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.

Kei Kamara leads KC tonight against Houston. (Getty Images)

You have to love this unbalanced and wacky schedule MLS has these days. I know one of these games was rescheduled to tonight but two Wednesday games for league play doesn’t seem to happen often. Tonight we get games in the middle of the country as Kansas City hosts Houston and Dallas hosts New England.

So let’s get down to the previews for tonight shall we?

New England Revolution – at – FC Dallas

This could very well be a dangerous game for FC Dallas, even at home. The Revs come in batted and bruised like always but somehow I feel this could be the club that could sneak in a win over FC Dallas for the first time since May. I say that because the Revs have had little trouble since Dallas moved to Pizza Hut Park going 3-1-0 in the four games there between the two sides.

New England could catch a break again tonight as Dallas has injury issues all over the field and will probably be starting two rookies in the middle of the field. Shalrie Joseph has to like his chances there against those odds.

Still Dallas is a mentally tough team even with what happened to them last week against New York. They tied the Red Bulls after an own-goal in a game that saw them down a man for the majority of it. Look for those rookies Eric Alexander and Zach Loyd to step up in this one. A lot of the pressure will fall to David Ferriera, someone Dallas fans can lean on easily.

I want to take Dallas but then again I know the Revs history at PHP so I’m going with the boring draw. Dallas is still good enough to get a result even without several starters while New England isn’t balanced enough across the field to get three points but should find a way to get at least a draw.

Player to watch out for: Dario Sala – The last time these two faced one another it was Sala’s gaff in goal that caused FCD to drop two points on the road. He lost his starting spot the next week so look for him to be on a mission to prove he is worthy of the starting spot again.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, New England 1

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Houston Dynamo – at – Kansas City Wizards

Round two in the big week for the Wizards, a home clash with the reeling Dynamo. A lot has changed since the last time these two faced one another. Back in May the Dynamo easily beat KC 3-0 in Houston. Since then things haven’t gone so well for the men in orange as they are a loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention this season.

Kansas City will hope to build off the momentum they started on Sunday against Chivas USA when Kei Kamara and Teal Bunbury found the net in LA.

I think KC just needs to stay hungry here this week. They’ll have some tired legs for sure but look for them to take advantage of the smaller field in this one. They’ll need to get the Ryan-Smith-Kamara combo working in full force early in this one too. On the flip side Houston just needs to get back to basics with their defense in this one. Eliminate mistakes and control what Smith does on the wings.

KC should and likely will come through in this one to make the playoff race a little more interesting. Houston just doesn’t have the gas to get the job done right now on the road.

Player to watch out for: Brian Ching – He’s got to be a pest all night for KC’s defense.

WVH Prediction: Kansas City 2, Houston 0

I love a good ad like this. With all the buzz in Kansas City yesterday as the Wizards beat Manchester United, let’s hope some folks that went to that game were able to take some time to see the new venue (yeah I’m totally unaware of where Arrowhead is in relationship to the new venue!). This new stadium is going up super fast though, any chance it will be ready for next season?! Let’s hope.

(H/T to SF posting this and a couple KC folks for emailing me the link)

Peter Nowak and Philadelphia make their home debut this weekend. (MLSSoccer.com)

Are you ready for tomorrow? Seriously, are you ready? Eight games in one day, a new league record. We knew this day would come eventually with all the expansion in the league and kudos to the league for putting one so early in the season too.

If you’re like me, you’ll find tomorrow to be a tough one because of the amount of games on at once. Thankfully with my Mac I can at least throw up a few different game windows in multiple spaces.

So get your DVRs ready (if you can hold this many games), sign up for the league video package online (if you haven’t done so already), or be like most folks and just go to a game if you can. Its going to be a fun weekend for sure.

Feel free as always to leave your predictions below in the comments section.

New York Red Bulls – at – Chivas USA:

Lets just say that Chivas USA needs to figure out their offensive issues here. In to town is the new look Red Bulls who’ve won two straight shutouts. Hans Backe’s club has been solid defensively so far this season but a second straight west coast game will prove to be a bigger test than some will really think, even though Chivas has yet to score this season. We could see a potential letdown by the Red Bulls after they finally got their first road win a week ago after 27-games of coming up short away from home.

