It is finally here, the game we’ve all been waiting for since March. The 2010 MLS Cup is here and honestly I couldn’t be any more excited for this one (yes having my local side being in it helps). Having two clubs in this game that have yet to win a MLS Cup is pretty cool to see as well. They out lasted everyone this season to get to this point. We know who the favorite is (Dallas) and who the underdog (Colorado) but in all honesty these two clubs are very evenly matched.

An early goal will likely help vult whomever to a win here. Colorado is likely the club that needs to score first to win this one though as Dallas has no issue with coming from behind to win a game.

Position Breakdown

Keepers: One side of the field you have Kevin Hartman, the other Matt Pickens. Both are very solid and have made their defense in front of them miles better in 2010. Hartman should have won the Keeper of the Year award from Donovan Ricketts but that doesn’t mean Pickets isn’t worthy of the discussion either. The thing that sets these two apart at least by looking at the playoffs is that Hartman practically stood on his head a few times to get Dallas where they are at while Pickens only real big win was in the PK shootout in Columbus where the only stop he made was one that sailed over the bar to win the series.

Edge: Dallas

Defense: Honestly from the start I see this as a Push. You have a couple former FC Dallas defenders mixed in with guys like Marvell Wynne and Julien Boudet and you get a defense that has really made a nice turnaround in 2010. On the flip side what FC Dallas has done defensively this year is pretty impressive considering their defense has always been their biggest weakness over the last few years.

Dallas began giving up more goals late in the year when George John and Ugo Ihemelu went down with injuries. Both with both in the lineup they’ve been able to slow down high power attacks like Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy.

Colorado is interesting on defense, and a lot deal with the fact that their midfield is so good in front of them. They have to be careful on the wings though with Anthony Wallace and Kosuke Kimura. If one gets out of position Dallas will make them pay similar to what Robbie Rogers did to them in Columbus.

Still this one is to close for me to call here.

Edge: Push

Midfield: I really believe had it not been for the trade to get Jeff Larentowicz, Colorado would not even be in this game. That’s how big of an addition he was this season to the Rapids. He made the midfield and defense collectively better. The mid-season pickup of Brian Mullan did help bring some grit and better passing through the wings.

That said the rest of the midfield for the Rapids isn’t as good as Larentowicz has made them. On the wings they can get beaten if players are out of position and Dallas does a good job of spreading their attack through their wings like we saw against LA. Dallas’s five-man attack is balanced and well thought out. Guys like Dax McCarty and Daniel Hernandez are the cog in the midfield that really keep things going and allow David Ferreira to get in space and create for himself and whomever is playing up top. The wings are speedy with Brek Shea and Martin Chavez and are able to find holes in the defense.

Edge: Dallas

Forwards: This one is fairly simple to go into. Dallas has gone with a number of strikers all season long, mostly a lone striker in the form of Martin Rodriguez or Jeff Cunningham, or in the case of last week in LA in the form of Atiba Harris. Either way you spin it Dallas doesn’t really have the best go-to scorer up top the way that Colorado does in Omar Cummings and Conor Casey.

Dallas flows their offense through and with Ferreira in hopes to spring a free Cunningham or Rodriguez. Colorado on the other hand is fairly simple as they go wide with Cummings and he sends balls into the box for Casey; or they find diagonal balls in space for Cummings to run on to with his speed; or they hope for odd plays to accure.

Still the edge goes to the Rapids on this one based on Cummings and Casey.

Edge: Colorado

Bench: Dallas is fairly deep, probably a tad bit deeper than the Rapids when you consider they can bring on a Eric Avila, or even a Cunningham at anytime. Or if they have the lead they can bring in defensive help like Eric Alexander.

Edge: Dallas

Coach: You have the MLS Coach of the Year in Schellas Hyndman and on the other side a guy that is pretty underrated in Gary Smith. I’d lean towards Dallas due to the award but really this one is even considering both did an excellent job of finding guys that fit their systems for this year. Though I doubt Smith has a cool enough jacket to spark a huge Twitter frenzy like Hyndman did.

