Brian Ching will be called to lead the Dynamo yet again. (Getty Images)

The 2010 season presents a challenge for Dominic Kinnear and the Houston Dynamo. First of all their top two stars from a year ago are now gone to Europe. Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark left a big hole in the midfield and some would even argue that the club is still recovering from the trade of Dwayne de Rosario from last winter.

Today we take a gander at where they are right now going into the new year. So far the Dynamo have shifted some players around drafted a couple guys that may never see time on the field and for the most part done very little in terms of player movement this winter. We’ve actually heard more news surrounding this club’s potential stadium deal than new players joining the roster this winter.

Let’s take a look at who the Dynamo have and where they still need to go before the new season starts next month.

Continue Reading…

What's the best move for Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark? (Getty Images)

I won’t lie, I’ve been busy today with loads of last minute work at the office thanks to everyone taking their holiday breaks tomorrow and due to having to finalize all my Christmas shopping. Yes busy day and I’m partly to blame for the ladder of those two items since I put that kind of stuff off until the last minute.

But what I do want to discuss is from an article on Soccernet from one of my favorites Jeff Carlisle. Basically this link is all about how going to Europe for some young players isn’t what it use to be and boy this is dead on as well. I think too many times we see players go to Europe for the money and the “dream of playing” in Europe rather than actually looking at their situation as a player.

This is something I’ve been meaning to go into for a while. What I mean by it is take a guy like Stuart Holden or Ricardo Clark. They both have a chance to play in next year’s World Cup and could see plenty of playing time there too. Both are in a situation where they could go to Europe and play for a club and live that dream but potentially not see any playing time in the process, thus hurting their World Cup dreams. And also potentially putting their career in a bad situation where they don’t progress any further due to that lack of playing time. Call it the “Adu Syndrome” if you will. Quality player with a chance at something special but sees no field time to produce anything thus killing his National team chances.

And as Carlisle mentions we are seeing some of these players return to MLS because of this lack of playing time.

Now back to Holden and Clark, they are both in a situation where they need playing time to get on Bob Bradley’s roster next summer. Its coming down to either staying in MLS where the money is lacking or go to Europe and get paid but potentially just see the bench and possible no trip to South Africa.

Its a toughie.

Staying in MLS and making the World Cup roster isn’t a bad way to go either. Remember it’s playing big on the international stage that gets you that big pay day in terms of a transfer. If I were those two I’d stay in MLS for the first few months of the year and then look elsewhere in the summer after the World Cup.

Houston had another strong season behind Brian Ching. (Getty Images)

Dominic Kinnear teams always compete, always and the 2009 edition of the Houston Dynamo looked very similar to the ones we’ve seen win league titles over the last few years. Even though the Dynamo lost their big star in the midfield in a trade to Toronto before the season started everyone knew this team would still compete.

Just as in years past the Dynamo started out strong on the year. Brian Ching, Stuart Holden and up and coming stars like Geoff Cameron lead the way for the Orange. Pat Onstad had yet another stellar season in front of the net thanks to another strong defense in front of him.

And just like in years past Kinnear pulled all the right strings in trades by getting parts on his roster that were missing like speed up front when he got Dominic Oduro from New York or some extra size when he got Cam Weaver from San Jose. Yet again we asked questions like “why are clubs even going into business with Kinnear and the Dynamo?” We knew the results would be the same as before as Kinnear would get something out of nothing and lead his club to the top of the standings again.

But then the ladder part of the summer hit. Ching, Holden and Ricardo Clark missed buckets of time with the US national team and that seemed to be when things got a little dicey. They brought in Luis Angel Landin as their DP, and while that should be a good move for 2010 it didn’t pan out all that much for 2009. Also for some reason the club’s discipline kept shooting themselves in the foot. August and September saw more cards, particularly red cards than most would want to see.

By the end of things the Dynamo lost on a weird night in LA in the playoffs. They may have been the better team on the night but moving forward into 2010 will certainly be interesting.

What Went Right In 2009:
A lot of good did happen in Houston this season. Ching produced, Brad Davis continued to be completely underrated, Cameron emerged like most had figured he would and Holden showed he could very well be the real deal. The Dynamo continued to have strong depth that kept them afloat despite all issues they had late in the season with suspensions and what not.

What Went Wrong In 2009:
As mentioned before the lack of discipline they showed late in the season was a real bummer to see. They went from being one of the most consistent clubs in the league on the year to a wildly inconsistent bunch. Offensively they still lacked a punch when needed and Landin didn’t step into the role as a DP like most would have liked this year.

What’s Next:
Well we know Ricardo Clark is out and its possible Stuart Holden could join him. Should that happen this bunch will go from being one of the deepest teams in the midfield to just a mid-level team. Kinnear will have to do his best to find replacements if that happens. They have to find a way to retain Holden and improve their roster on offense. But at the same time they do need to find some depth in defense behind Bobby Boswell and Cameron.

Montreal inches closer to a MLS expansion bid.

