Red Bull Arena should be lively on Sunday. (Getty Images)

Looking at this weekend’s schedule a couple things jump out to you. For one it is a lot of East v. West with the Eastern clubs hosting the majority of the games (4 of 6). Second of all, it is a lot of good team against bad team. Oh boy.

There are a couple really intriguing games on the menu but for the most this weekend could be a “miss” for the league. Hey it happens.

Only the LA Galaxy are off this weekend and I’m sure they are going to enjoy the time off.

Friday

Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders FC – Probably one of the better matches if not the best match of the weekend on paper. Houston has started strong with two straight road games, though against weaker clubs. Seattle got off to a nice start to the season last weekend against Toronto. Houston can say they are the only Eastern Conference club to beat anyone from the West at this point and a win in Seattle will certainly quiet folks like myself that are doubting this team. I just think however that Seattle is too much to handle at home. Alvaro Fernandez, Fredy Montero, and now David Estrada are all too much even for a stingy Houston defense. 

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Houston 0

Saturday

San Jose Earthquakes at Toronto FC – I wrote yesterday that San Jose can really prove a point or two with a win in Toronto. I still believe that to be true. Toronto has been a popular pick to do well this season (from people like me) but they lost in their season opener last week in Seattle and more importantly lost Torsten Frings for a few weeks. Ouch. Still, a home opener with a team that isn’t that great yet traveling across the country doesn’t add up well for the Quakes. Go with the Reds here.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 2, San Jose 1

Portland Timbers at New England Revolution – Just how bad is this New England squad? No offense or any signs of real life in the first two weeks, but a home game could change that for Jay Heaps. Could. At best this one is a draw but the Timbers have looked strong in their two games and got a point in Dallas last weekend. Kris Boyd and Darlington Nagbe will be too much to handle for New England.

WVH Prediction: Portland 1, New England 0

Montreal Impact at Columbus Crew – After being off for a week the Crew return home to face the expansion Impact. This game sounds interesting, most due to the fact that we still want to see what this Montreal side is really made of here. The big question for both clubs is who will be scoring the goals. Someone has to step up here and you’d think it will be someone from the home side. I feel like this one could end level though.

WVH Prediction: Columbus 1, Montreal 1

Philadelphia Union at Chicago Fire – Whatever is going on in the locker room in Philly will certainly take effect on this game in Chicago. I like the Union but those kinds of issues are always tough to deal with, especially when you have key players missing (Sheanon Williams and Freddy Adu). Chicago has the talent and the likely momentum from being at home to ride out a win in this one.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, Philadelphia 1

Chivas USA at Real Salt Lake – Remember when these expansion mates had fun games? Seems ages ago when they were more evenly matched. Should be an easy three points for Jason Kreis’ club.

WVH Prediction: RSL 3, Chivas 0

D.C. United at Vancouver Whitecaps – Let’s see, no Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen or Andy Najar for United right? Right. They still have Dwayne De Rosario but he hasn’t shown up yet this season. I’m taking the Whitecaps and their vastly stronger offense to take the points in this one.

WVH Prediction: Vancouver 2, DC 0

Sunday

Colorado Rapids at New York Red Bulls – This one has intrigue written on it for a couple reasons. The obvious one is surrounding Hans Backe the other is just how good is this Rapids club here this season. Both should be answered in this one as the Red Bulls face a weird must-win home game this early in the season. The Rapids are at least watchable these days under Oscar Pareja. Go with a draw on this one as New York gets Rafa Marquez back, which should help their midfield and defense out in a large way.

WVH Prediction: New York 1, Colorado 1

FC Dallas at Sporting KC – Another one of the top games of the weekend, it’s just too bad Dallas will be lacking Brek Shea, Fabian Castillo, Carlos Rodriguez and likely David Ferreira. Time for those depth questions to really be answered here for Schellas Hyndman. Defensively Dallas has looked strong and I’d expect George John to play more in this one as well. They’ll need him as Sporting can be a hand full up top with CJ Sapong and Kei Kamara. Just too bad Dallas isn’t at full strength for this one because it would have easily been a good one to watch.