Edge: Push

X-Factors: Shea (Dallas); Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) – Shea is a bad match-up on the wings for the Rapids. Sure they were able to contain a smaller Bobby Convey last week but Shea works around the ball is such a frustrating way for opposing teams. Mastroeni’s leadership has to be a factor in this one, how he handles himself will set his club up for this game.

Outlook: This game will come down to who cracks first really. Dallas knows how to hold onto leads in big situations if you consider how they played in Salt Lake and LA these past two weeks. The ability of Ihemelu and John to contain Casey and Cummings is an important element in this one. The better they contain the better chance Dallas has in this one.

Considering how these clubs tied their season series I think its safe to say we can just throw those two games out of the way here for this one like we’ve done all playoff long.

The biggest factor in this game comes down to the wing play and that’s where Dallas should come up big with Shea and Chavez. Also for me the Cunningham factor against one of his old clubs is out there, not to mention playing at BMO Field for him has to be huge. Colorado may have the edge in historical meetings in the playoffs but those were different times. Dallas has yet to lose at BMO Field and I see that trend continuing in their biggest win in club history.

WVH Prediction: FC Dallas 2, Colorado 1

Dax McCarty and FC Dallas battle Juninho and LA for the right to play in this year's MLS Cup. (Getty Images)

In a perfect world this would be more fitting of a MLS Cup final rather than just a western conference final. The number one overall and number four overall teams from the season square off in a battle to see who gets the trip to Toronto next week. FC Dallas knocked out the defending champion Real Salt Lake last week while LA was the lone top seed to move on to the conference finals.

Not to knock San Jose or Colorado here but it is a shame that this isn’t the MLS Cup. Two of the best teams from this season battle for the league’s top prize. Dallas hasn’t been in this far in the playoffs in over a decade (1999 to be in fact) while LA has a history of going to and winning the MLS Cup.

One side of the pitch you have a collection of players that most didn’t imagine would be able to pull off the type of season that they did. MLS Coach of the Year Schellas Hyndman was able to patiently get his club where they are at today by making the right choices around the pitch like placing Kevin Hartman in goal and putting the captain’s armband around Daniel Hernandez’s arm.

On the other side of the pitch you have the Supporter’s Shield winners in LA. Their hot start thanks to Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan set up their season. Things cooled off in the summer like we figured they would even with Buddle and Donovan back in uniform after the 2010 World Cup. The Galaxy managed to close out the season on top of the league thanks to some strong midfield play by Juninho and David Beckham.

This one could end up being a defensive battle. Both were near the top in goal-allowed this season with Kevin Hartman and Donovan Ricketts playing very well in goal for each club this season. LA proved last week against Seattle that their defense can hold up to speed with the move of A.J. DeLaGarza into the middle of the defense. Dallas may not have the speed that Seattle has but they do have some playmakers that can cause some issues. LA though has the advantage here having beaten Dallas twice this year, in fact half of Dallas’ losses this season came from LA.

Players to watch: Ferreira, Dax McCarty, George John (Dallas); Beckham, Donovan and Ricketts (LA).

X-Factors: DeLaGarza – His ability to shut down speed for LA was big in the Seattle series but it will be put to the test even more against a savvy offense like FC Dallas has with Cunningham and Ferreira. If he or the rest of the backline cracks any bit against Dallas you can expect the visitors to move on in this playoffs.

Outlook: Which defense cracks first will be the story here. Both are solid but have issues at times. LA did manage to beat Dallas a couple weeks ago but that was a Dallas team without a lot of their main guys. Having Hartman, Hernandez, Brek Shea and Ugo Ihemelu back will make a world of difference from the Texan side. LA still has home field on their side a place that Dallas does not do very well in when playing the Galaxy (Chivas USA may be another story).

Both clubs will counter attack very well, so mistakes in the midfield and defensive-third will be a key thing to watch. LA will likely come out with loads of pressure like they did against Seattle and force Dallas into defensive mistakes.