For me its going to come down to who scores in this one. Even with the two wins on the year the Red Bulls haven’t lit up the scoreboard so far (only two goals). I see a slight drop off in this one while Chivas continues to struggle to score.

Player to watch out for: Tim Ream – the rookie is as good as advertised here. Look for him to be all over Chivas’ Maykel Galindo in this one.

WVH Prediction: Chivas 0, New York 0

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D.C. United – at – Philadelphia Union

Home opener for Philadelphia is a big, big deal. They’re expecting about 30k+ tomorrow at the Linc, don’t be shocked if they reach a sellout figure (they’re caping the capacity for this one at 35k). This new rivalry will be heated, especially given how bad both have started off the year. D.C. has look awful all over the field while Philadelphia struggled on the road in their debut two weeks ago. Given the fact that Peter Nowak has had a little more time to prepare for this one I like the Union’s chances in this one a little more.

Curt Onalfo’s side has to figure out where to get their offense from. So far in attack they’ve looked uncreative and in result have been unproductive. You could say it comes down to their midfield not doing enough with the possession too. I’d imagine Nowak will do a better job with his lineup now that he gets Fred back. Look for their shape to be a little better in this one as they ride the massive fan support in the home opener. Its easy to go for a draw here given the poor results by these two so far but I like Philadelphia’s chances here.

Player to watch out for: Danny Mwanga – With Fred back and likely in the midfield, we should see more out of Mwanga in this one for Philadelphia. Hopefully Nowak learned that he belongs up top.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 1, D.C. 0

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Toronto FC – at – New England Revolution

Steve Nicol is looking for his 100th career MLS win in this one, and he probably couldn’t ask for a better opponent. Toronto FC is still in a bit of a state of flux after all the moves that have gone on over these last few weeks including the latest with the retirement of Jim Brennan. That loss thins out the Reds defense even more here. New England could possibly see Shalrie Joseph back for the home opener but even without him I like the Revs chances in this one. The Revs could also see Darrius Barnes back for this one as well, which would only make it rougher on Toronto to score in this one.

It seems like Toronto hasn’t scored a goal in league play or in exhibition play in ages here. I don’t see that starting back up right now. The Revs played their game last week in D.C. and I’d imagine Nicol will use some of the same tactics this week to get three more points.

Player to watch out for: Dwayne De Rosario – Really Toronto’s only hope to get on the scoreboard. If he can work his magic that we’ve seen him do in the past against the Revs, Toronto could sneak out with some points.

WVH Prediction: New England 2, Toronto 0

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Colorado Rapids – at – Kansas City Wizards

Here’s one game this weekend I’m looking forward to. Two clubs that everyone is still trying to figure out here. Are both contenders or pretenders this season? We think they could be contenders but its still too early to tell. The Rapids have to get their defense in line here for this one as the Wizards showed early on this year that they can score early and often.

As we saw last week, Kansas City’s best bet to get by the Rapids defense is to go right at them with some speed. Look for Ryan Smith and Kei Kamara to do just that on the wings as things in the center of the park will be a little tight. The Rapids haven’t won in KC since 2002 and something tells me that streak isn’t going to end here this season either. However I do think a draw sounds more likely with these two trading some goals early on in this one.

Player to watch out for: Omar Cummings – For me he is by far the most dangerous player on the field in this one. If he finds open space in the final third for Colorado he can score and create chances for Conor Casey.

WVH Prediction: Kansas City 2, Colorado 2

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LA Galaxy – at – Houston Dynamo

I love the promo the Dynamo are running for this one –  a flash light campaign, in case the lights go out again with these two on the field. Beautiful stuff.

Houston as we know is a bit banged up with Brian Ching on the shelf for a few weeks. Dominic Kinnear will have to look elsewhere for offense. Maybe we’ll finally see their Designated Player Luis Angel Landin finally step into the role. Or Kinnear can go with Cam Weaver. Either one with the speed of Dominic Oduro should be fine.