WVH Prediction: SKC 2, Dallas 1

Houston and Seattle battle it out tomorrow night. (Getty Images)

We are chugging along here in the first month of the 2012 season. The third week of the season brings another full slate of games and talking points. There are a few decent games this weekend with a couple more that could end up being decent as well when it is all said and done.

Nine games on the menu this weekend across three days – only the LA Galaxy are off this weekend.

Below are some points I’ll be keeping an eye on this weekend.

1. West meets East. Six of the nine games this weekend feature a East v. West battle. Big games between Seattle and Houston and then Sporting KC and FC Dallas headline the weekend. Big thing to keep in mind is of those six games, four of them are in Eastern Conference venues. It will be interesting to see if the Eastern clubs can turn the tide at home after going the first two weekends without much to show for against the West. 

2. How good is Houston? Two road games in a row and two wins in a row have the Dynamo off to a rocking start. But how good is Dominic Kinnear’s club really at this point? The two 1-0 wins have come against one of the worst clubs in the league (Chivas) and a team that is decent (San Jose). Also, the Orange haven’t exactly lit up the boards with their offense as they’ve only chipped in two goals on the season, one being from the penalty spot last week.

Houston heads to Seattle for a big primetime battle with the Sounders tomorrow night. Seattle looked good in their home opener last week against Toronto as David Estrada ran all over the Reds with a hat trick. Toronto is a different defensive club than Houston is here. The Dynamo use the defense to their strength and will need to push around the Sounders early and often to get them off their game.

3. About those Quakes. San Jose takes their 1-1-0 record to the road to battle Toronto FC in their home opener. So far we’ve seen the Quakes play decent in a win over New England but then stumble against Houston last week. We know Chris Wondolowski can score but so far no one is really feeding him the ball. But they may be in luck as Toronto sweeper Torsten Frings is on the mend for a few weeks. Without him in the midfield, expect Toronto to be a little different and likely a bit weaker. If San Jose is indeed better this year, this will be a  game that they can prove it to us. On the road, in a tough environment, against a pretty decent team.

4. The questions in Philly. We’ve heard all week about stuff going on with the Philadelphia Union. Peter Nowak is playing things very oddly and in a way that can be easily made fun of too by folks in the press and online. This Union squad has talent, make no mistake about it, but right now they seem to be lacking some heart across the field. You’d expect a guy like Danny Califf or Carlos Valdes to step up and be the true veteran leaders that they are, but that hasn’t exactly happened yet in their two losses (for a variety of reasons no less). Offensively speaking the Union haven’t got it going so far this year and not having Freddy Adu isn’t making it easier.

The Union head to Chicago for their home opener. The Fire looked decent in Montreal last week but still have some question marks of their own. We don’t know how good this club really is or will be yet but we do know one thing, Dominic Oduro is certainly trying to make us realize that he isn’t going to be a one-hit wonder.

5. Turn the heat up in New York. We’ve talked about it this week, the heat under Hans Backe’s butt has to be getting warmer and warmer here. The Red Bulls opened the season with two straight road losses and losing their home opener is definitely out of the question. The panic button hasn’t been pushed, not yet at least. They get a Colorado Rapids squad that will be missing a key midfielder in Jeff Lawrentowicz, who got red carded late in Philadelphia last weekend. That’s a huge blow for a club on the road seeking a third straight win.

New York has to play their style of game. Direct, with pace on the wings with Dane Richards and Joel Lindpere. So far neither one of them has been involved much in their two losses. Without their services on the wings, Thierry Henry has been forced to sit further back into the midfield to get the ball. That cannot happen for a player like Henry. Having Rafa Marquez back in the lineup should help though, if he can be the defensive force in the midfield, it may allow pressure off the defense and some better service. At least one would hope that will be the case. If not, Backe and this club will be forced to answer a lot of tough questions.

