. Montero and the Sounders hosted their old mate Freddie Ljungberg and the Fire this weekend and came away with a big time win, mostly due to Montero.

Seattle should get into the playoffs with the way Montero is playing right now. He, like his club, are peaking (in league play, not CCL play for the moment) at the right time here. Yes they had a bad slump in the early-to-middle part of the year but that appears to be over for now. Montero’s ten goals and nine assists are simply staggering to see.

Another name to consider in the MVP race is still Philadelphia’s Sebastien Le Toux. I just worry that folks won’t give him votes considering how he plays for one of the worst sides in the league right now.

3. New York and Dallas closing the gap?

Both clubs stand a good chance still at winning either their conferences or even the Supporter’s Shield this season. At 37 points they both sit six points back of LA and their overall league lead. Dallas has a game in hand against the Galaxy too.

New York has really started to grow on me lately, something that some of you thought would never happen. Basically it comes down to their recent additions paying off in a big way. Are they a title contender this year? You have to think so. No one wants to play them at Red Bull Arena right now and they have enough talent to get results on the road for a change.

But let’s look at Dallas for a moment too. They now have the league record for unbeaten games on the road at 10 and a club record for unbeaten games overall at 12. Its hard to think that their only losses this year are at home to LA back in May (their most recent loss) and all the way back in the beginning of the year in New York (a game that really should have been a draw).

Could Dallas and New York be headed for a trip to Toronto this November? Right now I wouldn’t bet against it.

4. End of an era

Lets go ahead and put New England and Houston with the bottom tier clubs for this season. As I see Philadelphia, D.C., Chivas all not making the playoffs I see the same out of New England and Houston now too.

Hard to believe the staple of consistency over the last six or eight years is coming to an end with these two. This year just wasn’t in the cards for either of them really as they continue to stumble in games that they probably could get results in.

I know both had red card issues in their games this weekend that definitely changed the outcomes a bit but looking at how the two played in those games they were never going to win them anyways.

New England needs around 20 points in their last nine games to have a shot at the post season while Houston needs about 17 in their final eight games. Doesn’t sound likely now does it folks?