LA has been very good on defense so far this year, with no goals against. But both of those games came from the friendly confines of the Home Depot Center. Things are a little different for the Galaxy at Robertson Stadium, a place few get points at. I see this one staying close but look for the Dynamo to figure out a way to get one by Donovan Ricketts.

Player to watch out for: Brad Davis – Don’t expect another two goals from the PK spot this weekend for Davis but no matter who scores for Houston in this one it will be due to the play of this guy.

WVH Prediction: Houston 1, LA 0

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Columbus Crew – at – FC Dallas

The regular season version of the Pioneer Cup. Both teams had a week off last week to plan for this game. It will be interesting to see if Chad Marshall makes it back for this one for the Crew. If he isn’t out there their defense could be a bit exposed with him gone and Eric Brunner out. Guys like Andy Iro will likely have to step up to contain Jeff Cunningham.

Dallas isn’t too different in the back either as both Kyle Davies and Ugo Ihemelu are banged up. We could even see Brek Shea in the back for the Red Stripes in this one as a bit of a patch work job by manager Schellas Hyndman. Expect this one to come down to who can control things in the midfield. On one side we have Guillermo Barros Schelotto and the other David Ferriera. I’d be lying if I didn’t think that was the best matchup of the weekend right there. The visitors could go away with three points but a draw sounds more likely.

Player to watch out for: Atiba Harris – Dallas needs some big time play on the wings and Harris has to be that guy for them. He scored in the season opener and if he can work his way into the middle in the final third of the field we could see him score again.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, Columbus 1

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San Jose Earthquakes – at – Chicago Fire

We know the storyline in this one, Jon Busch’s return to Chicago. That should be a it awkward. The Fire looked a little better in week two but they still haven’t found that consistent play out of their midfield. Manager Carlos de los Cobos went with a 4-3-3 last week and it started to work for them as Collins John made an impact with the open space up top. Chicago has to get more out of Marco Pappa though in the midfield.

The Quakes just need to figure themselves out here though. In week one they looked more like an expansion team than a team in it’s third year. Frank Yallop made a couple changes to his roster and got former Quake Scott Sealy back. I’m not entirely sure if that move will get their club going or not here. The road hasn’t been kind to the Quakes lately either. Chicago should find a way to win this one.

Player to watch out for: Ryan Johnson – He’s the main guy for the Quakes, if he doesn’t get going in this one it will be a long night in the Windy City for Yallop’s side.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, San Jose 0

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Seattle Sounders FC – at – Real Salt Lake

Probably the game of the week in most folks minds. Rightfully so as both clubs are looking to rebound after dismal efforts in week two. RSL will look to resume their home dominance while Seattle will hope to get on the right track this year away from Qwest Field. Sigi Schmid has to find a way to get his club going offensively though to get any sort of points in this one. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Pat Noonan get the starting nod in this one for them to make an effort to kick start their offense.

RSL also has some decisions to make offensively. Do they start Robbie Findley over Fabian Espindola or Alvaro Saborio, or do they keep him as a second half sub for now? Either way I think we’ll get more Findley this week than what we’ve seen so far this season. I like RSL in this one though with the way their midfield plays at home. I doubt we’ll see the same defensive meltdowns that we saw out of them in Houston a week ago too.

Player to watch out for: Steve Zakuani – The one big chance the Sounders have in this one is for Zakuani to expose RSL on the wings. His pace could be a big difference maker.

WVH Predictions: RSL 2, Seattle 1

Toronto's O'Brian White looks to break out in 2010.

Normally in my season previews I go team-by-team but this year as I mentioned earlier in the week I am doing something a little different. Instead of the old way I’m trying something new to break up the content and give folks a little more room for discussion.

Today’s topic is all about who is the next guy to be a big impact player in this league. Or for someone to finally come out of their shell and help lead their club to the playoffs or even better a MLS Cup. I know a lot of these previews depend on the league and the player’s coming together on a new CBA but for the sake of things we’ll be optimistic here and say they do come to terms on something soon.

