Robbie Keane is set to become a member of the Galaxy. (Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Galaxy have reportedly agreed to purchase Robbie Keane’s contract from Tottenham for a reported £3 million, but the signing is not yet official. The summer transfer window closed on Sunday at 11:59 p.m., but Galaxy president Tom Payne said on Twitter that an announcement may come on Monday.

Obviously the deadline is tonight at 11:59 pm EST, but any announcement of player signings would likely be tmmw.

August 14, 2011 10:01 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@galaxyprez

Tom Payne

This move also means that the club is close to trading Juan Pablo Angel. Some reports or tweets suggested Philadelphia, but others are now saying Chivas USA.

After initially turn down a potential move to Chivas USA, I'm now told Juan Pablo Angel approved a traded to Chivas USA late last night.

August 15, 2011 9:13 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@SoccerByIves

Ives Galarcep

Obviously the Galaxy had to deal JPA to make room for Keane. LA couldn’t have four DPs on the roster, simply because the league wouldn’t allow it.

Somehow it appears that Chivas is going to take on JPA’s salary for the rest of the year and use a DP slot for him. After passing on Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu in the league’s allocation system, if Chivas is indeed JPA’s landing spot then maybe we’ll see exactly why the club was holding out on all of that spending.

Though, it is tough to say right now if JPA will even come close to regaining his form this season. His three goals are a far cry to anything we ever saw out of him in New York.

Got to love the silly season. I’m sure we’re not nearly done with any of this by a long shot.

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

Angel will become the club’s third Designated Player behind David Beckham and Landon Donovan. Say what you will about the Galaxy but they look to be throwing it all in for 2011 after winning the Supporter’s Shield in 2010. They may have lost Edson Buddle to a club in Germany but adding Angel before the season kicks off should make up for it.

Since 2007, no player has scored more goals in MLS than Angel, who has 58 career goals in a 102 regular season games. The three-time All-Star will add a nice punch to the Galaxy offense and will do well with Beckham and Donovan.

I still believe LA has some work to do defensively though as they lacked speed in the back to keep up with some clubs like Dallas, Colorado and RSL. Their SuperDraft was pretty good and they picked up some decent talent in the Supplemental Draft as well.

Right now you have to still consider them big time contenders for this season. Even with a defense that lacks some speed they still are very deep and talented all across the board.

Juan Pablo Angel is heading west to be with the LA Galaxy. (Getty Images)

Much like last week’s stage one, if you blinked you missed something. Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft went by in a flurry over Twitter earlier today. With every club and nearly every other fan following along to the draft the tweets made it nearly impossible to keep up. But the dust has settled and the draft is over.

There were only a couple real shockers in this draft. A total of 11 picks in two rounds (I had no idea there would be two round) saw some big names move across the MLS landscape.

Round 1

• D.C. United: Josh Wolff
• Chivas USA: Jimmy Conrad
• New England Revolution: Ryan Cochrane
• LA Galaxy: Juan Pablo Angel
• Chicago Fire: Cory Gibbs
• Sporting KC: Frankie Hejduk
• Seattle Sounders: Chris Seitz
• Columbus Crew: Jeff Cunningham
• LA Galaxy: Luke Sassano
• Colorado Rapids: Tyrone Marshall

Round 2

• New England Revolution: Fred

Philadelphia, Portland, Vancouver, Dallas, Houston, New York, RSL, San Jose and Toronto all passed on picks.

Pick-by-pick Thoughts:

DC takes Wolff - First thought was why Wolff? Getting two decent strikers in the Re-Entry draft (they took Joseph Ngwenya in Stage 1) shows they got a lot of work still to do here. Wolff has a connection to manager Ben Olsen which is fine but its funny that DC continues to take former Curt Onalfo guys from KC.

Chivas takes Conrad – As long as Conrad signs this deal is great for Chivas. He’s a proven leader and someone that can instantly improve their chances in 2011.

New England takes Cochrane and Fred – A defensive pick, not bad but at the same time not great. He’s what they are looking for in cheap, experienced defenders though.

As for the Fred pick, I had no idea there was a second round to this as the Revs were the only club to pick in that round. I guess this is a decent pickup for them as they do need some upgrades in the midfield. I’m just not so sure this is the right fit.

