Chicago Fire host Toronto FC tonight in a big time eastern conference clash. (Getty Images)

To say tonight’s contest is a must-win for both parties involved is indeed and understatement. Both Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire sit outside of the playoff zone and are either five (TFC) or six (Chicago) points back of eighth place today.

Both teams are struggling too as of late. Chicago had chances last weekend against LA to put the Galaxy away for a second time this season but a late set-piece miscue allowed the Galaxy to snatch a big draw. Toronto on the other hand were unlucky to come away with any points in Dallas as they were missing three important pieces to their roster due to international call-ups.

The Fire have a little more room to breathe in terms of the standings as they’ve only played 20 games while most clubs have played 22 at this point in the season. Still even with those extra games in hand the Fire have to make the absolute most of their chances. Not having Gonzalo Segaras (suspension) or Marco Pappa (Guatemala call-up) tonight doesn’t help their chances out.

Toronto will get their three main Canadians back for this one. Dwayne De Rosario, Julian de Guzman and Nana Attakora all returned to the Reds for this one after last weekend’s friendly against Peru.

This one will have to come down to midfield play though. Freddie Ljungberg will have to find ways to create chances for the Fire in this one and get fellow DP Nery Castillo involved. Castillo hasn’t contributed much since joining the Fire last month. He’ll need to pick up the slack with Pappa out in this one.

Toronto will have to play compact in defense and shutdown the work of Ljungberg and company.

I feel this one will end level though. Both will be charging for the three points but neither have given us reasons to pick them in recent games. I’d say each will get one a piece.

Player to watch out for: De Rosario – He has to take charge and regain his MVP form from earlier in the year to get TFC over the hump here.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 1, Toronto 1

Dwayne De Rosario goes head-to-head with his old mates from Houston tonight. (Getty Images)

Week 14 in Major League Soccer looks to get kicked off with a bang. The Houston Dynamo travel north to face their old mate Dwayne De Rosario and Toronto FC at BMO Field. TFC looks to continue their impressive home record this season while the Dynamo are hoping to begin getting some consistent play going forward in the second half of the season.

Both teams are hoping to use tonight’s match either way to move up the standings a bit. Toronto can inch a little closer to their rivals from Columbus and New York with a win tonight. The Dynamo can move into a three-way tie in the western conference with a win as well.

Houston has to cut down on their mental errors across the field, especially in the back where they’ve look nothing like their old self. Houston will also hope to lockdown the Reds offense which has been cold lately despite getting a couple draws in the standings.

Toronto will rely on former Dynamo midfielder De Rosario in this one. He’s likely to be the main offensive part in this one for Toronto but they’ll also need a big game from guys like O’Brien White and Chad Barrett. If one of those two can help out DeRo then Toronto stands a great chance at getting three points in this one.

Houston has been tricky to pick this season and their defense still worries me and their offense sees to be too hot and cold for my liking. I think Toronto will get a win tonight and continue their impressive play at home.

Player to watch out for: Dwayne De Rosario – He’s only a goal away from tying the league lead for goals with Edson Buddle, so you know he’d like to take over that lead tonight against his old club.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 2, Houston 1

Anyways we are a month into the season now with most clubs having four games under their belts (only one has two – Columbus). My list below is not just players but coaches, GMs, stadiums, fans…pretty much anything I felt was relevant here.

Toronto FC has talent, but little depth. (Getty Images)

Its the very last team in our 2010 Look-in series. First off sorry TFC fans for not posting this sooner. I had ever intention of doing this last week but set backs got in the way.

Lots of changes have taken place in Toronto this winter. From the turf being removed for natural grass at BMO Field, to a new manager in Preki taking cover and re-doing the roster his way. Lots of changes have taken place but have any really done a good enough job of getting this club ready for 2010?

Will this be the year that Toronto finally gets to the playoffs? Is Preki the right guy to lead the way? Let’s take a look now to see where this team is at right now and what places they need to improve on before the new season gets underway.

Keepers:

Who they have: Stefan Frei, Brian Edwards

Notes: Honestly they are set for years here between these two. Frei is an All-Star keeper in the making and Edwards may be one of the better backups in the league. I’m sure they’re working on getting a third keeper on the books as well. Still they’re covered here.

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Defense

Who they have: Nana Attakora, Nick Garcia, Jim Brennan, Marvell Wynne, Ty Harden, Gabe Gala, Emmanuel Gómez, Zach Harold.

