Sporting KC and RSL square off in the biggest match of 2012 - so far. (Getty Images)

What else can you say about the upcoming weekend in Major League Soccer? It’s damn full. Nine matches, eight of them on Saturday. Tons of interesting matchups across the board that should have everyone’s attention.

This could be the start of where we begin to see how teams will go for the rest of the season. Six weeks in and we know a good amount about each club but it always seem that once those first few games are out of the way that teams begin to separate themselves from one another at this stage. This season should be no different really.

I have a few items I will be looking at heavily this weekend, and here they are:

1. Getting off the mark. For both the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, this is a big weekend. Both have win-able home games against clubs that they should beat. Toronto gets Chivas USA, a club making the cross country trip while Philadelphia welcomes in the Columbus Crew, a team fresh off a 4-1 drubbing last week from the hands of the New York Red Bulls.

Even though it is still early, this could easily be a make-or-break kind of weekend for Aron Winter and Peter Nowak. Both of their clubs have been dreadful thus far this season and neither have found their way.

Toronto has to find a way to get their offense going with Danny Koevermans, while making sure that this gritty Chivas team doesn’t make it three straight on the road. Saying that Chivas is a pushover can’t be true anymore after wins in Portland and Salt Lake this season but a long trip to Toronto could be tough for Robin Fraser’s club. Toronto has to find their game and take it to Chivas early or else they could be staring at yet another loss.

For Philadelphia – the plan is simple – find the attack and make it happen against the Crew. Whether it be Danny Mwanga, Gabe Farfan, or someone even like Freddy Adu stepping up…someone has to take over for the Union attack.

2. Reaction to Mullan. It has been nearly a year since the dreaded tackle from Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan on Seattle’s Steve Zakuani. With Mullan’s return to Seattle set for this weekend, the reception of the veteran wing could be some must-see TV. To me, I hope the Sounder fans keep it classy when dealing with Mullan. I’m not saying they should shower him with praises and roses or anything like that but I do hope that the faithful there realizes that holding a grudge against a player that has already been forgiven for too long could come back to haunt them.

My guess it will end up being mostly boos from the crowd each time Mullan touches the ball. Thankfully most fans do get bored with booing the same guy over and over for 90 minutes.

3. Can the Quakes quiet the Red Bulls? Who would have thought six weeks ago that this could be an interesting match? I certainly did not with the way the Red Bulls started the first two games of the year. Now as we enter Week 6 you have one of the top offenses squaring off against one of the best defenses.

San Jose has done well so far this season at quieting quality offenses like Seattle and Vancouver while finding ways to get Chris Wondolowski the ball. Their style and pace on the wings has come alive with Marvin Chavez and Shea Salines but for me what is so impressive is their defense. Victor Bernardez and Justin Morrow have quietly become a force in the middle of the defense. They’ll certainly have their hands full with Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper, two of the hottest strikers in MLS.

The Red Bulls come into this match scoring 13 goals in the last three games, with Cooper and Henry doing most of the damage. So far this year the Red Bulls have been quieted by good defenses in Dallas and Salt Lake, while running all over Colorado, Montreal and Columbus. How they handle another quality defense like in San Jose will answer a lot about this team. If they can run up the score yet again this weekend, New York will certainly be a force to deal with for the rest of the season. If not, then we’ll know their kryptonite.

4. What formation does Schellas Hyndman put out this weekend? For most of the season FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has used the 4-1-4-1, a trusty formation that really works best with a healthy David Ferreira. But last week against the New England Revolution, he switched it all up going to a 4-4-2. The speed of the wings with guys like Brek Shea and Carlos Rodriguez doubled with the speed of Fabian Castillo up top made it tough for the Revs to deal with at times. This move was made to counter suspensions to Jair Benitez and Daniel Hernandez but with their returns you have to wonder what Hyndman will go to next.

Typically Hyndman doesn’t like to make too many changes from game to game if he doesn’t have to but with the injury to Ricardo Villar, he may have to make a switch again when they host the Montreal Impact on Saturday. Replacing Villar in a 4-4-2 setup isn’t that difficult, seeing how he wasn’t that involved in last weeks game. But in the 4-1-4-1 setup, it proves to be a tougher challenge.

5. Battle at 15 points. Real Salt Lake head to the midwest to battle Sporting Kansas City, in the battle of the top two sides in the league. Each team has 15 points so far and SKC is undefeated after five games. Two extremely strong teams here, really no edge either way in my book as to which way this one leans.

