Shalrie Joseph will be called to lead in 2010. (Getty Images)

The winter months can either be good or bad on a Major League Soccer club. Its all really on who leaves the club and who comes in to help out. Take the New England Revolution for instance, each year its seems they lose one big name after another either in a trade, a transfer or just someone not wanting to re-sign with them.

Yet somehow the Revs always seem to bounce back in some form the following year thanks to manager Steve Nicol. But looking at this winter one has to wonder did they lose and give up too much?

Its time to find out as we take another preseason look-in to see how the club is doing and what they need to add before the season begins.

Continue Reading…

As the playoff race has heated up in Major League Soccer, so have the goals that have been scored. This week we saw plenty of good goals but only a select amount were above the rest.

The best goal for me was either Sainey Nyassi’s run against New York or Brad Davis’ strike against RSL.

(Note QuickKicks on the league site did not have the Columbus/Chicago goals)

Order of video: David Beckham, Edson Buddle, Brian Ching, Yura Movsisyan, Brad Davis, Dax McCarty, Jimmy Conrad, Sainey Nyassi, and John Wolyneic.

You know looking at this weekends list of goals, there weren’t that many good ones. A lot of easy tap in for some guys and nothing that really stood out. For me I think the league dropped the ball on their list of nominations by not putting Seattle’s Freddie Ljungberg’s goal up for vote. Maybe they wanted a different club to get the nod for once this season or something.

Anyways the five they have are decent, the best could be Claudio Lopez’s goal against San Jose purely on the ball sent to Lopez was a masterful cross from Herculez Gomez. Though out of the bunch New England’s Saniey Nyassi’s strike on Dallas was something special.

Here are my favorite goals of the week. Feel free to say which one you thought was the best.

Claudio Lopez:

Marco Pappa:

Luciano Emilio:

Omar Gonzalez:

Freddie Ljungberg:

Sainey Nyassi:

Over last weekend I brought to you a list of players that just didn’t cut it or have it this year. Guys that were brought in expecting to start in some cases and contribute to their club’s run at a MLS Cup this season. Those guys didn’t work out but some signings from the offseason did and are still going strong as we speak.

Let’s face it though, no signing in this offseason had any sort of impact like the 2007 edition. We had plenty of excitement from guys like Blanco, Schelotto, Juan Toja, Juan Pablo Angel and so on and so forth.

This year wasn’t as big. Talent did come into the league but not in a high rate like last year. Hell some would even argue that David Beckham belongs in this year’s bunch since he was injuried for the majority of his first season in Major League Soccer. While I won’t count GoldenBalls in this year’s bunch he would indeed lift up this class of signings.

I think this year’s signings can go in a couple categories. Ones that didn’t work out or aren’t really working out, ones that are good but aren’t great and ones that are doing well with their clubs.

Then there are a couple that should be counted, like Beckham in this year’s bunch that won’t because they were brought on late last year. And finally you have a couple guys that returned to the league like Amado Guevara and Ramiro Corrales who have made a positive impact.

SO who has exactly worked out well for their clubs this year? I have the list for you. As always feel free to pipe in your comments on the list and add ones that I’ve missed. Continue Reading…

Its about that time of the month again to update the rookie watch list. Since our last update a couple rookies have emerged a little more, while some are still taking a back seat as the summer months roll on.

I think now that we are halfway through the season we can have a better understanding of who is in this race and who is not. Some guys have floated on that bubble, while others are starting to place themselves in the true discussion for this award. A lot has to do with playing time, how their clubs are doing and what impact they are actually making on the field.

Still no true order to this list though, that will still come later on. Feel free as always to post your short list or discuss mine. Continue Reading…

I’ve been a bit busy today, so sorry for the delay in getting things up on here today. But excuses aside, let’s get down to business as we look at tonight’s MLS Primetime Thursday clash between DC United and New England Revolution.

A year ago, DC dominated this season series winning two games after the opening draw in RFK Stadium. The final two games saw seven DC goals to New England’s two. One of those games was a 3-0 shutout in New England, in early July.

This year is a bit different however because both clubs are at opposite ends of the league table: the Revolution are in a three-way tie atop the league and Eastern Conference standings, while United are at the foot of the East with the third-fewest points in the league.