So I went club to club and asked a few folks who they thought would be the next big thing for their clubs. Some clubs will have just one guy to watch out for and some will have two. If a guy you think is going to break out this season isn’t on this list, hit the comments below with your reasoning behind it.

Now some are rookies and others are guys that have been around the league for a little while. I tried to balance it out between those two groups.

1. Patrick Nyarko (Chicago Fire): Even with the recent addition of Collins John I still expect a big year from Nyarko. His speed and skill (even off the bench) will be tough for some teams to deal with. I’ve always been a fan of Nyarko so in a way this is just me hoping he finally reaches his potential as a player in this league.

2. Osael Romero (Chivas USA): Its hard to pick someone on a team that has a bunch of veteran players, a bunch of young players and a batch of international players. I’m picking an international mainly because I have to think Romero may be the answer to their issues in the midfield. He’ll be the guy they look to distribute the offense and keep pressure off their defense.

3. Wells Thompson (Colorado Rapids): I really think a new address will be the key for this kid. He was in New England for the first few years of his career and did alright under Steve Nicol but I see bigger and better things out west with the Rapids for him. Look for him to add depth to the wings and help produce some offense this season. Colorado is dangerous when their wing play is going well and Thompson will provide that.

4. Jed Zayner (Columbus Crew): The Crew are still a dangerous team and with young defenders like Zayner I can’t see a reason not to consider them a contender once again in 2010.

5. Chris Pontius/Brandon Barklage (D.C. United): The Black-and-Red get two on my list. I see Pontius jumping out even more this season after a superb rookie campaign. Barklage is a guy I’ve been watching for a while now. I think this is a year he’ll get a lot more playing time and DC should be better for it.

6. Brek Shea/Bryan Leyva (FC Dallas): I honestly see this as Shea’s big year. He should be a starter this year for Schellas Hyndman out wide and I think he could make some noise once again with clubs overseas with his play. Leyva on the other hand is is a 17-year old project that should see some time this season. Believe me he’s got all the tools to be a very good player in MLS.

7. Cam Weaver (Houston Dynamo): Dominic Kinnear brought Weaver over from San Jose in a trade last year and it paid off right away with a couple goals. But injuries and setbacks got in the way. I think a new season will get Weaver a little more time on the field for a club that needs all the help it can get offensively.

8. Kei Kamara (Kansas City Wizards): With Claudio Lopez gone I fully see Kamara getting a lot more time on the pitch for the Wizards. Based on his preseason reports he’s doing pretty well so far. I think for the Wizards to reach the playoffs one of the things that need to happen is Kamara get to at least 7 to 10 goals. With his speed there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to get near that mark.

9. Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy): He may be just a rookie but look for loads of good things out of Stephens this year. He’s exactly the type of player that Bruce Arena can mold into a good role player for the Galaxy in the midfield, an area they needed some youth in.

10. Zack Schilawski (New England Revolution): Another rookie I think will have a very good first year. With Taylor Twellman still iffy for the Revs, Steve Nicol will need another breakout rookie to shine, and Schilawski will be just the guy that does in 2010.

11. Tim Ream/Tony Tchani (New York Red Bulls): Weird that the Red Bulls would get two breakout stars and both be rookies but I’ll give you a reason for both. Tchani for obvious reasons like him being a total beast. Ream may be one of the most underrated rookies out there. Look for him to be the Darrius Barnes of 2010.

12. Andrew Jacobson (Philadelphia Union): He would have been on this list if he were still in Washington. With such a young team Philly really could have any number of breakout stars but I have a good feeling on Jacobson doing well for Peter Nowak this season.

13. Collen Warner (Real Salt Lake): Another rookie but Warner is one you need to start paying attention to right away. He might not get a lot of playing time early but coming off the bench he’ll prove to be very valuable for Jason Kreis’ team as they look to defend their title.

14. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes): San Jose may have been the toughest team to figure out who would be a breakout star this season. I went with Wondo for a couple reasons, he’s still relatively young and second he’s got to be a guy that can provide a few goals off the bench or even as a starter if the Quakes want to be better in 2010. From what I’ve seen out of him I know he can do it, its just a matter of him hitting that potential this year.