Part of me wants Dallas to win, obviously since I’ve been covering them for a couple years now. But I know LA will present a big challenge that could be too much for them to over come. At the end of the home field factor and the way LA plays Dallas just leads me to lean towards the Galaxy. After seeing both play in the first round I think LA just looks more dominate. Not to knock what Dallas did against RSL here but I just see LA moving on, possibly in penalty kicks.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, Dallas 1

David Ferreira takes home my MVP vote. (Getty Images)

For a couple weeks now I’ve held off on reveling my end of the year awards. I mainly wanted to see the season end and the playoffs begin before I wrote this all out. Plus I honestly had no idea how I wanted to present this. But on Election Day it just feels right to tell you all how I voted in this year’s MLS Awards.

First of all I’m going to leave out the pointless awards like Ref of the Year. I still don’t get why we vote on that in the first place since we know about all the officiating issues in MLS. I also won’t list things like Humanitarian of the Year or things like that. Most of you probably could care less about awards like that anyways.

Anyways, I’ll start with some awards that will be announced by the league here in the coming days and end with the big ones. I’ll also count them down by my vote as well, remember the media (and probably players/GMs/coaches) gets three slots for voting.

Defender of the Year

3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)

2. Nat Borchers (RSL)

1. Jamison Olave (RSL)

Why Olave: To be real honest between Olave and Borchers it wasn’t easy. It was a 1a and 1b type of vote for me but more times than not I felt Olave was the better of the two this season. Had we done this vote back in June I believe Gonzalez would have taken it home but just like the rest of the year for the Galaxy, Gonzalez too had some issues in the latter part of the summer. Olave was more consistent this year than he’s been in the past as well which was refreshing to see.

Keeper of the Year

3. Donovan Ricketts (LA)

2. Nick Rimando (RSL)

1. Kevin Hartman (FC Dallas)

Why Hartman: Between the time he took over and his injury Hartman was the biggest reason why FCD went on that amazing run that they did. In 20 games this season he had 9 shutouts, and only 12 goals against. I know Rimando had a stellar year and I get why folks will vote for him. RSL fans can blame me on being too close to the action here with Hartman but I really had no hesitation in voting this way.

Rookie of the Year

3. Michael Stephens (LA)

2. Danny Mwanga (Philadelphia)

1. Andy Najar (D.C. United)

Why Najar: Why not really? He was easily the best player on their team this year and should become the first academy product in the league history to win this award. He was consistent when others were not this season and provided a true spark for D.C. when they really had nothing else going for them this season.

Comeback Player of the Year

3. Jason Hernandez (San Jose)

2. Chris Albright (New York)

1. Bobby Convey (San Jose)

Why Convey: I’m still curious what Brek Shea came back from (he’s one of the three nominees with Albright and Convey). Anyways, to me it was down to Albright and Convey. Yes Albright missed 2009 while Convey just stunk up the place last year. For me it was about getting back to where he should be as a player and that’s what Convey did this year. Not to say Albright doesn’t deserve this award because he does, I just felt Convey made a bigger comeback from being so bad last year to so much better this year.

Newcomer of the Year

3. Ryan Smith (Kansas City)

2. Joel Lindpere (New York)

1. Alvaro Saborio (RSL)

Why Saborio: He lead his club in goals and really gave me no reason not to vote for him in this award. Lindpere was amazing for New York’s turnaround though so we can’t ignore what he did. I was just more impressed with the fact that a lot of clubs couldn’t figure out how to deal with Saborio this year.

Coach of the Year

3. Peter Nowak (Philadelphia)

2. Jason Kreis (RSL)

1. Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas)

Why Hyndman: This may have been the hardest award to vote on outside of MVP. I put Nowak over Hans Backe because I was very impressed with how Nowak guided Philly through their expansion season. I believe he’s set them up perfectly for 2011. Then it came down to Kreis and Hyndman. Both had equally impressive campaigns in 2010 and we can’t ignore that enough. I went the direction that I did not because I was closer to the team here in Dallas than RSL but it came down to that 19-game unbeaten run. Sure there were a ton of draws with this Dallas team but due to the way Hyndman constructed this team for this season it was impressive to see their “never say die” attitude.