LA takes Angel and Sassano – LA trades away a 4th rounder in 2014 (haha 2014!) to Houston and takes JPA. Their search for a second striker is over with that pick. If he does sign it will easily put LA in the discussion for MLS Cup contenders again in 2011. Getting him signed under the cap won’t be easy though as I’d imagine he’ll have to be a third DP.

As for the Sassano pick, don’t sleep on it. Its a very solid pick by Bruce Arena. He gets some fairly cheap, experienced defensive cover to help build up their depth in the back.

Chicago takes Gibbs – With Wilman Conde out of the way now this pick made perfect sense for the Fire. Gibbs is signed and ready to go to the Fire according to the club. Now if he can only stay healthy it will be a very solid steal for the club.

Sporting KC take Hejduk – A pick I love as long as they are able to agree on terms. Hejduk adds some veteran leadership to their backline now that Conrad is gone and you know the fans there will love him.

Seattle takes Seitz – There was some pre-draft speculation that he’d be going to Dallas today. That made little sense to me as does him going to Seattle. I feel this is more trade bait than anything else though if he signs he will be a decent backup in waiting behind Kasey Keller.

Columbus takes Cunningham – I told a couple people around here today that if Cunningham didn’t get picked in the draft he’d stay in Dallas however if he did get picked it would be by the Crew. Cunningham heads back to the place where it all began for him. Got a feeling the locals there will be fairly happy with this pick too.

Colorado take Marshall – Could be one of the most underrated picks of the draft. Marshall adds to their defensive depth and adds even more veteran leadership to the club.

Juan Pablo Angel is moving on after this season.. (Getty Images)

In a way most of us weren’t shocked to hear the news last night that New York Red Bull striker and Designated Player Juan Pablo Angel was most likely not to return to New York after this season. When asked last night on the broadcast of the US-Colombia game if he would return next year to the Red Bulls he said “I probably won’t”.

That’s bold for a guy that’s in the middle of helping his club go for a MLS Cup run right now. But again I doubt many of us were shocked by the news. Its not like the writing was on the wall or anything or that JPA was in the doghouse for Hans Backe. No, it just seemed like it was a matter of time before this sort of thing would happen. A DP leaving a MLS club when his contract ran out.

There’s little doubt that he’s been the truest of DPs since joining the league a couple years ago. His goal scoring ability and play on the field for the Red Bulls have been everything we hoped the DP-type players would be. When you think of DPs he’s one of the first that should come to mind, not David Beckham or Thierry Henry (though Henry will likely be a very good DP when its all said and done).

Now the question becomes, what happens to JPA? Also where will New York go from here? I’d imagine it will be a mutual split between the two. Either he’ll get picked up somewhere else in the world or another MLS club will give him a DP contract (New England anyone?). The Red Bulls will once again go out and find another big name to fill the third DP spot on the roster. I’d imagine this time around it will be a playmaker in the midfield and not another striker (they have Henry to fill that).

LA and New York battle in a high profile game tonight. (Getty Images)

Call me one of the skeptics on this but really this dubbed “Game of the season” doesn’t quite do it for me. Sure having the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls face off in a late season battle on national TV is good for the league, there’s no debating that even though the time-slot for the game isn’t very good (11pm on the east coast is a stinker).

For me this game doesn’t do a whole lot. Both teams are playoff squads and we could very well be getting a preview of this year’s MLS Cup if all things go right for these two the rest of the way out.

But I look at this game with the glass half empty. Its late in the year, neither have any extra games on the slate like Real Salt Lake or Columbus do, and both aren’t fighting for the final playoff spot. One could argue that its a battle for the Supporter’s Shield but with a nine point advantage over New York it seems like the Galaxy have little to worry about New York getting in their way of winning that award, RSL is the more likely challenger at this point in the year.

I love the effort by the league to hype this game, but its getting a bit old hearing “game of the year” or things like that when teams with one or two designated players square off against one another. First it was the Chicago-New York clash, then the Chicago-LA game, then the Seattle-Chicago game, then New York-Toronto and now LA-New York. I get it, DPs are high profile and the league has to hype them but dubbing games as the best game of the year is a bit much.

Normally I’m an optimist at things but even this is a bit much for me. Plus the loss of Thierry Henry to this game really hurt its chances of being what the league hoped it could be. David Beckham and Henry against one another on a MLS field would be great to see but looks like we’ll have to wait for a possible MLS Cup meeting to see it happen this year.