By now we’ve all seen the lovely quote from MLS commissioner Don Garber yesterday about future league expansion.

“We’ve had productive conversations with Montreal to be our 19th team,” said Garber.

With all the issues going on with the USL/TOA crap you have to think that Montreal owner Joey Saputo is trying to figure out the best way to get his club into the top-tier league instead of a new breakaway league. Saputo probably would have gotten an expansion bid for the 2011 round had he not gone crazy over the expansion fee this time last year. Instead he is busting his ass to get a deal done as soon as possible from what folks up north are saying.

We mentioned last week that he was invited to MLS Cup this weekend by the league as well. That should definitely be a place that he is able to boost his club’s ratings up a bit to get into MLS.

But after Montreal we still have no idea who the 20th club will be. Garber didn’t bring up a name for who he thought was even in the running for the 20th club. Some folks sure jumped on the Detroit bandwagon real quick yesterday with the news about the Silverdome being bought to be used as a soccer facility. Honestly, like I said yesterday I just don’t buy that at all.

What about New York though? I know a group that seems keen on the idea still of a club in the city. And based on some recent news (or another mention) of David Beckham’s group looking at owning a club in either Miami, New York or Montreal when he is done with his time in MLS definitely sparks some interest for those guys in New York.

Go ahead and throw Montreal out of the mix for Beckham. We’ve known for ages it was always going to be either Miami or New York for him. A lot will come down to where the potential club would play and probably support from the local area. Are the Miami Ultras better than the Borough Boys? Only time will tell.

My money is still on New York even though we do need to see a club in the Southeast again sometime down the road. Continue Reading…

So this past week had  a load of quality goals. I mean a load that were just great from top to bottom. A couple could really be classed as goal of the year quality too (Landon Donvoan’s comes to mind). While I am sorting out the issues with the post I had for the weekend recap, here are the week’s best goals to get us started this week.

Order of goals: Kai Kamera, Ricardo Clark, Chris Rolfe, Peter Lowry, Pablo Mastroeni, Conor Casey (1 and 2), Robbie Findley, Alejandro Moreno, Robbie Rogers, Landon Donovan, and Jeff Cunningham.

Instead of bringing up some more MLS guys looking for their first shot with the Nats or some guys in need of finding their form again, Bob Bradley has called on seven Confederation Cup players to fill out the additional seven roster spots for his Gold Cup roster.

Here is the list:

Jozy Altidore
Jonathan Bornstein
Conor Casey
Ricardo Clark
Benny Feilhaber
Brad Guzan
Sacha Kljestan

These seven players will not be traveling with the 23-man U.S. Gold Cup squad, but will join the team for specific games during the tournament. I honeestly don’t know how that will work but I am guessing some of the west coast guys will join the team when they play in Seattle and others will join when they are in the east coast playing in DC or in Boston.

Are you happy with these additions or wish some other guys got a shot at this tournament?

A lot has been made of the players this summer who have left Major League Soccer for higher wages in Europe. I figured since today was a slower news day I would take a look at the next group of guys that could potentially cash in on a move across the pond.

Feel free to give your thoughts on a player listed here or bring up a name that isn’t being talked about that could see a move across the pond.

I will do this in a couple different sections too. Players who could go now or have tried and players who are more in line to be the next Brad Guzan or Maurice Edu.

Players Who’ve Tried:

1. Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas: We all know Coopers attempts this summer to go to either Rosenborg or in Cardiff City. FC Dallas said no way to any and all transfer fees, even the really nice ones like Cardiff’s $4 million offer. I think we all know his name will be thrown out again come winter, even though his club has a couple options left on his contract AND they are still actively working to get him a new deal.

2. Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy: We’ve heard him say he wants to try his hand at Europe once more. I would say if this whole deal with Bruce Arena falls apart you could see him throw his name out a bit more. But in all reality he is a whipped man at home and he doesn’t appear ready to leave his wife and TV star Bianca Kajlich behind just yet. I think its more of a thing if her TV career falls in the tanks, you could see him go. For me its a ‘never-say-never’ kind of thing with Landon and Europe.

3. Taylor Twellman, New England Revolution: He tried to leave and it didn’t happen. Sort of like what Dallas did with Cooper. Said no way and good day. I think Twellman’s injury status this season and the Revs quality play may help him out if he still wants to leave this winter. The Revs know they can win without him, but the biggest question will be if anyone still wants him. I’m sure they do but it may not be as high of a value as it could have been back in January.

4. Shalrie Joseph, New England Revolution: The man should be in the big-boy leagues but he isn’t yet. He nearly went to Celtic at one point and I would not be shocked to see him try to go once again if he isn’t happy. If the right deal comes along you could see Joseph land a nice contract with a good team in Europe. I think that’s what he is waiting on if he still has European aspirations.

5. Pablo Mastroeni, Colorado Rapids: He wants to go after this year and he will. It is just a matter of where. I’d kind of love to see him get traded this year to an actual contender and see him get a MLS Cup before he goes. Continue Reading…