MLS MVP

3. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)

2. Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia)

1. David Ferreira (FC Dallas)

Why Ferreira: Again the toughest award to vote on, probably ever. So many worthy choices but I stuck with Ferreira like I stuck with my pick of Hyndman. It wasn’t just that unbeaten run that was impressive from him and this bunch but Ferreira was the leader and the guy that just got stuff done for Dallas. We saw that in the opener in the playoffs against RSL, he just finds ways to get the team on the board. I was shocked to not see Le Toux as a finalist because let’s be honest he deserved it, then again so does Wondolowski.

WVH Best XI For 2010

(Voting format was a 3-5-2)

Keeper: Kevin Hartman

Defense: Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Omar Gonzalez

Midfield: David Ferreira, Sebastien Le Toux, Dwayne De Rosario, Javier Morales, Guillermo Barros Schelotto

Forwards: Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle

Reasons behind Best XI: First of all the way the league handles this is crazy. A 3-5-2 is always tough to vote on especially when they place guys out of position. I’d rather have Donovan placed in the midfield and Ferreira in the forwards but this is out it goes. I know some are thinking no Wondo in the forwards? Well Buddle was the leader going into the day I voted and Donovan was the top assist getter in the league too. If I had to vote on this again today I may replace Buddle with Wondo.

Kevin Hartman wasn't too happy with Thierry Henry last night. (Getty Images)

After watching this over a few times I see why plenty are upset. Part of me thinks MLS will come down on Thierry Henry for this dumb play and the other part of me thinks they won’t because he is who he is.

The ref was right there for it and saw it as nothing more than a fluke play. But with no card issued at the time from the ref I highly doubt we’ll see the league take this any further since the ref was literally right there when it happened. Its not like a play that the ref didn’t see that the league typically goes back and reviews when needed. I know FC Dallas will protest this but I just get the sense that nothing will come of it.

I don’t like the play from Henry but you know it is what it is. It was just one of those weird things were you could say there was bad intent on the part of Henry and then you could say he was just kicking the ball out to go on with the goal celebration that was taking place.

You be the judge.

I mentioned earlier that Kevin Hartman could be on his way to Dallas and that appears to be the case. Buzz Carrick is now reporting that Hartman has come to terms on a deal with Dallas.

The terms of the deal aren’t confirmed yet but a good bet it will be some form of allocation and maybe a SuperDraft pick. Hartman was never waived by KC so Dallas has to give up something to gain his player rights under the current, yet expired CBA.

Look for this to be a very interesting keeper battle between Dario Sala and Hartman. Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has said all winter long that he was pleased with Sala but keep down I think he knows he needs someone else in goal to make this club a true contender.

Dallas is also looking to send backup keeper Josh Lambo out on loan, likely to a USSF Division II club this season (most likely a USL club, not a NASL one).

I’ll update this with more information as I get it.

Update: Just got a press release with the details on this deal. KC gets a second round pick in the 2012 SuperDraft. Guess KC really wanted to be free of this dude.

Former Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, whose club-less situation has been at the center of the CBA storm, is close to being acquired by an MLS team, the Insider has learned. Where is he headed? Dallas?

Dallas has been in the market for a second keeper all winter long so a possible move for Hartman makes total sense, one I would honestly love to see. Dallas may have an extra international roster slot for trading (some reason KC is after a bunch of them right now). I still think New York is another destination for Hartman as the Red Bulls still currently lack a quality number one (come on, Bouna Coundoul is no number one folks).

I’ll try to do some digging here in Dallas to see if anything is close to happening here for Hartman.

Kevin Hartman is looking for a new home. (Getty Images)

Kevin Hartman’s time in Kansas City looks to be over. The Kansas City Star this morning has quotes from Peter Vermes that suggest the Wizards are looking to move on saying that Hartman is no longer in the teams plans.