I could be wrong about this game but I feel it won’t be the 5-4 blockbuster from a couple years ago when Beckham first joined league. It seems like the league is throwing all it’s eggs in the basket for this game because of that game a couple seasons ago when really it will likely be a defensive battle this time around. A 1-1 draw or a 1-0 win by one of the two seems more likely.

Now this could be the best game of the year by the end of the night but I honestly won’t be counting on it. But then again I’ve been proven wrong before.

I’ll say this though, at least we’re talking about this game. And by we I mean most of the soccer blogging world is talking about this one well before the game has kicked off. So in that regards the hype is good and has done its job.

Juan Pablo Angel will battle rookie Zac Loyd tonight in Dallas. (Getty Images)

Could a streak come to an end this evening in Frisco? FC Dallas hosts the star-studded New York Red Bulls tonight at Pizza Hut Park. FCD is hoping to keep their 14-game unbeaten run going here.

FC Dallas is hoping to get revenge tonight on one of the two clubs that have beaten them this season. The Red Bulls were able to get a 2-1 win on FCD back in April at Red Bull Arena.

Tonight’s match should be slightly different as both clubs look fairly different than the ones back in April. New York has a couple high profile guys now with Rafa Marquez and Thierry Henry. Also the Red Bulls should have newcomer Medhi Ballouchy who was just traded there from Colorado.

The guy New York will have to key in on tonight is Jeff Cunningham who has 13 goals and seven assists all-time against them. New York will hope to score against a Dallas defense that has not given up much at home, shutting out five of their last six opponents at Pizza Hut Park.

The battle in the midfield should be interesting to watch as well with Marquez and Joel Lindpere going against Brek Shea and David Ferriera. Who wins the battle on the wings in and in the middle will get the points tonight. I think this one will end on level terms as New York is really starting to gel nicely and FCD just looks tough to break down these days.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, New York 1

Conor Casey and Pablo Mastroeni lead Colorado against Chivas USA tonight. (Getty Images)

So far the season is off to a bang, the Seattle Sounders FC downed Philadelphia Union 2-0 last night thanks to goals from Brad Evans and Fredy Montero. I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t happy to see my score prediction come true last night. I highly doubt that trend will continue this weekend.

Speaking of which the weekend slate is here. Everyone else in the league will get their season opener tonight or Saturday. Lots of good games all across the board. I know I am ready to get out to Pizza Hut Park tomorrow for the first game of the year.

Friday

Colorado Rapids – at – Chivas USA:

Both clubs saw a lot of changes this winter either in the coaching side of things (Chivas) or in the player side (Colorado). I love the Colorado midfield with Jeff Larentowicz. But the real interesting deal was done yesterday that sent trusty midfielder Nick Labrocca to Toronto for speedy outside back Marvell Wynne. If Wynne gets the starting nod it could pose some pressure to left side for Chivas. I see Colorado holding their own in the midfield in this one though. They’ll have to find a way to get Conor Casey and Omar Cumming involved early and often here. Getting those two going early will go a long way here this season. But I like Chivas to keep it close and end on a draw.

Player to keep an eye out for: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA) – If he can get a handle on controlling what Casey does on and off the ball in this one it could go a long way in keeping Chivas in the game.

WVH Prediction: Chivas 1, Colorado 1

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Saturday:

Toronto FC – at – Columbus Crew:

At this point you have to wonder what kind of club Toronto FC has with all the moves Preki has made this winter. I think that will definitely play a factor in how this club plays early on this season. Its obvious they’ll rely on the one strength on their club to carry them, their midfield with Sam Cronin, Julian du Guzman, and Dwayne De Rosario. If those three can carry the banner both offensively and defensive until Preki sorts out his roster the club stay fine. Thing is they’ll start the year off in the worst place for them, at Columbus. The Crew are just too deep and too good not to take in this pick right now. They need to sort out their issues up top still but I think if Steven Lenhart can get the goals for them this year they’ll be just fine. Look for the Crew to control the pace in this one and come away with three points.

Player to keep an eye out for: Lenhart – Again, he’ll be asked to be the man up top for the Black-and-Gold this year. Could be ugly at times but I think he’s a quality striker waiting to bust out.

