I love a good laugh and this one got a lot of folks laughing at FC Dallas Media Day last week. Some journalists need to learn to do some homework before coming to these kinds of things…or else they’ll look this bad. See for yourself.

Bob Bradley has some tough choices to make for tomorrow's friendly against Holland (Getty Images)

Honestly I need to amp up my USMNT cover on here. I’ll admit I don’t get to see every game like I would like and I honestly nearly forgot the El Salvador game last week. In fact I didn’t even get to watch all of it but what I did see what the final 20 minutes or so which were fun to view since it was a nice comeback for the US.

What we know is this Holland game tomorrow is a biggie. Its in Holland and the Dutch are easily one of the best squads in the World right now. But this is more than a high profile friendly for Bob Bradley it is a chance to really finish filling out his roster for June at the World Cup in South Africa.

A good chunk of the roster is probably set but for those bubble players this is a big test. The two friendlies so far this year were definitely for the MLS talent to show their stuff and while they did a decent job only a couple of that B or C bunch will make an sort of dent in this roster come June.

Bradley has a couple areas to hammer out before June. The nearly all his defense needs to be figured out, his defensive midfield spot, and a striker. Continue Reading…

Dallas fans are hoping for a little more to cheer about in 2010. (Getty Images)

After a couple days away from this series we are back, today with my hometown team FC Dallas. So far we’ve looked at Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC and Philadelphia in this pre-season look in on how each club is looking as they gear towards the new season.

FC Dallas comes into pre-season camp looking pretty good after a solid finish to the 2009 campaign. Schellas Hyndman has made a couple moves and could be prepared to do a couple more before the season starts. Right now there are a few trailists on the pre-season roster but that doesn’t always mean they’ll be there on opening day.

Let’s take a look in now and see what Dallas had done and what else they need to take care of before the new season.

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Jeff Cunningham had reasons to smile late in 2009. (Getty Images)

This season was certainly a tale of two halves for FC Dallas. Things got off to the rockiest of starts that saw fans across North Texas grew more upset with the way things were being run in Frisco while the end of the year sure seemed to show things could actually be headed into the right direction for 2010.

Yes the rocky start to the season was mostly due to the club’s inability to market the team properly to the fans and let’s face it the on-field product just plain stunk. The club didn’t win their third game until the end of June.

But July brought a change, Kenny Cooper bolted town and somehow from there things picked up. It also seemed like the less General Manager Michael Hitchcock was in charge of moves the better the team got. Schellas Hyndman started trading around for his kind of guys. He sent Marcelo Saragosa packing for Atiba Harris. Later on he moved Drew Moor for Ugo Ihemelu. And at the same time he also picked up Heath Pearce on allocation and Kyle Davies from Real Salt Lake the defense started to take shape.

What was even more important than those moves were ones that happened before the season and even one from the season before started to actually cash in. Dave van den Burgh who came over from New York started producing just as he was expected. David Ferreira gave fans a reason to like the partnership with Brazilian club CAP once again as he started to link up with a rejuvenated Jeff Cunningham.

Yes Cunningham certainly enjoyed the ladder half of 2009. It was amazing to see him score 16 of his league leading 17 goals after Kenny Cooper left town for Germany.

While the club failed to reach the post season on the final day of the season with the loss to Seattle the club did provide reason to the fans in Dallas that this club has the ability to really turn things around for 2010.

What Went Right In 2009:
Once Hyndman got his guys in the lineup his defense started to actually defense Dario Sala’s goal. They went from giving up a couple goals a game to shutting teams out when it mattered most. Thanks to Cunningham in the second half of the season the team found it’s offense again. Hyndman started to prove at the end of the year that he may be worth it as a coach after all.

What Went Wrong In 2009:
Despite the nice finish to the season 2009 was still a bit of a disaster for this club. It wasn’t just the on the field issues early on with this club it was the front office digging a deeper hole with the fans of this club, especially the really loyal fan base that has been with the team from the beginning. Decisions not to market the club or improve existing issues within the club left a lot of people this year in Dallas with a bad taste in their mouths. But the decision to let Michael Hitchcock go after the season was certainly a good step for the club. But again it won’t be enough unless the owners start caring a little more about this club and the city it’s in.

What’s Next:
For this club coming up will be trimming the fat of this club. Pablo Richetti has already been shown the door and a trade will most likely come once the window that kind of thing opens again after MLS Cup. Look for the Andre Rocha loan to end and he be sent back to Brazil as well as a few other cuts that made no sense to make in the first place (Daniel Torres, Steve Purdy, etc.). From there I believe the club is looking to re-sign Dax McCarty. At the end of the day this club just needs to continue to build on those solid young players they have and add one or two veteran players to fill the gaps. I really believe this club is a player or two away from really, and I mean really making a run for things in 2010.