So it should be easy to say that this won’t be the same type of match up as a year ago. Both clubs added new parts in the offseason and for one club those moves are working out nicely while the other is currently trying to figure out where they went wrong.

I can say this about DC, if they get blown out tonight you better believe that Tom Soehn’s days will be even more numbered than they already were a week ago. The home win to Toronto was nice due to their coming from behind twice to win it but a drubbing on the road won’t help the causes out at all at this point. Consistent play has to start now with this club from what I’ve been told or Soehn and some players could be going elsewhere.

Now I honestly don’t think there will be an absolute drubbing tonight from New England but the chances are still pretty good with the way the Revs have been playing lately. Their main misses in this match will probably still be Taylor Twellman due to injury and Kenny Mansally who is with Gambia for World Cup qualifying.

DC has to find a way to get on the board early in this one with Luciano Emilio or Marcello Gallardo. Emilio finally found his scoring touch last Saturday but I still question whether or not he is back for real this time around. Gallardo is going to be matched up against Jeff Larentowicz in the middle of the field, should Larentowicz frustrate the Argentine playmaker, it could be a long evening for United.

A couple guys to keep an eye on from New England in this one are Kheli Dube and Mauricio Castro. I love what I’ve seen out of these two in recent weeks and I really think they are the unsung heros of this club so far this season. Castro’s free kick ability has been very nice while Steve Ralston was out with injury. But with Ralston back in the lineup Castro is still playing well. Dube on the other hand seems to find himself in the right spots at the right time. Last weekend’s game winner against Columbus was evidence of that.

I like New England tonight in this one, it should be good though since it is a nice rivalry game. DC should be feeling a little more confident so I think they will get on the board and make it interesting. But New England has been pretty strong as of late at home and over all. Once they shook off that embarrassing loss to Chicago at home they have only given up one goal. DC should get be able to crack that tally but Dube, Ralston, Shalrie Joepsh and Sainey Nyassi may have too much speed and possession for DC to keep up with.

WVH Prediction: New England 2, DC 1

Its always an interesting thing when you get an email from the league about any kind of player signings. I think I’m a little late talking about this as I’ve seen a couple sites like Ives already talk about this already this evening (that’s what happens when you forget to check email regularly or when you waste time on Facebook).

Anyways, turns out New England has signed a couple St. Louis kids to developmental contracts. Nothing too crazy or out of the norm but one of those kid you may have heard of on BigSoccer or other soccer message boards out there, Brandon Manzonelli.

Manzonelli is seen to some of one of those rare talents in America and somehow the Revs signed him to a deal.

For those who aren’t as familiar with his name as those who spend time on message boards, he’s a St. Louis product that went to Spain at the age of 16. He was signed by Villarreal to play in their youth system and during his two years in Spain he netted eight goals and 10 assists in 25 matches. Not bad really.

He became sort of an internet legend over the last couple of years. So its a bit interesting that he is coming back to the US to play in MLS.

Now he is 18-year-old and is ready to team up with fellow St. Louis natives in New England, Steve Raltson and Taylor Twellman. He won’t be a game-changer over night for the Revs but it comes to show that this club is making a big youth movement instead of going out of their way to sign a bunch of high-priced talent that may not work out.

New England also signed midfielder Joe Germanese, another St. Louis product, to a developmental deal. Germanese may be a name you all might recall from January’s Draft Combine. He showed some real potential from the reports that I read on him. Sounds like another hard-worker in Steve Nicol’s system here.

If you’ve read Ives’ report on this he mentions the club is also set to probably bring in Honduran prospect George Welcome. Apparently the resident Honduran Mauricio Castro talked Welcome’s name up a bit and got him a look from Nicol and his coaching staff.

If you ask me, judging by the young talent already on this club (Gambians Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally and Costa Rican Argenis Fernandez) New England is going with the youth movement inside CONCACAF and not in South America. So far I have to say it is working.

They saw with Clint Dempsey a couple years ago just how important it is to get solid youth play on their roster. I just wonder how long it will take before one of them really cashes in for the club and gets them their first MLS Cup.

Right now they kind of remind me of a club like Arsenal, they get all the youth talent in the world but have no trophies to show for it. Maybe these two kids today will help them to overcome that.