Notes: What they did this winter in this area was added a young prospect in Harold and traded for Harden. Two moves that aren’t bad but aren’t exactly going to help them out in the area that I’d argue they are pretty weak in still. But things could improve since the field is no longer turf, which has to help out the older guys like Garcia and Brennan.

I would have liked to have seen them go more for depth in this area this winter. Adding a quality center back would have been a real upgrade here and would help increase their playoff chances. They do have good speed on the outside with Wynne.

I’d like to think they improved here over the winter but I’m just not buying it yet.

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Midfield

Who they have: Dwayne de Rosario, Julian de Guzman, Sam Cronin, Nane Joseph, Amadou Sanyang, Jacob Peterson.

Notes: Losing Carl Robinson wasn’t a terrible thing in my eyes. Cronin will slide in nicely in his old spot and for the most part they shouldn’t miss too much of a beat with De Rosario and de Guzman leading the way in the center of the park. I would have liked to have seen them go for more depth on the wings but the trade for Peterson should help that area out a decent bit if he is full fit to go this year.

They lost a lot of fire power in this area with Robinson and Amado Guevara both exiting this winter. But if I were a Reds fan I would see it as addition by subtraction. Sure Robinson was a big leader and a fan favorite but if he wasn’t happy there he wasn’t going to help this club in the long haul.

They’ll need more depth on the wings and possibly in the attacking portion of the midfield  here to get through the long season and the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

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Forwards

Who they have: Chad Barrett, Ali Gerba, O’Brian White, Fuad Ibrahim.

Notes: One thing is for certain either Barrett or Gerba have to step up in a big way this year. Also the club has to hope that both Ibrahim and White grow as players. No doubt there is the most pressure on this group of players as compared to the rest of the club. If the team doesn’t score they won’t win, it is as simple as that.

Most would have liked Mo Johnston to get a primary striker for this season this winter but that didn’t happen. Most likely that will come this summer, if at all. I’d like to think they can win with these four (and the help of De Rosario and de Guzman in the midfield) but realistically they didn’t improve in this area at all this winter.

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Overall:

No doubt there is loads of pressure in Toronto this year. Offensively they have to produce like never before and defensively they have to be able to prove to teams that they won’t give up 5 goals in a must-win game. Preki is a good coach though that will change the culture of that club inside and out. The team will be tougher, which may have been lacking in the first place.

I do however have trouble seeing if this club improved this winter though. They have so many questions to be answered as well. I think depth wise they are very weak but I do like the talent they have starting out on the field.

It just looks like another long, yet interesting year in Toronto.

BMO Field finally turned into a fortress in 2009. (Getty Images)

2009 was expected to the be year that Toronto FC turned the corner and really made a splash in Major League Soccer. The moves were made to get local star Dwayne De Rosario at the start of the season and things looked promising early on but midway through the first full month of action manager John Carver stepped down and if you ask me the club never really rebounded from that change.

Chris Cummins took over as interim manager for the rest of the season and even with the moves that brought in guys like Ali Gerba and the club’s first designated player Julian De Guzman, Cummins never really took control of the locker room and the club. Guys like Danny Dichio never really got their full run under Cummins.

The club never got real consistent with their play under Cummins. One week they’d play so well many including myself figured they would be a lock for the post season. Then they’d do what they do best and suck up the place like they did on the final day of the season when they got spanked 5-0 by the lowly New York Red Bulls.

What Went Right In 2009?
To be honest few things really went right for this club this season. But pinpointing a few items would certainly start with their 6-1 beating of Montreal in the Canadian Cup to secure their bid in the play-in round of the CONCACAF Champions League this year. TFC needed a handfull of goals to advance and some how on a night that saw them on the road in Montreal, the Reds pulled out all the stops and stole a trophy away from a Vancouver club that was looking on from the stands. Another would certainly be the play of Dwayne De Rosario. The club wouldn’t have nearly been as good as they were had it not been for DeRo. Lastly their home play this season was finally something to brag about as they turned BMO Field into the fortress that we all knew it could be. Eight of their 10 wins on the year came from the friendly confines at Exhibition Place.

What Went Wrong In 2009?
Consistency was a killer and so was their defense. Mo Johnston made a bold move to get veteran defender Nick Garcia from San Jose and it was a move that never panned out for them. Even though they had a solid group of rookies like keeper Stefan Frei, the defense would constantly let him down. Offensively they never seemed to find a go-to scorer other than DeRo. Chad Barrett and Pablo Vitti constantly let folks down in front of the net.