Sporting will want to assert their speed and skill up front early in this one but so far this season they haven’t seen a defense quite like RSL. Jason Kreis’ club always plays tough against quality offenses like Sporting’s and this one will certainly come down to who blinks first.

I’m sure somewhere some executives at MLS are wishing this has been a national TV game for the league. IT would have been a great one to showcase.

6. Dreadful Timbers and Galaxy square off. John Spencer said recently that this last month has been hell, well I am paraphrasing him with that. I’m sure Bruce Arena is thinking the same thing about his club’s performances over the last six weeks as well. Both sides only have a win to bank on up to this point and neither look like the clubs most expected them to be at the start of the season.

Both teams need points but more importantly each need a big performance out of their defense in this one. Neither has shown up well this season and while you could make the point about their offenses not stepping up to the plate as well, it is the defenses that really win in this league.

7. Oh yeah, Houston and Chicago. Man I hate the unbalanced schedule for reasons like this one. Both the Houston Dynamo and the Chicago Fire have been on and off all year not because of poor play on the field but because of the schedule. Both teams have played just three games so far. Yes just three. How insane is that?

Hopefully this match will shed a little more light on just how good the Fire will be this season. I think what we’ve seen so far is they have some quality around the pitch but someone else has to step up offensive other than Dominic Oduro. The same can be said in a way for the Dynamo as their offense has to have some form of life here too.

I’m kind of like Daniel at Big D Soccer, it will likely happen after the Olympics next year – not this winter. The only way a FCD and MLS sell Shea this winter is if they get a monster deal for him. What I mean by that is if the transfer figure is in the $10-20 million range. There is a reason why FCD signed him up with a deal through 2015 earlier this year, they wanted to make sure they’d get a hefty transfer fee for him in return when they did sell him.

Forgive me if you already read this over at BigDSoccer.com, but I felt like pimping it here. Just hard to believe that the 2011 FC Dallas team is pretty much all of Schellas Hyndman and the current front office’s doing. Only three players remain from that 2008 team that Hyndman took over.

Yup, SuperDraft picks Brek Shea, Josh Lambo, and Eric Avila are all that is left of what Hyndman had when he took over.

Players have been traded, waived, given up on, retired, etc.

Anyways, for more head on over to BigDSoccer for the rest of the article.

(Note: Yes from time to time I will double-post Dallas articles on here. Basically until I feel like it isn’t necessary.)

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

Schellas Hyndman takes home the Coach of the Year award. (Getty Images)

When you lead your club to a league record 19-game unbeaten run people tend to take notice. For FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman they did as he was named MLS Coach of the Year today. After two and a half seasons with the club, Hyndman has seen his plan come to life with the club’s run into the Western Conference finals this season.

FC Dallas finished the 2010 regular season with a 12-4-14 mark, recording the fewest losses in FC Dallas history and tying the San Jose Earthquakes (2005) and Real Salt Lake (2010) for fewest all-time in an MLS season. Hyndman’s squad also set a league mark for a road unbeaten streak with 12 games.

Hyndman becomes the first coach in FC Dallas history to win the Coach of the Year honors. He beat out Jason Kreis and Hans Backe for the honors.

Hyndman got my vote for this award and that even came before he wore an awesome jacket against Real Salt Lake last week. You could have easily made a case for Kreis or Backe here but its hard to argue against the unbeaten runs that FCD went on this year.

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.

Schellas Hyndman has a shot at the Coach of the Year award. (Getty Images)

Its that time of the year again. The final month of the season is here so it means we’ll have to dip into the end of year awards around here. I felt like starting off today with the coach of the year away, one that could be the toughest to gage in recent years.

Typically the coach of the year race usually goes down to a coach that has take his team from a worst-to-first kind of situation. A lot of times the guy who leads his team to a successful season gets over looked in that case. That’s what we’ll have here this year as you could make an argument for at least four or five different coaches.

I’ll break down each coach before giving you my thoughts on who I think is leading the race at this point at the end.

Worst-to-First Guys

Hans Backe (New York Red Bulls) – It goes without saying this category is centered around what Backe has done in New York this season. Going from literally one of the worst teams in league history to one of the top contenders this season shows that New York finally got it right with their coaching selection. I think a special nod also needs to go to Eric Solar for helping put together this team but a lot of the credit will still go to Backe at the end of the day.

Its hard to think that this New York team was that bad last year. This year’s version is completely different as Backe is finally getting the most out of some guys like Dane Richards while proving he, Solar and Richie Williams were geniuses in the SuperDraft by getting Tim Ream in the second round and getting a future star in Toni Tchani.