WVH Prediction: Columbus 2, Toronto 0

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Houston Dynamo – at- FC Dallas:

I love a good rivalry game to kickoff a new season and this one should be as competitive as ever between the Dynamo and Red Stripes. Houston lost a lot of key parts to their midfield over the winter but with recent additions and some shifting of the roster, Dominic Kinnear should once again have a tough club to face in 2010. Schellas Hyndman and FC Dallas won’t be an easy out this year either. Their hot finish to the season last year should put a lot of clubs on alert. I see Dallas getting on the board early but Houston will find a way to level things off before the game ends.

Player to keep an eye out for: Geoff Cameron – If his move into the middle of the park pays off for the Dynamo it will keep the offense going and allow Brad Davis to stay on the wing where he is more dangerous.

WVH Prediction: FC Dallas 1, Houston 1

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Chicago Fire – at – New York Red Bulls:

Red Bull Arena really opens for league play this weekend. Expectations are definitely high after the big win over Santos last week. I still don’t like either keeper situation for both clubs. This game will definitely come down to the midfield and right now I actually like New York’s over the Fire with Joel Lindpere leading the charge. Chicago has had some big wins over the Red Bulls in recent years but this one will be closer. Part of me leans Red Bulls but I know the Fire will put up a good fight, draw seems likely here.

Player to keep an eye out for: Juan Pablo Angel – If he can go at least half or more of the game he should be able to find a way to help lift this club to a victory.

WVH Prediction: New York 1, Chicago 1

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D.C. United – at – Kansas City Wizards:

Both teams are in transition here, and both have loads of question marks going into the new year. Part of me sees Curt Onalfo getting some revenge on his old side right away here in this one. Kansas City will be better this year because of all the moves Peter Vermes has made this winter but I don’t see them paying off just yet here in this one. D.C. should be able to still control things in the midfield and even in the tighter field in KC I think Chris Pointus and Jamie Moreno are able to find space to score here.

Player to keep an eye out for: Carey Talley – He was just brought in by Onalfo after being waived by Chivas USA. I wouldn’t be shocked if he is thrown in the defense right away in this one. If he adjusts quickly to the changes look for United’s defense to be solid in this one.

WVH Prediction: D.C. 2, KC 1

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Real Salt Lake – at  - San Jose Earthquakes

The reigning MLS Cup champs take their title defense to the one place that haunted them a year ago, the road. If they want to get their confidence up they’ll need these three points on the road to start out the new year. I’m really looking forward to the combo of Alvaro Saborio and Robbie Findley for RSL. I think they’ll be a handful for the Quakes who are still sorting out their defensive issues. If Jason Hernandez and Ike Opara can control things from the back they could keep those two in check. I just see RSL’s midfield taking control though in this one, thus getting a rare road win for this club.

Player to keep an eye out for: Kyle Beckerman – He’s got to be the rock in the midfield for RSL. I just see him being too much to handle for the Quakes.

WVH Prediction: RSL 2, San Jose 1

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New England Revolution – at – LA Galaxy:

Early west coast road trip for the Revs here this weekend. New England has a lot of question marks surrounding them while the Galaxy are hoping their new additions pay off in 2010. Landon Donovan will likely run all over this Rev’s midfield that is going to look a lot different than the 2009 version (plus Shalrie Joseph is out with a hip injury). I don’t see where the offense will come from yet out of the Revs which leads me to easily take the Galaxy in this one. Donovan and company will be too much to handle at home.

Player to keep an eye out for: Juninho – I’m very curious to see how this young Brazilian stacks up in MLS competition. Word out of their preseason camp was that he will fit in nicely in this league.

WVH Prediction: LA 3, New England 0

I’d normally like to get these predictions out much sooner but with all that has gone on this winter the day before First Kick seems about right really. The rosters became compliant at 5pm ET yesterday and thus will put an end to the preseason in a way for all the clubs.

In the past I’ve done these bold season predictions in various ways. I ended up sticking with the tradition of the predictions and picks and also added some other items like I did a year ago. I know some of the bold predictions are silly and meaningless but they’re fun to do nonetheless.

As always feel free to put in your season predictions below.