What’s Next?
For this club finding a manager that will pull the right strings with this bunch will be key. With so much talent in the midfield they need to find a way to keep the pressure off their defense and find ways to score. Finding a classy finisher around the net will go a long way for this club and finding a true central defender will really help out. This club is so close but yet so far away.

Seattle needs another big game out of Fredy Montero this weekend. (Getty Images)

There’s not too many more weekends left in the 2009 regular season. Week 27 is a full one as we gear towards the playoffs in a few weeks. With so many clubs still in contention the action this weekend should promise to be very good.

More than likely after this weekend we will have a new group of wild-card clubs as right now three of the four clubs currently in the wild card spots are tied, and just one point behind the top wild card club Seattle. Plus the three or so clubs just right outside the playoff zone are just a couple points back as it is. So a shake up should go down just as it has over the last several weeks.

Plenty of good matchups this weekend, especially that Chicago-Columbus game which should shed some light on if the Crew will hold off the Fire for first in the east and in the Supporter’s Shield race.

As always feel free to post your score predictions below.

Friday:

New England Revolution – at – New York Red Bulls

New York will more than likely be missing Juan Pablo Angel to an injury, which could spell trouble for their offensive hopes tonight. New England is a bit banged up too but should have Shalrie Joseph back in gear which will certainly help the Revs control the pace of the game in the midfield. New England is out to get a record tonight for most consecutive matches unbeaten against one club. New York hasn’t beaten the Revs in 12 straight games now, dating back to 2005. I like New England to pull at least some points in this one if not all three. While we thought New York was bouncing back a little under Richie Williams last week’s result against KC proved they still have a long way to go.

WVH Prediction: New England 2, New York 1

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Colorado Rapids – at – San Jose Earthquakes:

The Rapids will be without Matt Pickens and Cory Gibbs but that shouldn’t make much of a difference if Conor Casey and Omar Cummings go going in this one. After dropping points in Toronto last week look for the Rapids to bounce back against the west’s worst club. The Quakes are coming off a long 20-day layoff and I look for that rust to play a big factor early in the game with Cummings and Casey leading the charge for the visitors. Colorado’s playoff hopes rest a lot on this game, three points is an absolute must.

WVH Prediction: Colorado 3, San Jose 1

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Saturday:

Chivas USA – at – Seattle Sounders FC:

Big time game for both sides, and probably the game of the week for me. I think Chivas proved last week they have plenty of gas in the tank for a playoff run here this season after handling the Revs pretty well last week at home. Seattle needs results at home and after beating DC yet again at RFK last week one has to think they will be riding high into this one. The Sounders will be getting Freddie Ljungberg back in this one and that could be a difference maker against a Chivas squad that has some new parts that may not be use to Fieldturf in MLS yet. Throw in the factor that a win could put Seattle within striking distance of Houston and LA for an automatic bid from the west and you could see Seattle gunning for three points in this one. Chivas will keep it close because they do know how to beat this Seattle squad but I see the mean green pulling this one out in the end thanks to Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Chivas 1

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FC Dallas – at – Kansas City Wizards:

Revenge is on the minds of the Wizards after dropping a 6-0 game to Dallas a few weeks ago. Look for Dallas to also be a bit gassed from dropping six goals on the Galaxy a week ago anyways too. You just don’t score six on the same club twice in one season. Also KC knows their home grounds are small so look for little space for Jeff Cunningham to work in tomorrow night while KC holds a little more possession in the midfield. The Wizards are riding a nice two game winning streak but look for that to end as this one finishes in a draw. Dallas isn’t that great on the road and KC really isn’t that great at home. I think if KC had Jack Jewsbury for this I’d go with them but since he is out on yellow cards I will stick with a simple draw.

WVH Prediction: KC 1, Dallas 1

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Real Salt Lake – at – Houston Dynamo:

Big game for RSL and in a way for Houston too. The Dynamo haven’t looked the same over these last couple of months and they really need a nice pick up win at home against a club that is gunning for a playoff spot. Houston may be in luck though as RSL’s road form isn’t worth bragging about and they will be without a few key parts in the defense. I see Houston rebounding after getting a unlucky break last week in Columbus where they had a PK called on them in extra time. Brian Ching and company get the three points and their automatic bid from the west more in line.