15. Sanna Nyassi (Seattle Sounders FC): Twin brother of Sainey Nyassi (New England), look for him to get plenty of time off the bench this year for Sigi Schmid. They need quick players on the wing and Nyassi is one of the quickest.

16. O’Brian White (Toronto FC): Here’s a guy I’m very excited to see breakout this season. He didn’t come on to the scene last year until mid-way through the year due to injuries. Look for White to be a key part in the offense going forward this year for TFC. He showed a lot of promise late in the year and I see that momentum carrying over in to the new season.

Jimmy Conrad and Josh Wolff will be called to lead in 2010 for KC. (WVH Photo Correspondent Brian Stevens)

We’re continuing on today with our look at each Major League Soccer club’s pre-season outlook of what players they have on board and where they need to go next before the new season kicks off. So far we’ve covered nearly half of the league with Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia all already looked at here.

Today we go to the middle of the country to take a look at the Kansas City Wizards and what coach/technical director Peter Vermes is doing with his club.

The Wizards had a shaky season in 2009 but they hope a few changes around their roster will be enough to stay with the top of the pack in an already tough eastern conference.

So let’s see what the Wizards have done with their winter and where they need to go from here.

Keepers:

Who they have: Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, and Boris Pardo.

Notes: Gone are the days of Kevin Hartman and now come the time for Nielsen. A lot of folks in KC probably aren’t too happy to see Hartman be let go so easily here but as I mentioned last week it was a change I think the club needed to make this winter. Look I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Hartman but sometimes change is necessary and this was just a move I think they needed to make. I’m also not saying Nielsen will be any better but Hartman wasn’t exactly putting KC over the top.

I know the club currently has a couple other trialist in camp right now so it will be interesting to see who pushes to be Nielsen’s backup this year.

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Defense:

Who they have: Jimmy Conrad, Chance Myers, Michael Harrington, Matt Besler, Lance Watson, Aaron Hohlbein, Jonathan Leathers, Pablo Escobar, Olukorede Aiyegbusi, and Nick Cardenas.

Notes: Collectively on paper they should be a better group then what we’ve seen over the last couple years. I may be putting too much of a premium on Conrad here, he’s a great leader out there but maybe he just isn’t able to get the rest of these guys up to his level and the group suffers for it. I honestly don’t know because again on paper they look like they should be good with guys like Besler (very underrated player) and Harrington (another solid player) but last year they were up there in goals against with 42.

I think though with Vermes coaching this bunch full time we’ll see some improvement in this bunch this year. I honestly have no idea what Escobar will bring to the table but if we base anything off past moves from South America from this club the expectations shouldn’t be placed too high for him (remember Carlos Marinelli or Eloy Colombano?). Hopefully he turns out better for them.

Big question for me though is will Myers finally become the number one pick that KC had hoped for two years ago? I still don’t know who got the better end of that deal between San Jose and the Wizards. Right now its starting to be a push more than anything as neither have seen a big impact from the players involved. Nick Garcia was traded last year to Toronto and Myers really never grew as a player in year two.

Still this group is fairly young so hopefully things are going to be looking up for them as some of these young guys finally hit their stride here.

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Midfield:

Who they have: Santiago Hirsig, Roger Espinoza, Jack Jewsbery, Kurt Morsink, Davy Arnaud, Kevin Souter, Graham Zusi, Stéphane Auvray, and Marco Fuzetti.

Notes: I like Espinoza, Jewsbery and Arnaud but the rest I’m a bit torn with as I think they have potential with guys like Zusi and newcomer Auvray. Still my worry is where will the offense be generated from this within this bunch? They honestly cannot expect Arnaud to carry the load this season. I know to a lesser extent Claudio Lopez is more of an offensive midfielder than a striker these days but that won’t cut it.

Another area I worry about is wing play for this bunch. One area they got burned in a lot of games last year was on the wings, especially on their short home field. If I’m Vermes I’d be finding talent to go on the wings as well as a true playmaker in the middle.