Players to watch out for in 2010:

• Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus): Can he guide this club to another stellar season? I think he will but it won’t be easy with the league out to get them.
• Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy): No doubt Donovan will return to his MVP form from a year ago, but the question will he be with the club after the World Cup? Part of me thinks he will and part of me sees him going back to England.
• Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls): Once he is 100% again look for him to do very well this year. Not playing on nasty turf at home will do wonders for him and the Red Bulls.
• Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo): Big, big year in Houston for the Dynamo especially for Cameron. If he can help keep their offense in check and facilitate things like I believe he can then look out.
• Freddy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC): He’s a marked man but if he can break open in space like we’ve seen him do time and time again then he’ll get his goals this year.

Coaches Already Feeling The Heat

Each year I’ve done a Coaching Hot Seat, where I look around the league to see who stands the greatest chance of getting the boot. Last couple year’s I’ve been right on with some picks on here while a few others have been a bit off. Again, its just my opinion on each coach listed and it doesn’t mean it will actually happen. In other words don’t get all bent out of shape if you see your coach on here at any point this year, I can’t tell you how many emails I get over this issue.

But in saying so this year could be a fairly light year for coaching hot seats in general since there have been so many coaching changes.

• Frank Yallop (San Jose Earthquakes): Its year three for the Quakes 2.0 which means Yallop should really feel some heat if he doesn’t get this club winning early on this year. I wasn’t shocked to see him get another season with the club after last year but I wouldn’t be at all shocked to see him be the first gone this year.
• Gary Smith (Colorado Rapids): Another western coach that should feel some heat this year if his club isn’t winning. If they continue to be inconsistent look for lots of calls for his head later this year. Thing is the Rapids owners typically drag these things out. I think he’ll be fine but for now this is more of a caution of possible things to come.
• Hans Backe (New York Red Bulls): I do believe he’ll last longer than most expected him to but I think its more of a formality at this point to always include the New York boss in these lists given the fact that they have a new coach about every year or year and a half.
• Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas): While I believe he will have this job as long as he wants it I also think that if he has another clunker of a season the pressure for him to go will have to mount. His overall record (15-18-14) isn’t anything to brag about.

Early Award Predictions:

Below are some predictions for each end-of-season award. I left a few off that I really don’t care about, why we vote on things like the Ref of the year is beyond me. I’ll give you my top three for each since that is how we have to vote on it anyways.

Goalkeeper:

1. Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy): He’s a beast…nothing more to say than that.
2. Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders): If Ricketts isn’t 100% all year then this award easily goes to Keller.
3. Will Hesmer (Columbus): I find him to be highly underrated.

Defender:

1. Chad Marshall (Columbus): Hard not to go against the league’s best defender.
2. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle): He’s the rock in the back for the Sounders.
3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy): I see this kid growing into a perennial All-Star.

Comeback Player:

1. Taylor Twellman (New England): Its gotta be Twellman right? Anyone else to put here?

(Yes I’m sure there are others but right now Twellman is all I have for this one.)

Newcomer:

1. Joel Lindpere (New York Red Bulls): If NY is going to be half as good as people think/say they are this year it will be because of this guy.
2. Eduardo (San Jose Earthquakes): The Quakes need a goal scorer and he will help do just that.
3. Blaise N’Kufo (Seattle Sounders FC): Yes he is only playing a half season but I agree with a lot of folks out there that think he is the final piece to the puzzle that puts this club over the top.

(Note: this will easily change as newcomers join the league in the summer and after the World Cup)

Coach:

1. Sigi Schmid (Seattle Sounders): He’ll continue to work his magic in the Pacific Northwest.
2. Peter Nowak (Philadelphia Union): I do believe he’ll make them better than most expansion clubs and thus will get high praise for it. A playoff birth would easily help him win this though.
3. Bruce Arena (LA Galaxy): If they end up losing Landon Donovan this summer and they still do well in the west then he may very well beat out Schmid for this honor.

Rookie:

1. Tony Tchani (New York Red Bulls): He’s a beast, believe me.
2. Zach Loyd (FC Dallas): The man that can play just about anywhere for Schellas Hyndman. Once he settles into a role he’ll be golden.
3. Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards): He’s a natural goal scorer, and KC needs goals.

MVP:

1. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy): Not settling the world on fire with this pick but as long as he is in the league he’s the best player no matter what.
2. Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew): As long as he has a full healthy season he could end up winning this on his production alone.
3. Kyle Beckerman (RSL): If this club is going to repeat it will be because of this man.