6. Dallas travels with a slew of missing players. We’ve talked about wondering just how good a couple clubs are, well Sporting KC fits that mold. They’ve done well in their two wins to start the season, one on the road in D.C. and the other at home against a 10-man New England. Now they’ll host a FC Dallas squad missing Brek Shea, Fabian Castillo and likely David Ferreira. That’s a ton of offense for Schellas Hyndman to be missing, not to mention newcomer Carlos Rodriguez, who has been filing in on the wings will be out with the Panama U-23 national team. Ouch.

To me this one is simple, if KC plays to their strengths up top with Kei Kamara and CJ Sapong, then this one will be their’s without a doubt. Dallas has a strong defense for sure this season with the return of George John and newcomer Hernan Pertuz looking good but without the wing play in the midfield, Dallas will struggle in this one.

It was a quick trip to the Big D for United States Men’s National team coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Sunday. The US boss was on hand for the MLS season opener between FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls. He also was there to scarf Uncle Lamar’s statue in the North Gate at FC Dallas Stadium.

The spoke briefly to a few reporters before the game and offered up a few interesting nuggets. Klinsmann was definitely keeping tabs on some of the younger guys in MLS on Sunday with the likes of Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, George John and Zach Loyd on the field.

“We empower the players to be the driving force so when Brek comes in or hopefully George comes in hopefully the next time or stuff like that or Zach Loyd comes in we say you guys are in the driver’s seat. You’ve got to show us how much you want this, how far you can go, how much you’re able to suffer and obviously your qualities that are given to you that you worked hard on many, many years. There is a lot of special talent coming through the ranks in the U.S. or even youngsters all over the world that have U.S. passports. That was never the case in soccer 10 years ago,” said Klinsmann.

But looking further into the talent pool, Klinsmann mentioned how important players in Mexico are to the growth of the national team.

“We basically have a bigger roster. We have obviously 20-25 right now that we feel very comfortable with but there’s an even more extended roster we fill with the January camp players, a lot of them and stuff. Herculez is part of them. I mean all the kids that play in Mexico and other places, we have them all on the radar screen. The Mexican clubs are pretty kind of surprised that we have our coaches go down to Mexico. We’ve never had that before. We look at them all the time and what we still have to figure out at the end of the day is what is the internal ranking for us? We go into May, June and we have 22 spots and we’ve got to make the best out of it. There’s an established ranking in every national team program. They’re there for a reason. It doesn’t mean that you kind of downsize anybody else. It is because the spot is taken.”

George John will return to Dallas for the 2012 season. (Getty Images)

FC Dallas defender George John will to return to FC Dallas following a two-month loan with English Championship side West Ham United.

West Ham United elected not to turn the loan into a transfer based on their club’s current top-of-the-table success and the current form of the club’s two starting center backs.

“I’m glad I had this opportunity and experience, and I want to thank MLS, FC Dallas and West Ham,” said John. “Right now I’m really looking forward to getting back to Dallas. I’ve been in touch with Schellas and I’m ready to get to work.”

“It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to play, but it really was understandable given the circumstances,” said John, who scored a goal in his first Reserve game with the English side. “I hope West Ham continues its good form and gets back to the Premier League. That’s certainly where the club belongs.”

While John is saying all the right things following this disappointment of not getting the transfer deal secure, it does open up some big questions for FC Dallas who have used newcomer Hernan Pertuz most of the preseason in his place in the middle of the defense. John will have to find his form with Dallas, though that shouldn’t be a problem considering his two-month loan in England.

How John handles this rejection will be key. Either he goes into a major slump like some other players have done (including himself) following a failed transfer deal or he ends up having one of his best seasons yet. Dallas now has a very stacked defense for this season, something to note as I release my positional rankings for this season (defense should be out on Monday).

George John could be on the move (again). (Getty Images)

A fun bit of news broke late yesterday evening. Two US National team defenders George John and Omar Gonzalez were said to be leaving the national team camp for “club-related matters”. Naturally their two teams instantly sent out messages about those matters. For one player it was about a loan, the other a transfer.

Gonzalez – the 2011 MLS Defender of the Year – is headed to Germany on loan with FC Nurnberg until at least the middle of February, the German club announced on its website on Thursday. The German side hoped to make a move for Gonzalez in the summer but got an opportunity sooner than they had expected with the short-term loan.

