Birahim Diop is one of the many new players for Kansas City this year. (Getty Images)

Even with all the strike talks for Monday (or Tuesday…or whenever) I’m still going on with some 2010 season previews for Major League Soccer. Today I wanted to center my focus around the moves in and out that hav been made with the league this year.

As some of you know I’ve been doing my best to keep track of these moves with my offseason player movement page listed above. Each club has made some moves this winter, some definitely more than others. Now the question comes into mind of which moves were good, bad and which will pay off in the new season.

The United Nations comes to Kansas City

Looking at what the Wizards have done this winter makes some folks giggle. Of the newcomers eight of them are from out of the country. You have three Englishmen (Ryan Smith and Craig Rocastle, Korede Aiyegbusi), a Canadian (Teal Bunbury), a Frenchman (Stephane Auvray), a Scandinavian (Jimmy Neilsen),  a Colombian (Pablo Escobar), a Moldavian (Igor Kostrov), and a big guy from Senegal (Birahim Diop).

I guess those guys really like BBQ or something. Amazing that KC was able to get that many international players to come there. Now comes the question of whether all this change really will pay off. Last few clubs that did a massive influx of foreign talent (though Bunbury and Aiyegbusi were drafted so I kinda won’t count them in this here) didn’t fare too well from what I recall. Maybe KC is the team that bucks that trend in 2010.

Big Rebuild In the Windy City

Another eastern club that did a lot this winter was Chicago. Not only did they get a new coach in Carlos de los Cobos but they also had to fill plenty of holes with the losses of Blanco and Chris Rolfe. Adding Julio Martinez and Krzysztof Krol should be two moves that help their defense and midfield out in a big way. The bigger move may be up top with the signing of Collins John. By already having Brian McBride and Patrick Nyarko in camp, the addition of John may help keep this club near the top of the pecking order in the east this season.

Trades Shake Up Rapids

It seems as though Colorado was apart of a few trades this winter. The biggest trade could very well help them get into position for a playoff run in 2010. Adding Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson from New England was a bold move but one that I see really working in their favor this season. The Rapids have lacked consistency over the years in the midfield and defensive midfield area, adding Larentowicz should free up more space for others in the attack to do what they do best. With Wells it should add the much needed depth to the wings because as we saw when they were healthy this club was very dangerous because of their wing play.

New Era In D.C.?

We know that Curt Onalfo will bring a different style of play to this club. No longer it seems they are going for a big-named South American to carry their offense. Christian Gomez is gone, and so is Luciano Emilio. Who does D.C. turn to in 2010 to generate offense? Players they already had in Chris Ponitus, Jamie Moreno and Santino Quaranta. Sure they’ve added Cristian Castillo and Danny Allsopp but the bulk of weight will be put on those returning players. Biggest thing to see is the fact that Onalfo doesn’t have a true No. 10 in the midfield any more. Then again with the way he sets his lineup he may not need one.

The Backe/Soler Time In New York

We know about Red Bull Arena and what it will do for this club but the real story has to be the new management in Eric Soler and new manager Hans Backe. Not only did the club take the SuperDraft pretty serious in January but they’ve added parts that should work in Backe’s system unlike in previous years where the management would sign anything South American on it. Joel Lindpere may be one of the best additions this winter. I’m also interested to see how some former Toronto players do in with this club as Carl Robinson and Greg Sutton are now Red Bulls.

Brazilian Flare in LA

Bruce Arena did two things well this winter, he had a better than average SuperDraft in getting Michael Stephens (along with trading for Clint Mathis) and he signed some young depth from Brazil. We don’t know how well these three Brazilians can play but based on some quotes I heard from Landon Donovan when he first saw them they sound pretty good. If anything they fill some depth issues that bothered the Galaxy in 2009.

Moves To Repeat In Salt Lake

I liked the draft by Real Salt Lake in January but the best move I saw them make this winter had to be the signing of striker Alvaro Saborio. No doubt in my mind that once he and Robbie Findley get comfortable with one another they could form one of the best duos in the league. Oh and that trade with Kansas City for Luis Gil was pretty good too. I see that paying off in the long run as well.