Playoff Predictions:

Top two from Eastern Conference: Columbus Crew* and Chicago Fire
Top two from Western Conference: Seattle Sounders FC and LA Galaxy

Wild card winners: Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas, D.C. United

I feel as though the first six (auto-bids, RSL, and Houston) are simple picks for me but with parity in this league we really could see any number of teams in those final two spots. I think it will come down between Dallas, D.C., Colorado, Chivas, Toronto, New York and New England for those final two spots. I felt weird taking four western conference wild cards so D.C. gets the nod for me though I’ll be honest I’m not totally set on that pick. Dallas needs to find a partner for Jeff Cunningham or they’ll be in trouble. Still Dallas is a dark-horse for me just as I’ve said all winter long. Had to stay with that pick here.

First round playoff winners: Columbus (over Dallas); Chicago (over D.C.); Seattle (over Houston); and RSL (over LA).

Conference final winners: Columbus and Seattle.

MLS Cup winner: Seattle Sounders FC

(*= Supporter’s Shield winners)

The Rest of the WVH Bold Predictions:

1. A MLS club will win SuperLiga: I still hate this tournament but I’m a homer and root for anyone MLS in it. My guess is Houston will take it hom this year.
2. A MLS club will win the US Open Cup: The league usually does every year and with the whole Division II mess that went on these past few months I like a MLS club’s chance even more. I’m going to go with the Chicago Fire to win this year.
3. MLS will get four clubs in CCL Group stage: We already get two in Columbus and Real Salt Lake. I’ll say LA and Toronto some how manages their way into the group stage this year. Seattle falls short.
4. MLS will win the All-Star game: Yawn.
5. Three clubs will add DPs by the end of summer: New York will add their second while Chicago and D.C. get new ones.
6. More Yanks will return home: Maybe a Benny Feihaber? Who knows? I still see a couple coming back this summer.
7. A couple Yanks transfer out of MLS: This deserves it’s own post (again) but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Donovan go as well as someone like Brek Shea.
8. Dominic Kinnear will once again trade like crazy: He does it each year and it only makes his team better. Why people trade with him I’ll never know. You can bet one at least one trade really working out in the Dynamo’s favor though.
9. Mo Johnston and Preki will butt heads: All seems good now as they continue to dump salaries but at some point they’ll clash over player pickups.
10. Houston and San Jose will see their stadiums go up: They’ll join Kansas City in the movin’ dirt department.
11. D.C. will still be stuck at RFK: Its election year for D.C.’s mayoral race, so I don’t see anything happening to United’s stadium issues anytime soon. Which sucks.
12. Montreal will get their expansion bid: They’ll be in the league in 2012…its all but announced at this point.
13. No other expansion bid will be announced this year: I think the league will carefully plan who their 20th club will be. My money is on them trying to find an owner in New York to bring a second club to that area.
14. A late season run will help…D.C.: We see it every year, last year it was RSL getting lucky at the right time, this year it will be D.C.
15. Juan Pablo Angel will lead the league in goals: No turf at Red Bull Arena will go a long way in getting him back to producing lots of goals.
16. Brad Davis will lead the league in assists: He always quietly gets lots of assists and no one notices.
17. Kasey Keller will lead the league in saves: I still see the Sounders give up a fair amount of shots but Keller will be there to save most of them.
18. The US Men’s National Team will make it to the quarterfinals: Not MLS related but definitely worth predicting at this point. I love the boy’s chances in South Africa, as much as I want to put them in the semi-finals, a quarterfinal exit seems more likely.

Juan Pablo Angel will lead the Red Bulls again, who else will step up? (Getty Images)

Its been a little while since we did a preseason look in on a MLS club. We hammered out about half of the league already but with the on-going CBA issue things like this had to take a backseat for a little while. Well today we’re back on the horse and continue on our preseason coverage here.

Today we have the New York Red Bulls. A lot of talk always surrounds this club each year and 2010 will be no different as the club has a new arena (finally) and a new direction in terms of management (yet again). Hans Backe is now the manager with Eric Solar leading the charge in the front office when it comes to player moves. No longer is it Juan Carlos Osorio making ill-advised moves with Jeff Agoos.

The thing is will it actually matter? Will the Solar/Backe move actually pay off and New York shines in their first season in the mecca that will be Red Bull Arena? Time will tell but we can say that anything should be an improvement on last year’s product.