Joining U.S. international Timmy Chandler on a team that is just above the relegation zone, Gonzalez could make his debut for Nurnberg on Jan. 21 when it takes on Hertha Berlin.

Gonzalez joins the long list of US National team players that have taken a loan or training stint in Europe this winter.

John on the other hand is heading in a different direction. With a Greek passport he has a chance to move just about anywhere he wants in Europe. Last summer he nearly moved to England with Blackburn but the deal with the Rovers fell through in the final stages. I’ve been trying to contact John’s agent about where he could land and once I have that detail I will be sure to pass it along to you all.

John’s club FC Dallas will now have to go back to square one in finding defensive depth to replace him. They have already brought in one defender this winter but after the possibility of gaining a decent transfer fee, they could be able to score another quality one to replace him.

These are two very interesting developments considering how much both players were desired by US fans to be on the National team this winter. It is very possible that we won’t see either of these two back in MLS in 2012. More than likely John will be sold and Gonzalez will return for a brief amount of time with the Galaxy.

The hulking defender will now join his club in Seattle for a USOC semifinal game on Tuesday with the Sounders. It’s tough to see this kid not get a dream deal like this but sometimes the timing of situations like this just don’t work out for whatever reason.

I’ll have more on this once I talk to George and his agent this week.

George John will take his talents to England. (Getty Images)

I really wanted to get to this yesterday since the player’s agent actually contacted me about it. Ah never the less it was still reported well over at my other hub at BigDSoccer.com.

FC Dallas defender George John is on his way to Greece to pick up his Greek passport. Once that is taken care of (likely today) he will then register with the EU so his transfer to EPL side Blackburn Rovers will be complete. Both MLS and FC Dallas agreed to the deal with the EPL side over the weekend and the deal will become complete once all the paperwork finishes up.

John currently makes around $42k a year in MLS and his transfer deal with Blackburn is said to be around $2 million.

According to his agent Ted Philipkos, should something fall through in this deal today or tomorrow, John will be back on a plane to the States and will remain with FC Dallas.

My feelings about this deal are pretty simple. The player wants to go and he should as it is a great chance for a quality American player to be in the EPL. Sure it hurts FC Dallas and MLS at the same time but let’s put it this way, John wasn’t putting butts in seats anywhere he was at. No offense to him in that comment but the club wasn’t marketing around him like they were when Kenny Cooper was in town and left for Germany a couple years back.

It is the nature of the business too. Players come and go and right now MLS is still a league that develops and sells. Thankfully the amount of talent the league is buying today is greatly different than it used to be. Before we’d see players like a Clint Dempsey or Stuart Holden go but no one in their quality would come to MLS in return. It isn’t that case these days as a player like John will leave but we can look to the owners willingness to spend money on exciting players like Fabian Castillo as proof that things are better in MLS.

I wish John nothing but the best in England. I’ve pointed out several times over at BigDSoccer this year that he is one of my favorite players to talk to from FC Dallas. Hopefully he does us all proud over there in the EPL.

A lot of changes will be made by new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. (Photo via MLSSoccer.com)

Yeah go ahead and throw this one on the massive pile of other stories similar to this one. I’ve stayed away from the Klinsmann talk for a few reasons, mainly lack of time on my part to devote to discussing it is the biggest. As you’ll see in the coming weeks, I have some changes that I’ll be making to the site and I’ve been busy working on them.

Now back to the story at hand. As we’re all aware there are plenty of players out there that will benefit form the Jurgen Klinsmann hiring for the US National Team. Plenty of those guys are young and come from Major League Soccer while a good bit of them will be from other league spread out throughout the world.

With some friendlies on the horizon, I’d expect to see plenty of new faces in with the US.

Jose Torres – I know JFT got the call to the World Cup last year from Bradley but it seems like ever since then we haven’t heard a peep from this kid. There’s little doubt in my mind that Klinsmann will get the most out of him with his creative skills.