Oh yeah it doesn’t hurt to have three Designated Players on his roster either. But at the end of the day Backe has been the perfect motivator for this club by getting them to step up in games in places they’ve never done well at.

Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas) – On the other end of the spectrum in this category is Hyndman. Its been a long road for him in Dallas over the last couple years to get his team where it is today. He made some unpopular moves at the time to bring in some old SMU guys of his like Ugo Ihemelu or Daniel Hernandez but what he’s finally been able to do is get a roster of guys that play his system and play it to perfection.

Dallas has gone from a so-so defensive team to one of the top defensive teams in the league. Getting Kevin Hartman in goal had something to do with that but it also took Hyndman placing the right mix of guys in the back too. Seeing George John go from just another draft pick for depth to a starter shows Hyndman knew was he was doing all along.

Speaking of the draft too, Hyndman like Backe had one of the better drafts this past season with the likes of Zach Loyd, Eric Alexander and Edson Edward on the team. They all weren’t big name rookies but they’ve all picked up things from the veteran squad and looked well beyond their years.

Frank Yallop (San Jose Earthquakes) – Boy was I ever wrong about Yallop and the Quakes this season. Hell I believe everyone was. No one saw their midseason transformation happening at the start of the season when the Quakes were hammered at home by RSL. We all expected more of the last two years out of these Quakes and Yallop but somehow and some way the Quakes responded to Yallop and started winning.

Yallop may be a hard sell for this award but going from last place in the west to one of the contenders this season shows he’s made some solid moves this year to get his club where they need to be. Not only did he finally get the best out of Bobby Convey but he found a star in Chris Wondolowski this season. Again, who saw that coming?

Successful all season long

Jason Kreis (Real Salt Lake) – Kreis and RSL have been near the top of the standings since April. Kreis continues to get more out of lesser known stars than anyone else in this league. Not only has he made the best moves for guys like Alvaro Saborio but he’s been able to get his young rookies like Luis Gil and David Hurst loan deals to get them solid playing time in the lower division here in America.

In all honesty it would be a shame for Kreis to not win this year due to his club’s success in league play and in the CONCACAF Champions League. I think if you ask most fans around the league they feel confident enough in RSL to do well in the CCL knockout rounds next year.

Then there is the home field advantage thing that his club has going for them right now. Even before they moved in to Rio Tinto they were a tough home team but now more than ever its damn near impossible to get three points on Kreis’ club at Rio Tinto.

Bruce Arena (LA Galaxy) – This one may be the hardest sell considering LA hasn’t been nearly as dominate as they were from March-July. Still with four games left the Galaxy have a real shot at winning the regular season crown and a lot has to do with how Arena managed this club this season.

To think they started off so hot with Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan leading the way before the World Cup and then to remain hot once they were in South Africa shows Arena knows how to develop young talent like Tristan Bowen or Michael Stephens. I still find LA a dangerous side as long as they remain healthy.

In other years he would have already wrapped this award up and I think he could get back in the mix if his club goes off and wins four straight before the start of the playoffs. I just think when his club went cold so did his chances for this award.

I’d normally like to get these predictions out much sooner but with all that has gone on this winter the day before First Kick seems about right really. The rosters became compliant at 5pm ET yesterday and thus will put an end to the preseason in a way for all the clubs.

In the past I’ve done these bold season predictions in various ways. I ended up sticking with the tradition of the predictions and picks and also added some other items like I did a year ago. I know some of the bold predictions are silly and meaningless but they’re fun to do nonetheless.

As always feel free to put in your season predictions below.

Players to watch out for in 2010:

• Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus): Can he guide this club to another stellar season? I think he will but it won’t be easy with the league out to get them.
• Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy): No doubt Donovan will return to his MVP form from a year ago, but the question will he be with the club after the World Cup? Part of me thinks he will and part of me sees him going back to England.
• Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls): Once he is 100% again look for him to do very well this year. Not playing on nasty turf at home will do wonders for him and the Red Bulls.
• Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo): Big, big year in Houston for the Dynamo especially for Cameron. If he can help keep their offense in check and facilitate things like I believe he can then look out.
• Freddy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC): He’s a marked man but if he can break open in space like we’ve seen him do time and time again then he’ll get his goals this year.