Union Forming In Philadelphia

Its always fun to watch an expansion team go from nothing to a near full roster in a matter of a couple months. Peter Nowak had to do just that but you could tell he spent a good amount of time in getting the players he wanted for this club. The expansion draft was good, the SuperDraft was great but the other moves around that have been spectacular. I love the trade for Fred at the SuperDraft, as I think he is a perfect player for Nowak’s system. But then getting Danny Califf and Michael Orozco to round out a defense that was already decent looking really has me liking this club.

Academy Player Movement

This is a movement we’ll start to see plenty more of in the coming years. But this winter we saw the signing of a couple more quality young players out of various MLS academies. Francisco Navas Cobo in Houston may see the field this year, as could Bryan Levya in Dallas. One more product could be signed in New York if the league would pull the trigger on the Juan Agudelo deal. Agudelo may be one of the best homegrown talents the league has ever produced too!

Jack McInerney is the future face of the Union. (Kevin Kinkead for WVHooligan)

By John Parker

In this (hopefully) sixteen part series, I will look at each of MLS team and discern their “future face of the franchise.” This isn’t necessarily a query into the player with the most potential on a squad, but rather a question of how a player or personality is situated to become the most visible and/or marketable person within an organization.

In other words, it’d be much more fun if Alexi Lalas was still around…but alas, we’re stuck with personnel with talent.

To start off, we’ll look at the Philadelphia Union.

The Union is somewhat uniquely situated among recent expansion teams when it comes to their team’s image. The Sounders had Ljunberg, Toronto had Mr. Clean post seven scotches, and San Jose had absolutely nothing (not that they do now).

Philadelphia, however, has a stable of young talent and a coach who is a name himself.

From this years draft come a couple of prospects with a bright future, but for one or another reason won’t be gracing the lips of the Philadelphia SOB’s quite as much in a couple of years. The defensive midfield pairing of Toni Stahl and Amobi Okugo are the first that come to mind. With Stahl, we are looking at a monstrosity in the midfield, a talented player who can probably start immediately, and a home nation that will surely lead to some amusing songs. Another advantage with Toni is he’s likely to be around for a while. But at age 24, Toni is unlikely to improve.

Verdict: Don’t count out the “Dichio effect” with Toni. Oh, and he might actually be good.

Amobi Okugo, the current U-20 US captain, was a scout favorite coming into the draft. He can cover the pitch and quickly move the ball. With his ball winning prowess and his quick ball movement, he could soon become the lynchpin of the Union midfield. As a key talent in the US youth set-up and possibly one in the USMNT in the future, Okugo will have added visibility outside the squad. However, Amobi suffers from a position that lacks flair (Amobi had 1 goal and 2 assists as the Freshman of the Year). On top of it, many don’t expect him to last at Philly too long before Europe calls.

Verdict: If the Union retains him, the well-versed fans in Philly will come to love him. However, outside the supporter groups Amobi won’t be fully appreciated. And if he is so good to demand that attention, he’ll be trying to do his best Edu impression in a couple of summers.

The Union also have a couple of defenders with MNT experience behind the midfielders. I’ll let you figure out who they are. Oh, you didn’t know? That would be Danny Califf and Michael Orozco!

(Note: Work on the syllables SOB. There’s a song somewhere in there…)

They’re center backs without exceptional athletic talent. They also have Chris Seitz in goal. They’ll all look nice when they grace the cover of their program once a year.

Verdict: I’ve never heard a ticket rep sell a good offside trap.

(Note two: I do have at least one defender featuring as a future face. Don’t tread on me!)

Pulling the strings for the expansion club is Peter Nowak, who I’d consider a dark horse to become the true face of the franchise. Nowak could be in for the “Sigi” effect: a former cup winner well known in US circles, Nowak can become especially renown if the team succeeds in its first year. Considering he is getting in at the ground floor, the success is all his. This is and will be his team. As such, if the team becomes a success, he becomes a hero in Philadelphia. However, Peter isn’t quite the character Sigi is…and he’s not awesomely obese.