Brek Shea – Don’t be shocked if Shea gets a look this time around. He’s having too good of a year for FC Dallas in MLS not to get a call up. I know Dallas fans will be excited for him even though it will come at a critical point in their season with potential CCL games and all. As we’ve seen in MLS this season he is magic on the wings for Dallas. Klinsmann could use a spark like that in the midfield too.

George John – Another FCD player that will likely get a look-at from Klinsmann. John is dominant in the defense and has been a key factor in Dallas’ success this season. He’s big, tall, and physical too. All items you want in a center back. Put him in there with guys like Clarence Goodson or Omar Gonzalez and you could easily have a back duo for years to come.

Tim Chandler – We know the German-born connection here. He definitely appears to be the next best thing at right-back for the US and with Klinsmann in charge that time may come sooner than it would have with Bob Bradley in charge.

Michael Bradley – Yup, I’m putting the old coaches son on the list. I think he gets a lot of the bad wrap that his dad would get when he was the coach. Now with his dad gone from leading the team, the son can re-focus on being a leader in the midfield like he has shown to be on occasion. (I also get how you could make the argument that his hire hurts him as well too)

Chad Marshall – Another top-notch defender that always got overlooked by Bradley. I never got why Marshall was not called into the Gold Cup camp either. Considering how dominant he’s been in MLS over the last five-to-six years and has only had a few call ups is surprising. I’d easily take him right now over Tim Ream (just saying).

Any names that I’m missing here? Let’s hear it.

Normally I tackle one of these kinds of posts each year it seems as there are always a group of guys that just look prime to go from MLS to Europe at the next chance. A year or so ago (okay December 08) I wrote that guys like Sacha Kljestan and Michael Parkhurst were on their way out of MLS.

After Geoff Reid’s talk yesterday about players heading to leagues in Sweden or Norway I felt like piggy-backing that post a bit to get back into this discussion today. The fact that I skipped an entire year on something like this was a bit shocking as I thought I’d keep up with it longer when I first started doing it. Silly me I suppose.

The summer transfer window just closed a couple weeks ago and now clubs have to wait before they can get their hands on some up and coming MLS talent. It seems like right now there are plenty of guys that could very well be gone from MLS next year if the league doesn’t step up and protect it’s own, which we know probably won’t happen.

A lot of talk has surrounded Landon Donovan in recent months but really anymore I don’t see him going back to Europe full-time. I think in January we’ll see him head back to England or where ever for a three-month deal only to return to LA for the start of the 2011 season. Plus I feel as though he went to England this past year and did what he’s been wanting to do for a long time, prove himself on a big stage. He’s done that and so I think he’s fine in LA for the time being. Some folks won’t agree with that but let’s face it MLS isn’t getting rid of it’s biggest star just yet.

Now some of my list below is built on a gut feeling and the others could be based on rumors flying around. All of these guys are young too as I didn’t go for any veterans that think they’ll just up and leave MLS. Which means I still believe guys like Shalrie Joseph won’t go even though you know they’d like to. Also I know a few of these guys are a couple years away from a move but I thought they were worth discussing. If you feel like I missed someone or think I’m totally crazy just share your thoughts below.

1. Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo) – His injury this year probably dampened his chances in a big way to score a huge contract or even a transfer this summer but one thing is certain about Cameron he’s vastly underpaid in MLS. He knows it and so does the rest of the soccer world. He hasn’t signed a contract extension with the Dynamo just yet either so don’t be shocked if his situation turns out to be similar to Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark. I’d love to see Geoff stay here in MLS, believe me I would but we’ve seen this time and time again with clubs like Houston. They make good, young, and cheap players into very talented stars. Its always tough to hold on to something like that.

2. Danny Mwanga (Philadelphia Union) – I know he got talked into coming to MLS instead of going to Europe but believe me he won’t be in MLS very long with the way he plays. I give him one more year here tops. Maybe even less than that.

3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy) – Here’s a gut feeling kind of thing. Once his contract runs out with the club I see him as a goner. Defenders like Gonzalez are tough to come by and he’ll also continue to get more US National team play in the coming year as well I believe. The more folks abroad see him the more likely he won’t be in MLS with LA.