Coaches Already Feeling The Heat

Each year I’ve done a Coaching Hot Seat, where I look around the league to see who stands the greatest chance of getting the boot. Last couple year’s I’ve been right on with some picks on here while a few others have been a bit off. Again, its just my opinion on each coach listed and it doesn’t mean it will actually happen. In other words don’t get all bent out of shape if you see your coach on here at any point this year, I can’t tell you how many emails I get over this issue.

But in saying so this year could be a fairly light year for coaching hot seats in general since there have been so many coaching changes.

• Frank Yallop (San Jose Earthquakes): Its year three for the Quakes 2.0 which means Yallop should really feel some heat if he doesn’t get this club winning early on this year. I wasn’t shocked to see him get another season with the club after last year but I wouldn’t be at all shocked to see him be the first gone this year.
• Gary Smith (Colorado Rapids): Another western coach that should feel some heat this year if his club isn’t winning. If they continue to be inconsistent look for lots of calls for his head later this year. Thing is the Rapids owners typically drag these things out. I think he’ll be fine but for now this is more of a caution of possible things to come.
• Hans Backe (New York Red Bulls): I do believe he’ll last longer than most expected him to but I think its more of a formality at this point to always include the New York boss in these lists given the fact that they have a new coach about every year or year and a half.
• Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas): While I believe he will have this job as long as he wants it I also think that if he has another clunker of a season the pressure for him to go will have to mount. His overall record (15-18-14) isn’t anything to brag about.

Early Award Predictions:

Below are some predictions for each end-of-season award. I left a few off that I really don’t care about, why we vote on things like the Ref of the year is beyond me. I’ll give you my top three for each since that is how we have to vote on it anyways.

Goalkeeper:

1. Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy): He’s a beast…nothing more to say than that.
2. Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders): If Ricketts isn’t 100% all year then this award easily goes to Keller.
3. Will Hesmer (Columbus): I find him to be highly underrated.

Defender:

1. Chad Marshall (Columbus): Hard not to go against the league’s best defender.
2. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle): He’s the rock in the back for the Sounders.
3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy): I see this kid growing into a perennial All-Star.

Comeback Player:

1. Taylor Twellman (New England): Its gotta be Twellman right? Anyone else to put here?

(Yes I’m sure there are others but right now Twellman is all I have for this one.)

Newcomer:

1. Joel Lindpere (New York Red Bulls): If NY is going to be half as good as people think/say they are this year it will be because of this guy.
2. Eduardo (San Jose Earthquakes): The Quakes need a goal scorer and he will help do just that.
3. Blaise N’Kufo (Seattle Sounders FC): Yes he is only playing a half season but I agree with a lot of folks out there that think he is the final piece to the puzzle that puts this club over the top.

(Note: this will easily change as newcomers join the league in the summer and after the World Cup)

Coach:

1. Sigi Schmid (Seattle Sounders): He’ll continue to work his magic in the Pacific Northwest.
2. Peter Nowak (Philadelphia Union): I do believe he’ll make them better than most expansion clubs and thus will get high praise for it. A playoff birth would easily help him win this though.
3. Bruce Arena (LA Galaxy): If they end up losing Landon Donovan this summer and they still do well in the west then he may very well beat out Schmid for this honor.

Rookie:

1. Tony Tchani (New York Red Bulls): He’s a beast, believe me.
2. Zach Loyd (FC Dallas): The man that can play just about anywhere for Schellas Hyndman. Once he settles into a role he’ll be golden.
3. Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards): He’s a natural goal scorer, and KC needs goals.

MVP:

1. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy): Not settling the world on fire with this pick but as long as he is in the league he’s the best player no matter what.
2. Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew): As long as he has a full healthy season he could end up winning this on his production alone.
3. Kyle Beckerman (RSL): If this club is going to repeat it will be because of this man.

Playoff Predictions:

Top two from Eastern Conference: Columbus Crew* and Chicago Fire
Top two from Western Conference: Seattle Sounders FC and LA Galaxy

Wild card winners: Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas, D.C. United

I feel as though the first six (auto-bids, RSL, and Houston) are simple picks for me but with parity in this league we really could see any number of teams in those final two spots. I think it will come down between Dallas, D.C., Colorado, Chivas, Toronto, New York and New England for those final two spots. I felt weird taking four western conference wild cards so D.C. gets the nod for me though I’ll be honest I’m not totally set on that pick. Dallas needs to find a partner for Jeff Cunningham or they’ll be in trouble. Still Dallas is a dark-horse for me just as I’ve said all winter long. Had to stay with that pick here.

