Jimmy Conrad and Josh Wolff will try to keep Columbus winless. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Week eight has already kicked off with a bit of a bang with two draws on Wednesday night in Kansas City and in Salt Lake City. The RSL-LA draw was something to talk about for sure while the DC-KC draw was pretty much expected.

Time to shift focus to the weekend however as we have plenty of games on the menu to keep us going. Seven games this week, on three straight days. We have all conference battles except for one match tonight in New York with San Jose and the Red Bulls. Also this weekend we have a couple rivalry games like in Texas between Houston and Dallas. And in the east we get to see a lovely battle with Chicago and New England, two clubs that really don’t like one another.

As always feel free to post your score predictions for this weekend’s action below. Continue Reading…

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

Another week in the books for Major League Soccer. A couple draws that may have shocked some, and a couple big wins that left me rather impressed. Five weeks into the season and I think we are already starting to see some things about these clubs, some things we’ve learned a bit sooner than we probably expected while other things we are left questioning.

Over the weekend I jotted down a few thoughts while I was watching all the action. Some of you may have noticed some random twitter updates over the weekend, I’ll try to keep up with that in the coming weekends as well. I won’t however be doing too many live blog/chats though, enough folks are doing it and probably at a better rate than I’d do.

Anyhow, if you have a comment from the weekend that was week five, please post below.

Fire Can’t Hold Lead

I’ve been saying for a while that Kansas City needed Josh Wolff to be the striker that they can go to for their scoring needs. Well, after a terrible first half he and his club came out of the locker rooms at Toyota Park and really took it to the Fire. It wasn’t a matter of the Fire blowing the toughest lead in soccer (2-0) but it was the manner in how Kansas City faught back. Continue Reading…

While some thought Hunter Freeman’s facebook profile was under attack or having a prank pulled on by someone, the status posted there was indeed true. Freemen is headed north to join Toronto FC today according to SBI and other sources.

Here are some more detals on the trade: It includes a clause that will force TFC to give the Red Bulls a 2011 second-round MLS SuperDraft pick if Freeman re-signs with Toronto FC at any point in 2009 (Freeman’s MLS contract is up on Dec. 31 and he is set to join Norwegian club IK Start on Jan. 1). If Freeman returns to MLS after 2009, his MLS rights would revert back to the Red Bulls, with no compensation being owed to Toronto.

The move for Toronto means they are trying to add some sort of depth now after seeing their roster get picked apart a week ago by national teams. Honestly its a bit too little too late here from the Reds. Plus they won’t even get to keep Freeman after the season is up as he is set to head to Norway after his contract ends in January.

I guess desperation breeds trades like this. Continue Reading…

Let’s take one striker off the shortlist of players the New York Red Bulls are after. Reports today say Major League Soccer has blocked a bid for New York to transfer in USL star Macoumba Kandji from Atlanta for $200,000.

According to SBI, the league denied the New York’s club bid for a USL player. That means the league basically passed on the 23-year-old Senegalese striker, who was probably more MLS ready than the league would even admit.

You can’t blame Atlanta for the high transfer fee. USL clubs rarely, if ever, get transfer fees for players they lose. So putting a price tag on a guy that is getting a lot of press makes total sense on their part. Plus that kind of cash would easily come in handy for any USL club which would probably help attract some of the younger developmental players from MLS who aren’t getting paid as much.

The Red Bulls secured the necessary funds to pay the asking price for Kandji when it traded goalkeeper Zach Thornton to Chivas USA for an allocation. The league didn’t like the idea of paying that much to a USL club, thinking it would set up a bad precedent for all of the league. Continue Reading…

After the sale of Jozy Altidore to Spain, New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been shopping around the world for a replacement striker. Right now he is mainly targeting three here in the States as the international transfer window closed for MLS clubs last Friday.

The three Osorio is looking at right now, Colorado’s Omar Cummings; Dallas’s Dominic Oduro; and USL-1 side Atlanta’s Macoumba Kandji.

Osorio is hopeful to get something done next week but as we all know landing Kandji will not come easy as there is still a $200,000 transfer fee for him. The Red Bulls are hoping a sale of Michael Bradley will go through to allow the club to get enough allocation for the transfer fee. Those who don’t remember Bradley was a member of the Metrostars before he went to Holland. When he was transfered the league tacked on the usual claus to get a portion of a transfer fee to the next club that Bradley goes to. Its a typical practice that the league usually tried to do for outgoing players.

Anyways, if Osorio isn’t patient enough for Bradley’s transfer, they are hoping either Cummings or Oduro can be the quick fix (no pun intended).

According to the New York Post’s Brad Lewis, Osorio is hoping that recent trades and signings for Dallas will help land Oduro in the Big Apple since Oduro has fallen into the late-game sub for the Hoops. Cummings may be tougher to sign now that Colorado is going through a bit of a coaching change.

In all honesty, I highly doubt Oduro is going anywhere right now and the same can probably be said for Cummings. Both speedsters still have plenty of vaule to their clubs and I can bet their coaches aren’t looking to ship them off anytime soon. Plus, what exactly will New York give up in return? Draft picks? While both would take them, I would hope each would as for a high draft pick in return since both Oduro and Cummings were surprise picks for each club.

I think each getting mentioned is just a plan B and C for the Red Bulls if they don’t land Kandji.

More than likely the Red Bulls will try to be patient as possible here and sign Kandji once the money situation sorts itself out. They want to get a striker in before the end of the year to pair up with Juan Pablo Angel. The thing is I feel this could be too late for the club and in the end it could be a difference of making the playoffs and not.

Either way its just a quick fix for the club, who looks to sign another Designated Player in the off season.

What do you all make of Cummings and Oduro being mentioned out there? While both are good are they really what New York needs right now?

I guess we can’t count this New York club out just yet here this season. Juan Carlos Osorio didn’t make many moves before the season but he sure is making up for it this summer. With a slew of new players already on board, Osorio has recently put in offers for three different strikers.

New York has submitted formal proposals for USL-1 side Atlanta Silverbacks striker Macoumba Kandji. If you haven’t seen this young Senegalese play in the USL yet, do so, because he is a special talent that will follow the links of Maykel Galino and Brian Ching that have made the jump from USL to MLS.

At 23, Kandji has 12 goals in 27 games for the Silverbacks. Not bad, not bad indeed.

Apparently the Red Bulls have to put in a heavy offer to Atlanta for Kandji. From what I’ve heard they are going to be offering around $200,000 or maybe even more for the striker. Sounds like a lot for a USL player but believe me this kid can play. Continue Reading…