4. Brek Shea (FC Dallas) – Here is another talented yet cheap player that is continuing to get better. He had rumors a couple years ago about going to Europe but after the way he’s emerged this season it will be tough for Dallas to keep him long-term. He’s still very young and has room to grow in the right system.

5. Andy Najar (D.C. United) – You can’t be shocked to see this kid’s name listed here. Thankfully for D.C. fans they have him for at least another year as he can’t go anywhere else until he’s 18. But unfortunately for D.C. and anyone who enjoys watching him play in MLS he’s a star on the rise that will only continue to garner interest from abroad.

6. Toni Tchani (New York Red Bulls) – Some will say Tim Ream is more likely to leave MLS than Tchani but I disagree. Tchani may be a couple years off from a move out but believe me once this kid gets the proper playing time you’ll understand why I put him here. His size and skill are there and its only a matter of time before this guy gets attention abroad.

7. Stefan Frei (Toronto FC) – I could be wrong here about Frei but the talented Swiss player could make a move easily based on his passport. Then again if anyone watches him in goal they’d be silly to think he wouldn’t be a good fit abroad. He’s got the size and skill you want in a keeper too.

8. George John (FC Dallas) – This one may shock some folks but I’m a big George John fan, not because I see him all the time here in Dallas but because he’s really started to grow as a player here. His size is perfect and he’s only getting better, just like his club at defense. Part of me feel he could be the next Clarence Goodson from MLS.

9. Steve Zakunai (Seattle Sounders FC) – The speedy winger from Seattle is a guy that can be a game changer with his pace and scoring ability. Having some chances in Europe before (he was with the Arsenal youth system) before coming to the US to play college soccer at Akron. Now that he is making a name for himself here its only a matter of time before he hops back across the pond.

10. Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew) - Part of me thinks he’ll be in MLS for his entire career but the other part me thinks he’ll eventually try his hand at going to Europe. He’s only 26-years old but had enough experience to land in a decent league if he wanted to.

FC Dallas battles Seattle tonight on ESPN2. (Getty Images)

A Thursday night game in Frisco, TX, boy let’s hope the locals come out for this one since it is on national television. The Seattle Sounders FC come into town tonight to face one of two remaining clubs in Major League Soccer without a win on the year in FC Dallas. Both teams coming off late goals with different outcomes in their last games, Dallas could have seen road points in New York while Seattle gobbled up three points on a very late goal at home against Kansas City.

Dallas is hoping to get their first win and not go April winless, something they haven’t done since 2003 when the Burn went 0-1-1.

Tonight’s contest will be all about who’s offense finally gets going here. Dallas has yet to really see Jeff Cunningham be the Golden Boot winner of last year just yet. Then again this time last year it was a similar effect for him as he really didn’t come alive last year until the summer. Seattle on the other hand is hoping to find more offense than Fredy Montero and to find some sort of consistency on offense.

It won’t be easy though as both club’s defenses are solid. Some may not think Dallas’ defense is any better than before but I’m seeing a tougher group out there and one that is getting loads more possession. If Dallas continues to control the possession in the game like they have in each game so far this year they will eventually work out the kinks in their offense in the process.

Seattle must find ways to spread out FCD with Steve Zakuani and get Freddie Ljungberg involved as early as possible. Dallas usually does a decent enough job clogging the middle of the field so Seattle must rely on their wing play in this one.

Dallas must also find a way to keep a lead, they’ve gotten leads in their last two games but failed to get more than a single point out of them. Its not just the play in the back that has given up those goals but the play in the midfield.

Part of me wants to pick Dallas in this one to get their first home win of the year but I see a draw. Seattle will go up early and hold back as much as possible as they have another road game this weekend in Toronto on Sunday.

Player to watch out for: George John – He’s a Seattle local but he’s also hoping to go the full 90 for the first time against his hometown team. He’ll be called on to handle Montero and the other Sounders coming down the middle of the field.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, Seattle 1