So let’s see where New York is with each part of their roster and what further moves are needed to be made before the season kicks off.

Keepers:

Who they have:  Bouna Coundoul.

Notes: First of all they do have guys like former TFC keeper Greg Sutton in camp right now. Good thing too because Coundoul is not the answer for their keeping situation. I know some folks like him but I just don’t believe he is a solid #1 in this league. His time in Colorado was decent but never great. If the Red Bulls go with him all year their success on the field won’t be too great. But if their defense improve from last year then it may be a gamble worth taking.

Sadly at this point with the CBA issues at hand it will be tough for New York to get a real solid keeper in camp. If I were them I’d be doing everything possible to get Kevin Hartmen from KC. Or I’d be tossing some trades around to someone like San Jose to get Joe Cannon.

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Defense:

Who they have: Kevin Goldthwaite, Chris Albright, Tim Ream, Carlos Mendes, Roy Miller, and Andrew Boyens.

Notes: A decent bunch with the pickup of Albright and Miller. If Mendes can turn his play back into what it was a couple years ago they may be set in the back.

So far in preseason play this group hasn’t played too bad. As long as Albright gets to be 100%, Miller proves he is a good signing and the rest of the group does their stuff right this team could surprise a few folks. I still think they are a little weak in the back though, plus I’m not entirely sure their centerbacks are good enough to keep up with some of the better offenses in the league just yet.

One guy to keep an eye on is Ream, I really think he’ll be one of the surprise rookies from this year.

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Midfield:

Who they have: Seth Stammler, Siniša Ubiparipović, Danleigh Boreman, Irving Garcia, Austin de Luz, Jeremy Hall, Dane Richards, Joel Lindpere, Ernst Öbster, Tony Tchani, and Luke Sassano.

Notes: This group is really the make or break group for me with this club. If the new additions from Europe pay off it will make Backe and Solar look like geniuses. For the last couple years we’ve seen this club go strictly after South American talent here and none of them payed off (except for their DP Juan Pablo Angel).

Enter Lindpere and Obster, two guys far from their usual reaches in South America. Some preseason talk of those two have been positive and the rest has been okay, nothing too negative at this point. Lindpere is a hard worker in the center of the park, which has been lacking from this club.

Also let’s not forget the two rookies de Luz and Tchani. I have to think both will see plenty of action this year and Tchani has to be in the early discussion for ROY.

I do worry about this club on the wings a bit. I know Miller has played decent on the wings in preseason but still seeing Boreman and Richards on the roster worries me that the club is going to lean on their speed over everything else. Neither really bring anything else to the table in my mind but maybe Backe can figure out something more to do with each of them that Osorio couldn’t.

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Forwards:

Who they have: Juan Pablo Angel, Macoumba Kandji, John Wolyniec, and Conor Chinn.

Notes: I do believe that Angel will return to a better year now that he isn’t playing 15 home games on turf. Getting his home games on natural grass will go a long way in getting his production back up. I look for a big year out of him right away.

After that I wonder who will help lead the charge. You can always count on Wolyniec for a few goals but that’s usually off the bench. Kandji is good but I’d really like to see more out of him this season and prove to the league why the Red Bulls paid a transfer fee from a USL club to get him.

The big thing will be interesting to watch this summer, will the Red Bulls use their second DP slot at the transfer window? I think this may be the year they do it, especially if they are close to a playoff spot going into the ladder half of the summer.

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Overall:

I think this club will improve under Backe and no that’s not the Swedish biased in me talking I really believe that. I think for once this club isn’t going into a season with a load of hype built up by the media and that is a good thing. The only hype they have is with their new digs at Red Bull Arena, which will be special.

Is this club a playoff contender right now? I doubt it, but if their defense shows up a little more this year then we have to think it is possible. Unlike last year they won’t have a crazy schedule that puts them on the road for four games in a row or weird stretches of going from coast to coast. Its a more do-able schedule for them.

I think they are improved but they still have some ways to go with their wing play and in the back. I still don’t like their keeper situation and I’d love to see them go after Hartman or Cannon. I’d also really like to see them make a move for another ex-Wizard in Claudio Lopez. He’s a guy I really think would do a lot of good in New York. But I doubt either of those moves will take place until a CBA gets worked out.