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Forwards:

Who they have: Claudio Lopez, Josh Wolff, Teal Bunbury, Zoltan, Kei Kamara, and Michael Kraus.

Notes: This was an area that Vermes had to concentrate over the winter months on and I think with drafting Bunbury and the new contract to Kamara he has done a pretty good job with here. The big thing will be whether or not Bunbury makes an impact in year one or not. Some reports from the training camps suggest he isn’t done all that well so far with KC but I think given the right amount of time he’ll be fine.

Kamara is said to be doing very well in KC right now and honestly I think he likes being there which is a good thing for both sides. He’s got a chance this year to really step things up and be a solid scorer for the Wizards.

The big thing will be getting Wolff involved a lot more this year. We saw last year that when used properly up top Wolff can be a very productive goal scorer for the Wizards. I think Vermes knows how to use Wolff right and with Lopez too. That’s a good thing because they need another 10+ goal year from Wolff and eight to 10 assists from Lopez to be in contention in the east. As long as those two hit those numbers and Kamara and Bunbury combine for another 10 or 14 goals they will be much better offensively than from a year ago.

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Overall:

Going into a new year Kansas City is a club I like but honestly don’t love just yet. Defensively I worry about them on the wings and in the center part of the midfield. I’m also still concerned about who will be generating the offense in the midfield this year. Offensively I do believe they’ll be much better than from a year ago as long as the guys up top are given the right space to be productive.

Conrad has to step up a bit more in the back to lead this young group and if he does I think the club will improve in the standings. They’re schedule won’t be as tight in the summer with SuperLiga and we shouldn’t expect to see many international call-ups for players on their roster except for maybe Conrad and Espinoza. I actually see Espinoza getting more international time than Conrad this year anyways.

I think Vermes needs another move or two in the midfield and they’ll be fine. I’ll be curious to see how they perform early on as they typically start well but fade in the summer.

In a way its a make or break year for Vermes. He’s built this club as a TD and now must lead them as the full-time coach. I don’t know if he’ll be under any sort of hot seat yet if they don’t do well this year but you gotta believe fans won’t be happy if they are near the bottom again in the standings in 2010.

A late season trade is underway. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Houston Dynamo are set to trade forward Kei Kamara to Kansas City in exchange for Abe Thompson and possible allocation money.

The deal isn’t totally finished but boy it is an interesting one to see. Thompson hasn’t really done a thing in KC since being traded last season from Dallas. As long as he is healthy he will be a work horse for Dominic Kinnear.

Kamara getting traded is pretty unexpected for those in Houston but with Cam Weaver getting back in the fold for Kinnear it made Kamara expendable.

Once more details come out of this trade we will let you all know.

DeRo may have the best goal but the best team goal probably was the Crew’s first on Saturday with Ekpo.

Order of goals: Alan Gordan (LA), Paulo Nagamura (Chivas), Kei Kamera (Houston), Shalrie Joesph (New England), Chris Pontius (DC), Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto), Emmanuel Ekpo (Columbus), Gulliermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus), and Josh Wolff (KC).

The Houston Dynamo and expansion side San Jose Earthquakes have come together to put a little deal together to send striker Kei Kamara to the Dynamo in exchange for a draft pick and some small allocation.

The deal will probably get finalized tomorrow as the league brass are in Toronto for tonight’s All-Star game.

The 23-year old Sierra Leone native, is in his third season in MLS, where he has tallied seven goals in 48 appearances.

I honestly like this move for the Dynamo. Kamara will get in with an offense that has some talent that could help him produce better for the rest of the year. As Houston continues to push for their third straight MLS Cup title, Kamara could be that key element that will help them out. He’s quick and still has loads of potential. Best thing for the Dynamo is he comes free and he won’t hurt their cap (Generation adidas players don’t count towards the cap).

Why would San Jose part with a young striker? Easy, they just signed/traded for two strikers in the past couple weeks and it was easy to see that Kamara was not going to be high in the pecking order.

What do you all make of this move?