Verdict: Nowak will “be” the Union if no one steps up to be a star. However…

The Union had probably had the most incredible intake of talent the MLS draft has seen in its history. Two of those players reside in the midfield, but possibly the two most talented play up top. Danny Mwanga may be the most talented striker to enter the MLS since Jozy Altidore (who, remember, was a second round pick). There is a reason he got the largest GA deal in history; his athleticism alone makes him a danger, but Danny synthesizes his physical ability with a very well rounded game. Mwanga should be toe to toe with Tony Tchani for the Rookie of the Year, and double digit goals would not be a surprise. Danny is such a talent that one of the top teams in France, Lille, attempted to bring him in. This all points towards a player capable of becoming a top striker in MLS sooner than later. The unfortunate thing is that Danny is still looking towards a European future, and is likely to cross the pond as soon as he becomes an MLS stalwart. The multiple year wait for citizenship also doesn’t help, as his status as a super sub for the USMNT would escalate his visibility.

Verdict: Mwanga is the greatest talent on the team, but a probable short stint prevents him from being a Union legend. By the time he becomes a “fat head” level player, he’ll probably be drinking absinthe and smoking Parisian cigarettes.

This leaves us with Mwanga’s back up, Jack McInerney, Philadelphia’s future face of the franchise.

Let’s start with why Jack the player has such a great future in Philly. McInerney is a unique striker in the history of American development; one could almost call him “Bojan-esque.” McInerney is a fantastic striker off the ball, often finishing from distance or curling it into the corner. In tight spaces, Jack utilizes good close control to possess long enough to create the opportunity to employ his finishing skills. He won’t get by defenses, and he won’t overpower defenders, but his natural striker ability bucks the American trend.

This is especially interesting considering his possible partnership with Mwanga. Danny is capable of stretching defenses, latching onto through balls, and creating for his partner. McInerney should be able to run off Mwanga and find many opportunities he wouldn’t if the defense was able to body up against him. What should follow are highlight goals and a fine strike record.

Finally, Jack is in a position to take advantage of a severe lack of depth at the striker position for the US. If he is able to produce a good run of form, he is sure to get games…and we all know that any youngster getting called into the MNT is sure to garner much attention.

Besides his skills and situation, Jack is sure to be a marketable player. With his youth and his lack of size, he is sure to be in Philly for a good while. Within three or four years, he’s most likely to be the best of the original Union squad…he will grow as the team grows, a true fixture at PPL park.

Finally, Jack fits with the Philadelphia market. He has a bit of “Rocky” in him. He’s undersized but tough…capable of embarrassing his larger foes. He fits within the SOB ethos and is will have quite a few tunes turned out to his name. “Jack Mac” will surely be on the lips of the Philadelphia supporters for quite a while.

Editor’s Note: John Parker appears weekly on WVHooligan.com. Feel free to leave John a comment below.

After the Union made their deal to pick up Orozco the new order now looks like this with a new leader in the clubhouse. If you are San Jose and Kansas City you have to be hoping for some more players returning home to MLS here! Let’s just hope this time around the Quakes don’t waste their allocation selection. Remember Peguero Jean-Philippe anyone?

1. San Jose Earthquakes
2. Kansas City Wizards
3. Toronto FC
4. FC Dallas
5. New York Red Bulls
6. Colorado Rapids
7. New England Revolution
8. Chivas USA
9. Seattle Sounders FC
10. Columbus Crew
11. Chicago Fire
12. Houston Dynamo
13. LA Galaxy
14. Real Salt Lake
15. DC United – Troy Perkins
16. Philadelphia Union – Michael Orozco

Michael Orozco joins the Union backline. (Getty Images)

We’ve known for a little while now that US National team defender Michael Orozco was on his way to Major League Soccer, well today that became more official. The Philadelphia Union traded allocation money to the New York Red Bulls to move up to the top spot in the allocation order to sign Orozco.

The 23-year old Orozco will be on a one-year loan (with an additional one-year option) from Mexican First Division team San Luis FC. He is yet another young gun for Piotr Nowak and company. Interesting fact is that the Union only have three guys on their current roster over 30!

This addition really helps out the Union defense going into their expansion season. With Danny Califf and Orozco it seems like Nowak is putting together a mini-National team here. Make no mistake this club should be a contender in 2010, I really believe it with these signings that they are making here.

What do you make of this signing by Philadelphia? Can you believe New York gave up their top allocation spot?

Hopefully this will evolve a bit more over time but for now its just going to be a simple rundown of how everyone did this weekend in their respective leagues.

Some Yanks had the weekend off, some didn’t make it back to their respective clubs after the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday in Guatemala.