WVH Prediction: Houston 2, RSL 1

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Toronto FC – at – LA Galaxy:

The road is never been too kind to TFC and especially playing at the Home Depot Center. LA may be coming off an embarrassing loss to Dallas last week but I look for them to bounce back and get three points in this one. Bruce Arena lead clubs usually don’t get scored on in masses in two straight games so I would expect that trend to continue tomorrow night. TFC just needs a point to feel good about themselves on the road but I just don’t see their defense slowing down Landon Donovan and company in this one. Toronto needs a big debut from Julian de Guzman if they want to get any points in this one, I just think his addition will be too little too late.

WVH Prediction: LA 3, Toronto 1

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Sunday:

Columbus Crew – at- Chicago Fire:

Columbus made a big statement this past week in Costa Rica beating Saprissa on their own turf, marking the first time a MLS club has done so. Look for their play to be a little down in Chicago this Sunday though because of that trip. Lucky for them the Fire aren’t great at home (4-4-4 this year at Toyota Park). Chad Marshall won’t be in the line up due to a suspension, so someone else will have to step up and stop the return of Brian McBride. Even without Marshall I still see this one ending in a draw though. Chicago hasn’t given me a good enough reason to feel good about them at home this season but a win over the Crew would do that. A draw sounds logical here with the recent form of these two and a point could just about lock up a playoff spot for the Crew if it happens.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 1, Columbus 1

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Luis Angel Landin is one of the new faces in MLS. (Getty Images)

I guess you could really say its just been a rather slow week in terms of news. Sure rosters were finalized on Tuesday night for the rest of the year and the league announced their big break next summer but other than that it’s been rather calm in Major League Soccer this week. I do have a couple thoughts and links tonight around the game.

First up I did want to recap the notable moves that have taken place this summer in the league now that the rosters are frozen into place for the next couple months. This is also a good time to take part in the little poll to your right on this page about the best summer move in MLS. Go ahead and vote now if you haven’t already!

Anyways, let’s recap shall we? (note I did not include every move from this season, for that go to the In-Season Player Movement page)

The DP’s
Luis Angel Landin – Houston Dynamo’s first Designated Player
Julian de Guzman – Toronto FC’s first Designated Player

The Allocated
Heath Pearce (D – FC Dallas) U.S. national team player
Danny Szetela (M – D.C. United) Former U.S. Under-20 returned from Italy

The Traded
Colorado and FC Dallas — Drew Moor to Colorado for Ugo Ihemelu for a 2nd draft pick and allocation
Houston Dynamo and Kansas City Wizards — Kei Kamara to KC for Abe Thompson and allocation money
Chivas USA and FC Dallas — Marcelo Saragosa to Chivas USA for Atiba Harris.
Chivas USA and LA Galaxy — Alecko Eskandarian to LA for conditional pick in draft
Real Salt Lake and San Jose Earthquakes — Pablo Campos to RSL for 2nd pick in draft

Notable Signings and Loans
Ali Gerba (F – Toronto FC) Canadian national team player
Jesus Padilla (F – Chivas USA) on loan from CD Guadalajara.
Maicon Santos (F – Chivas USA) Has played professionally in Brazil and other places
Chris Birchall (M – Los Angeles Galaxy) Trinidad national team player
Leonardo Gonzalez (D – Seattle Sounders FC) previously played in Costa Rica
Ramon Sanchez (M – San Jose Earthquakes) El Salvadorian national team player
Walter Garcia (D – New York Red Bulls) Argentine defender
Julien Baudet (D – Colorado Rapids) Frenchman captained Crewe Alexandra in England
Marvin Chavez (M – FC Dallas) Honduran national team player
Daniel Hernandez (D – FC Dallas) MLS veteran returns after second stint in Mexico’s top division
David Myrie (D – Chicago Fire) Costa Rican defender

New Kids on the Block (Academy Players Signed)
Giorgi Chirgadze (NY)
Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
Bryan Leyva (FC Dallas)

Notable Departures:

Kenny Cooper leaves FC Dallas for 1890 Munich in Germany
Bakery Soumare leaves Chicago Fire for Boulogne in France

Now on to some linkage:

MLS Schedule Break’s Negatives

Link

A good counter point by Kartik over at the Kartik Report about some of the drawbacks of the league taking a two-week break during next year’s World Cup. Some points make total sense and show that the league really never needed to break during the World Cup in the past since it saw some slight attendance bumps during each World Cup.