I know today has been a little light from me. I’ve had a super busy day at my normal day job so posting items on here kind of went out of the door. I came close to posting an updated MLS playoff scenario chart but I will be honest there are so many damn tiebreakers that could happen it will make your head spin. I just didn’t want to post something that wasn’t entirely correct as I wasn’t totally sure about a couple items in the tiebreakers.

Instead I held off to talk about a few different items that caught my eye today. The first being an interesting article on ESPNSoccerNet today that talked about the economy and MLS. As we all know the economy hasn’t been all that great this last year but somehow the league has been able to withstand it and grow. Sure ticket sales have been down but then again they’ve been down in nearly every league.

The modest decline in MLS ticket sales reflects two things, in my view,” said Raymond Sauer, a professor of economics at Clemson and the renowned guru behind the Sports Economist blog. “First, MLS ticket prices are relatively modest in comparison with the more established sports, who became oriented toward the premium end of the market in recent years.”With the sudden emergence of the budget-conscious consumer in the midst of the recession, MLS was well placed relative to the big four professional leagues. “Second, the fact that the decline was so modest is another piece of evidence pointing to the long-term growth potential of soccer in the North American market.”

The thing is the league cold be much worse if it weren’t for the Seattles and Torontos of the world. But the league is known for their cost-cutting ways and you have to think that those kinds of ways have helped the league stay above the Mason-Dixon line and not be fully in the red like say the Arena Football League.

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Jeff Cunningham will have to continue his MVP form tonight in San Jose.

You want some playoff type drama? Good because tonight’s midweek clash between San Jose and Dallas offers just that. Win and continue on in a the little hope of reaching the playoffs, lose or tie and you season is pretty much over.

Dallas won’t completely be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss tonight but you can pretty much put a good dollar or two on the long list of things that need to happen for them to get in to only grow with another loss. A win certainly makes all things that much more interesting as the Red Stripes continue up the standings here thanks to the boot of Jeff Cunningham and the helping hand (or boot for that matter) of David Ferreira.

Unlike their current place in the standings these two should put on a good game tonight based on their current runs. Dallas is 3-1-1 record in its past five matches, scoring 14 goals in those games. San Jose is on a very impressive run, posting a 4-0-2 mark since the All-Star break.

Dallas will need to find a way to get Cunningham involved early and in space. On a smaller field like Buck Shaw Stadium it could be tougher for them to do so. They’ll also have to keep a close eye on the always sneaky Ryan Johnson. Should Johnson get the proper space in the box he will certainly put away a goal or two for the Quakes.

I think this could be a draw but I am going with the more desperate of the two teams wanting points for a playoff run right now and that is Dallas. The Quakes have been quietly impressive as of late but Dallas just looks like a club possessed to get into the post season again here. While I think their chances are slim to do it a win will certainly get them closer here with a couple games left to go. Cunningham continues his remarkable run with another goal.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 2, San Jose 1

It’s been a fairly busy day around these parts. From catching up to things, to getting back to the daily grind at my normal job, and to getting back to work on things with this site. I wanted to kick off with a couple items that a few of your have emailed me and commented on recently here. Its mostly end of year items and seeing how we are towards the end of the season it is fitting to revisit some of these things.

First up, the coaching hot seat update.

Basically nothing has changed in my mind since my last update. I do think that Chris Cummins stands the best chance to keep his job if his club reaches the playoffs. Without a playoff trip he will easily join Tom Soehn and Jason Kreis in the pink slip line.

My big question is however if Tom Soehn does get fired by DC United this off season, how long will it take them to get former United star Richie Williams as their new coach? Believe me that would be a great hire for them and for Williams. I know he is currently the interim manager at New York right now but we all know they are looking for a bigger name to help open that new stadium next year.

I really do believe the likely candidates for firing are Soehn and Kreis here. Both had clubs with very high expectations this year and each have under delivered on those expectations. Soehn did have a rough schedule with a load of extra games but that won’t be good enough in DC. As for Kreis I think it comes down to management seeing if he has taken this club as far as he can, which the answer is yes. I just don’t see RSL going any further than a below average club each year under Kreis.

Also, don’t sleep on someone like Denis Hamlett getting canned at the end of this year as well. His Fire have massively under produced this year based on the very high expectations placed on them. I know they are close to clinching but they haven’t exactly lit the league up this year like most thought.

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