Biggest news may be out of France, Freddy Adu did make his debut for AS Monaco this weekend, playing just three minutes in place of Jeremy Menez. We could see Adu replace Menez at Monaco here real soon as from what I’ve been reading Menez is looking to transfer out. That could be a very good thing for Adu as we all want to see him get more playing time, wherever he is.

If there are players I forgot to list feel free to list them below. Or if something is incorrect, also please post it below. As much as I try to focus on everyone I know I will miss or slip up on someone, somewhere.

ENGLAND

• Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made three saves in Everton’s 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Give this man an iron-man award for actually making the hustle back to England for this match, despite getting knocked in the head by Carlos Ruiz on Wednesday.
• Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes, and made zero saves in Aston Villa’s 3-2 loss to Stoke on Saturday. Ugly game really, I caught some of it and felt kind of bad for Friedel, his defense really looked bad in this one.
• Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Reading’s 4-2 loss to Charlton on Saturday. Another ugly game, lots of goals though which was fun but defensively it was not pretty.
• Bobby Convey started and played 73 minutes for Reading.
• Clint Dempsey came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Fulham’s 1-0 win vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
• Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford’s 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
• Eddie Johnson did not dress in Cardiff City’s 2-2 tie vs. Norwich on Saturday. Might wanna cut Eddie a break, if you’ve seen this video you will know what I am talking about. The Grown-Ass Man clearly is a bit jet-lagged right now and knows very little of why he is playing in the Coca-Cola division.

SCOTLAND

• DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played nine minutes in Rangers’ 1-1 tie vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.
• Maurice Edu completed his transfer to Glascow. Give him a week or so, you will see him play and contend for a spot with this club.

GERMANY

• Neven Subotic started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 tie vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday. Okay, Subotic isn’t exactly American (not yet at least)…he’s got an option to pick between the US and I believe Germany for National team play.
• Steve Cherundolo came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Hannover 96′s 0-0 tie vs. Energie Cottbus on Saturday.
• Sal Zizzo did not dress for Hannover 96.
• Heath Pearce dressed but did not play in Hansa Rostock’s 1-0 win vs. Alemania Aachen on Sunday.
• Brian Arguez did not dress in Hertha Berlin’s 1-1 tie vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
• Grover Gibson started, played 52 minutes and drew a yellow card in Ahlen’s 3-0 loss to FC Augsburg on Sunday.
• Gregg Berhalter started and played 77 minutes in 1860 Munich’s 2-1 loss to Mainz on Sunday.

FRANCE

• Freddy Adu came off the bench and played three minutes in Monaco’s 1-1 tie vs. Caen on Saturday.
• Carlos Bocanegra started and played 82 minutes in Rennes’ 2-1 win vs. Lille on Sunday. Another iron-man here. Nice to see Bocanegra doing well again these days.
• Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in FC Troyes’ 1-0 loss to Vannes OC on Friday.

BELGIUM

• Oguchi Onyewu came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Standard Liege’s 3-0 win against KVC Westerlo on Saturday. Will this man get a transfer to England soon? Let’s wait and see.

DENMARK

• Danny Califf, Jeremiah White and Lee Nguyen were off this week.

NORWAY

• Troy Perkins and Valarenga plays Stromsgodset today.
• Adin Brown did not dress in Aalesund’s 1-0 loss to Tromso on Sunda.
• Clarence Goodson started, played 45 minutes and drew a yellow card in IK Start’s 2-0 win against Hodd on Saturday.
• Cam Weaver started, played 90 minutes and drew a yellow card in Haugesund’s 1-1 tie vs. Honefoss on Sunday.
• Kyle Veris started and played 90 minutes for Hodd.
• Jay Needham started, played 90 minutes and scored a goal in Alta’s 4-1 win vs. Bryne on Sunday.

MEXICO

• Michael Orozco did not dress in San Luis’ win against Tigres on Saturday.
• Daniel Hernandez started and played 90 minutes in Chiapas’ 3-2 win vs. America on Sunday.
• Jose Francisco Torres came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Pachuca’s 3-1 loss to UNAM Pumas.
• Jesus Padilla did not play in Chivas de Guadalajara’s 5-3 loss to Santos Laguna. He was serving a red card suspension.