I do disagree a little on the point about the balanced schedule. Sure we want those regional rivalries to be as good and as intense as possible but we don’t want to water them down into nothing I think too. I thought the LA-Chivas rivalry was stupid at first when they played each other four or five times in a season. Now that it is down to two games I see some real intense matches between those two from here on out. I’m sure as the league expands we’ll get slightly back to rivals playing one another more than twice in a season though.

U-20 Squad Could Be Better

Link

Sounds like this time around for the U-20 World Cup the US had a tough time picking players since there weren’t many available playing in Europe. No Jozy Altidore this time, or Freddy Adu. In a way it sounds like US manager Thomas Rongen is just bitching a little about the lack of players making it in Europe right now with this squad. With more college players in this year’s squad I would imagine that if the US does as well as they did in Canada back in 2007 that we will see plenty of these guys abroad for years to come.

Character of Clubs in MLS

Link

Last link of the night is a good one folks. Jason Davis over at Match Fit USA has an interesting look at the character of clubs in MLS right now. He brings up a great point that the league is still rather young as we all know and it just takes time to build up a club’s character in it’s city with the local fans. Head over there and check out the article because it is worth a read.

So where do I begin?

Pearce Lands In Dallas

Okay this one is kind of big since it is more local for me here in Dallas. I mentioned a while back that I thought Dallas should make a play for Heath Pearce though I honestly expected it to never happen. Dallas sat atop the Allocation order and looked to just never use the position to their advantage.

Now Dallas signs Pearce who failed to get a contract in Turkey or in Europe in general. Now it may be interesting to see where Pearce ends up in Schellas Hyndman’s roster but he will upgrade a defense that has been awful this season.

I love the defense that is being put together in Dallas though. Pearce along with recent signing of Daniel Hernandez and summer signing Jair Benitez. After failing to get a quality defense with guys like Steve Purdy (ugh) and Daniel Torres (yikes!), Hyndman may finally have a defense that is worth hyping up.

de Guzman (Finally) Signs As DP

First he turned down an offer from Toronto but now he comes back to it. Mo Johnston finally gets his man as Julian de Guzman signs with Toronto FC. He’s been one of the best Canadian players for years but is he really worth the move? He hasn’t played much at all this summer, except for Canada in the Gold Cup which puts loads of questions on his fitness level.

Signing a better defender would have made more sense for a defense that can’t stop anyone half the time. Still the signing is a big one since he is a DP. The DP signings are seemingly headed into a direction that I don’t believe MLS expected them to ever go to when the rule was first created. Its a direction that I am actually fine with. Clubs are signing quality players not for attendance bumps (which as we all know was why the rule was created deep down) but for guys that actually can and will help their team out. de Guzman fits that mold just as Luis Angel Landin does in Houston. It may not happen right away this season but next year we should see both as All-Stars.

Huckerby Out For Year With Hip Surgery

I know a thing or two about a bad hip. I dislocated my right hip playing the lovely game back in my playing days. Hip injuries are a bitch just like any other injuries. Darren Huckerby of the San Jose Earthquakes knows a thing or two about them now as he will undergo season ending surgery on his hip.

Huckerby never really saw any quality action this season for the Quakes which is one of the many reasons why the 2.0 version of the Quakes have spent all season at the bottom of the western standings.

After showing so much promise last year for the Quakes, one has to wonder if this injury will end Huckerby’s time with San Jose and MLS.

KC Stadium Getting A Move?

Link

This news came down last week as well, but it looks like KC won’t be playing in their new stadium at that old mall site. Now it looks as though the project will switch over near the Kansas Speedway.

Look as long as this project finishes up it doesn’t matter where the stadium is located. This 18,000+ seat stadium will be fine for all Wizards fans and we even got a new rendering of the place, which continues to look very nice.

Chicago’s Youth System

Link

Good to see one club get it as far as youth club teams go in their system. The Chicago Fire have a youth team system that stretches all over the midwest. I’m all for MLS clubs expanding their base outside of their towns, it will only make the academy systems better in the long run. Hell is European clubs can do it, why not MLS clubs?

Top Five Underpaid in MLS

Link

I’ve done lists like this before but just never got around to it this season. This list hits is right on the head because these are five very underpaid players in MLS right now. I can tell you at least two or three of them will get their dues this off season.

I still may do one of these lists, that or the lovely overpaid list that everyone seems to love.