It does appear the club did offer Hartman a new contract so they will retain his player rights for two years unless the new CBA has any sort of free agency in it. If that happens it will allow Hartman to move freely in MLS, if it doesn’t however a team will once again have to work out a deal with the Wizards to get his rights.

From this news it appears the signing of Danish goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen are indeed true. From the report Nielsen is on the books for one year with the Wizards.

So where could Hartman end up in MLS? A couple places come to mind right away include New York. I could see him take on a backup role in places like New England, San Jose, Chivas, or even LA for a year and then catch on with an expansion team in 2011 when Portland and Vancouver join the mix. We could easily see Hartman go to USSF Div II like Steve Ralston did, I can’t imagine too many clubs in that league passing on Hartman here, especially AC St. Louis since they are still building a team from scratch.

I had a feeling going into this winter that we’d see a change in goal for Kansas City. The Wizards were looking for a change to shake some things up and this is one that I expected to happen. Hartman is still a quality keeper so let’s not make this out to be something that it isn’t where Hartman is done and worthless here. No, he’s still got a few years left in the tank. But the Wizards needed to retool in some way to get into the playoffs this year. Sadly enough for those who like Hartman this was something that probably needed to happen.

Expect a big night out of KC's Josh Wolff. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Unlike last week where I totally goofed on the date of the game, there is a Thursday night clash this week. That I promise you. This week we get an eastern conference clash between two up and coming teams as New York travels to Kansas City.

New York finally found the net in their last game in the win over RSL, while KC came from behind on the road against Chicago.

As always feel free to leave your score prediction below.

1. Can New York consistently keep up what they started last week at Giants Stadium?

Honestly that is a big question of this club. A year ago they were largely one the worst road clubs in the league, and when you fast forward to this season not much has changed in two road games (two losses and four goals against). But a lot has been said about how this club bounced back last week at home and actually played good soccer for once this season.

Consistent play will be key tonight for New York on the shorter field at CAB in Kansas City. Not to mention the fact that this club hasn’t won a game in KC since 2005. Also double the fact that this starts a big stretch of games for the energy drink club. New York will play the first of four matches in a 10-day stretch tonight, with games against DC on Sunday, at San Jose the following Wednesday in the USOC, and at LA next Saturday.

Getting off to a bad start on a stretch like that can really set a club back.

2. What does KC have to do to keep up their production offensively?

Keep Josh Wolff as a striker. It is as simple as that, when Wolff is free to float around the penalty box he is as dangerous if not more dangerous than most players in this league. I know the Wizards have a long list of guys who’s lead position on the pitch is at striker but Wolff is best when positioned there. Not on the wing. We saw that against Chicago last week, when Wolff was on the wings the Wizards’ offense was stagnent and nearly non-existent. One quick change to move him up top lead to two goals.

3. Player to keep an eye out for.

For New York be be successful in the midfield tonight they need a big game out of Seth Stammler and Jorge Rojas. If either of those two fails to keep possession in New York’s favor it will be a long night on a New York defense that is still a bit shaky. Plus keeping the possession means more chances on Kevin Hartman’s goal for Juan Pablo Angel and Mac Kandji.

Quick Thoughts:

The Wizards are either hot or at least luke warm depending on who you talk to right now. Their offense is clicking like it should and their defense is playing some decent soccer as well. But truth be told their midfield is really been stepping up and Curt Onalfo has been making some big time subs in the second half in recent games.

New York needs this win to keep rolling here but I don’t like their chances on the road. For me its one of those things, if they can prove to me that they can consistently put it together for a full 90 on the road then I will feel better about picking them in games like this. But they haven’t done so yet. I like KC in this one due to another strong performance out of the big four of Hartman, Jimmy Conrad, Claudio Lopez and Josh Wolff.

WVH Prediction: KC 2, NY 1

Guillermo Barros Schelotto PK wasn't enough to beat TFC. (Getty Images)

Week number two is finally in the books here. We saw six games come and go with only a few goals this week to even mention. Loads of draws across the land early on Saturday, but the night came with the goals as the Seattle-RSL game and Houston-San Jose game saw more action than the first couple in the day.