Wastes of Paper and Money…and Time

There are two here, one in New York and one in San Jose.

New York has cut ties with defender Alfredo Pacheco as San Jose releases recent signing Fabio da Silva who signed back in August.

Pacheco was one of the wastes of money by New York under Juan Carlos Osorio and Jeff Agoos. Looks like the Red Bulls are clearing out as much garbage from the Osorio/Agoos era as possible right now. They’ve dumped so many bad signings like Pacheco already. I’m sure there are plenty more on the way like Jorge Rojas.

As for San Jose its weird to see a club quickly get rid of a guy like this but you do have to give them credit at least for not signing this guy for a long term deal that would hit them hard in the salary cap. Dropping Silva doesn’t hurt their cap space going forward but it does make folks question Frank Yallop and GM John Doyle that much more for signing someone then to only get rid of them a month later like this.

One thing I like to do before I go on any trip is make sure my place is decently clean for my return. Well in the case of this past week for my wedding/honeymoon I was all prepared on that level except for when it came to getting back in the swing of things for soccer stuff. I came back into town this past weekend and saw a slew of random scores in Major League Soccer. Some were more predictable than others but some were just crazy.

Yes, the main score I am talking about is that wild 6-3 game at the Home Depot Center between FC Dallas and the LA Galaxy. I think I predicted something like 3-1 for LA on Saturday morning. Yeah apparently I was way off and that doesn’t even begin to tell that story.

While I was gone I missed out on a few things. Where I was on my honeymoon the only access to the internet was through my iPhone and even the service there in Maui wasn’t good enough to want to read up on things. So when I came back I had hundreds of messages and notes about different deals that had gone down. From Heath Pearce to Dallas (no shocker there in my opinion), to Julian de Guzman to Toronto (kind of shocking but in  a way not really).

Then I saw some fun deals like Jon Conway getting sent by New York to Chivas for a draft pick in the 2011 draft. I think I chuckled at that one for some reason. Same with the signing of Daniel Hernandez by FC Dallas. I guess Schellas Hyndman really wants FC Dallas to just be a bunch of his old SMU kids. They never won a national title there so I wouldn’t expect anything great out of them in MLS.

So now after a week and a half of being out of things the league’s playoff race looks a little different than when I left. The way I look at the standings here, the first tiebreaker goes to the club that has played the fewest matches. Next is head-to-head and then goal differential. Number of games played is presented before the clubs’ record.

EASTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS
Columbus (24) 11-4-9, 42 points
Chicago (25) 10-6-9, 39
WESTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS
Houston (26) 11-8-7, 40 points
Los Angeles (25) 9-5-11, 38
WILD-CARD BERTHS
Seattle (25) 9-6-10, 37 points
Chivas USA (23) 11-9-3, 36
Colorado (24) 10-8-6, 36
D.C. United (26) 8-6-12, 36
LAST SEVEN OUT
Real Salt Lake (25) 9-9-7, 34
Toronto (25) 9-9-7, 34
New England (23) 9-8-6, 33
Dallas (24) 7-11-6, 27
Kansas City (24) 7-11-6, 27
San Jose (22) 5-12-5, 20
New York (25) 4-17-4, 16

The big question for a couple clubs like Toronto, Salt Lake and New England is do they have the gas in the tank to get into the playoffs this season? I still see Salt Lake look on the outside, as possibly with Toronto. New England still strikes me as a club that could sneak in late here over a DC or Colorado.

Next, can Seattle hold on to that playoff spot and be the first expansion club since Chicago in 1998 to reach the post season? It will not get any easier for the Sounders with as many road games as they have left. Lucky for them they are starting to gain some confidence on the road.

And finally, my question that I’ve been asking since May, can New York reach 20 points this season? With a tough stretch of road games coming up it seems unlikely at this point.

Now as far as clubs clinching a playoff spot here in the next couple of weeks, Columbus should be the first to do so with I believe (if my math is correct) at least one more draw. Of course a win would easily do the trick. So be on the lookout for that to happen soon. I believe Houston could also clinch a spot with their next win as well.

Dallas, Kansas City and San Jose are another game or so away from being eliminated from contention this season. Each would have to win out the rest of their games just to have hope for a playoff spot and that doesn’t even look good at this point.

Hear it for yourself.

Thing is does Toronto really need another defensive midfielder? Sounds like they could be lined up to make a trade or two if that deal is true.