So just what did week two bring us? A new saves leader in Kevin Hartman, an expansion club at the top of the standings, and a young Columbian leading all in goals scored (talk about a goal too!).

I try to be quick in my recaps here this year, since I don’t see every game it should be a bit easier to do so.

Columbus Crew 1 – 1 Toronto FC:

Say what you will about the result, you have to give it up to Toronto for getting four points out of their first two road games. I don’t believe last year’s squad would have come close to that. Their home opener next week will really give us a strong indication of how good they really are I think.

Anyways, as far as this one went the Crew really handled the possession in this one and came up short in the end with the late own goal.

Some shaky moments for Crew fans when MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto went down in the second half. He came off shortly after but no word on his status.

The one thing going against the Crew in this one had to be their finishing. They were missing Aljeandro Moreno to an international callup but for the most part the chances the Crew had came up short due to poor finishing.

Big story though was probably the crowd. These two supporter groups are really making this rivalry into something good here that the league really needed. A couple thousand TFC supporters crossed the border to make the trip and it really added to the atmosphere at Crew Stadium. Oh yeah, those Crew fans showed up pretty nicely on Saturday too.

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Chicago Fire 1 – 1 DC United

DC looked better in this one but still found a way for the Fire to get back in it and tie things up late. I’ve been saying for weeks that people need to keep an eye on Patrick Nyarko for Chicago, this week he comes through with a big time goal to give the Fire a big road point.

Like I said, DC looked better and the early goal from Luciano Emilio was very nice, maybe even goal of the week material. The Black-and-Red also seemed to do a good job controlling the midfield more this week against the Fire. Midfield was definitely bogged down a bit with the formation (3-5-2) that Tom Soehn put out on Saturday.

Chicago had their fair share of chances in this one though. I wasn’t as impressed with them as I have been here so far in 2009. It’s almost like their wow factor wasn’t there except with Nyarko’s goal.

The field was obviously an issue with the game too, very wet as we saw a lot of guys lose their footing throughout the game. Still it didn’t stop the large group of supporters for DC. Say what you will I still believe they are some of the best in the league, if not still the best.

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New York Red Bulls 1 – 1 New England Revolution

Another ho-hum kind of game for New England. Still they did enough late to get a road point. The late goal should be a good boost for the club going into their home opener. And really had it not been for the own-goal on Jay Heaps we may have just been talking about a 0-0 tie here instead of a 1-1 tie.

Early on I really liked what I saw out of Dane Richards. His speed on the wings was a lot to handle for New England and substitute keeper Brad Knighton (Matt Reis was a late scratch from the line up). But give credit to Knighton for coming up big a couple times against the Red Bulls. That has to be a good thing for Steve Nicol to know that if he needs a replacement for Reis for a game or two this year he has a solid one.

New England did have a few chances that I felt really could have seen the back of the net. Shalrie Joeseph looked real dangerous on a few times (not just the game-tying goal).

I still feel New York’s defense is a few weeks away from being good here. Their reinforcements still aren’t yet available to play but even when they are it will still take some time. Saying that they were better this week than in week one against Seattle. Then again it didn’t take much to be better than that.

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Kevin Hartman became the league's all-time save leader in the loss to Colorado. (Getty Images)

Colorado Rapids 2 – 1 Kansas City Wizards

After a pretty boring first half the Rapids broke through with a nice second half goal by Terry Cooke (remember him?!). But their defense quickly gave up a KC goal to Michael Kraus. Keeping the excitment going though a few mintues later Omar Cummings put home his second of the year to be the game winner.

Aside from that 12 minute span, this game didn’t have a whole lot to it other than Kevin Hartman’s record breaking save. Hartman is now the league’s all-time save leader. He now stands alove at the top with 1,137 in his career, passing Tony Meola atop the leaderboard.

KC had their fair share of chances in the opening 45 minutes but poor finishing an some bad touches didn’t help their cause.

The additions of Cooke and Kraus really changed the game though in the second half. Both really injected some much needed energy to the game. Goal of the game though had to go to Cummings with his game winner. Really nothing Hartman could do about it.

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San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 2 Houston Dynamo

For two clubs that have offenses that have so many questions it was surprising to say the least to get five goals out of this one. All in the first half nonetheless. From the half-hour mark until halftime this game really entertaining to say the least. Ryan Johnson started things off for the Quakes, followed quickly by a Arturo Alvarez goal.

The visitors quickly came back with two of their own with Brad Davis and Chris Wondolowski putting home a goal each.

Some how San Jose wasn’t done though, just before the half Frank Yallop got just what he was waiting for out of Cam Weaver, as the big man put home the eventual game winner.

I wasn’t too shocked with the result but the scoreline was definitely nice to see out of these clubs as we really didn’t expect this kind of offense out of either of them just yet this season. Houston didn’t look terrible though here but they did seem a bit shakier in the midfield than normal. San Jose did a good job in the first half taking advantage of those chances.

The second half was pretty exciting as Houston tried to battle back. Their chances just came up short however. I think we still need to see the Quakes on the road here this year before we can say whether or not they are for real. But based on Saturday night I thought they made a good argument for it.

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Seattle Sounders FC 2 – 0 Real Salt Lake

What more can we say about the Sounders here? While RSL looked good and dangerous at times RSL on all ends really showed some class on Saturday night.

Some of my questions about RSL’s defense were answered as I still think they are a bit shaky. The goal to Nate Jaqua proves that. You should never leave a guy that big alone in the box like that. Just a great play by the number one overall pick Steve Zakuani to set up Jaqua in the box. If you had questions about his ball skills you just need to watch that set up to Jaqua, it was very classy.

RSL did however press a lot in the second half to get the equalizer but again Kasey Keller showed us he still has it here. Big save after big save really seperated things for Seattle on the defensive end. Both Yura Movsisyan and Kyle Beckerman had their chances but it was Keller to the rescue for Seattle.

Late in the second half it was Fredy Montero with what has to be the goal of the week. Just a load of space in the midfield given by RSL’s defense to Montero and he made them pay for it in a big way with the 24 foot blast. After the goal RSL really cooled off as Seattle closed the door on the offensive end for the visitors.

Two games in and Seattle is at the top of the standings. Give credit all around to this club for it too. I want to see how they are on the road before I really say they are one of the better clubs in the league. If they can prove it on the road we may just have a true contender here.

Also, give a lot of credit to those Sounder supporters. A typical Seattle day, cold and wet, though they still showed up 28,000+ strong. A true credit to how well this club is being run here.

And one last note, Freddie Ljungberg made his MLS debut. Not a bad one but once he gets healthy he really could make this club that much more dangerous.

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Chivas USA 2 – 0 FC Dallas

A real bummer of a game to end the weekend on. Not only was the game a bit sloppy in the midfield but there was no one in the stands to see it. The game went back and forth for the majority of it but it was defensive mistakes again that costed the home side in this one.

Mexican striker Eduardo Lillingston found the back of the net mid-way through the second half to put the visitors on top. It was pretty much all the AmeriGoats needed to get the big three points on the road.

Dallas had their chances but the finishing just wasn’t there. Ther was better play out of playmaker David Ferreira in this one for Dallas but still not enough to put the club over the top. Dallas still struggled to get a good connection between their playmakers in the midfield and their two strikers up top. They did have a couple more moments in the attack than Chivas but nothing that really tested Chivas keeper Zach Thornton.

Late second half sub Bojan Stepanovic gave the visitors the two-goal lead. Stepanovic made his MLS debut Sunday and really made a great impact for Preki’s club.

Not a lot of people like what they see out of Chivas but they pretty much remind me of the “Little Engine The Could”. Everyone doubts them but Preki keeps plugging away with a bunch of no-names.