First round playoff winners: Columbus (over Dallas); Chicago (over D.C.); Seattle (over Houston); and RSL (over LA).

Conference final winners: Columbus and Seattle.

MLS Cup winner: Seattle Sounders FC

(*= Supporter’s Shield winners)

The Rest of the WVH Bold Predictions:

1. A MLS club will win SuperLiga: I still hate this tournament but I’m a homer and root for anyone MLS in it. My guess is Houston will take it hom this year.
2. A MLS club will win the US Open Cup: The league usually does every year and with the whole Division II mess that went on these past few months I like a MLS club’s chance even more. I’m going to go with the Chicago Fire to win this year.
3. MLS will get four clubs in CCL Group stage: We already get two in Columbus and Real Salt Lake. I’ll say LA and Toronto some how manages their way into the group stage this year. Seattle falls short.
4. MLS will win the All-Star game: Yawn.
5. Three clubs will add DPs by the end of summer: New York will add their second while Chicago and D.C. get new ones.
6. More Yanks will return home: Maybe a Benny Feihaber? Who knows? I still see a couple coming back this summer.
7. A couple Yanks transfer out of MLS: This deserves it’s own post (again) but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Donovan go as well as someone like Brek Shea.
8. Dominic Kinnear will once again trade like crazy: He does it each year and it only makes his team better. Why people trade with him I’ll never know. You can bet one at least one trade really working out in the Dynamo’s favor though.
9. Mo Johnston and Preki will butt heads: All seems good now as they continue to dump salaries but at some point they’ll clash over player pickups.
10. Houston and San Jose will see their stadiums go up: They’ll join Kansas City in the movin’ dirt department.
11. D.C. will still be stuck at RFK: Its election year for D.C.’s mayoral race, so I don’t see anything happening to United’s stadium issues anytime soon. Which sucks.
12. Montreal will get their expansion bid: They’ll be in the league in 2012…its all but announced at this point.
13. No other expansion bid will be announced this year: I think the league will carefully plan who their 20th club will be. My money is on them trying to find an owner in New York to bring a second club to that area.
14. A late season run will help…D.C.: We see it every year, last year it was RSL getting lucky at the right time, this year it will be D.C.
15. Juan Pablo Angel will lead the league in goals: No turf at Red Bull Arena will go a long way in getting him back to producing lots of goals.
16. Brad Davis will lead the league in assists: He always quietly gets lots of assists and no one notices.
17. Kasey Keller will lead the league in saves: I still see the Sounders give up a fair amount of shots but Keller will be there to save most of them.
18. The US Men’s National Team will make it to the quarterfinals: Not MLS related but definitely worth predicting at this point. I love the boy’s chances in South Africa, as much as I want to put them in the semi-finals, a quarterfinal exit seems more likely.

Dallas fans are hoping for a little more to cheer about in 2010. (Getty Images)

After a couple days away from this series we are back, today with my hometown team FC Dallas. So far we’ve looked at Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC and Philadelphia in this pre-season look in on how each club is looking as they gear towards the new season.

FC Dallas comes into pre-season camp looking pretty good after a solid finish to the 2009 campaign. Schellas Hyndman has made a couple moves and could be prepared to do a couple more before the season starts. Right now there are a few trailists on the pre-season roster but that doesn’t always mean they’ll be there on opening day.

Let’s take a look in now and see what Dallas had done and what else they need to take care of before the new season.

Keepers:

Who they have: Dario Sala and Josh Lambo.

Notes: Right away you can see the depth is an issue in this department. Word has it they are after another 30-something keeper named Ora Nikolov. Honestly I don’t like them going after another old keeper, they already have one in Sala. Honestly I want to see more Lambo and his development here. If they can get a solid back up to Sala they will be fine but you have to figure that they’ll need someone for at least a half dozen games or so because we know Sala is bound to pick up an injury at some point in the season, he always does.

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Defense:

Who they have: Daniel Hernández, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benítez, Heath Pearce, Aziz Ansah, George John, Anthony Wallace, and Kyle Davies.

Notes: Honestly this is probably the best bunch of defenders Dallas has seen in a number of years. Defense has always been some sort of an issue with this club in the past but the solid collection of young and veteran players in the back that should be solid enough for the season.

More than likely from the way things seem at camp right now Pearce and Hernandez will be in the midfield rather than in the back four. Bringing Ansah in this winter helped make the move for Pearce possible and one that I am very curious to see.

Dallas probably could still go after another center back as right now their options are fairly young with John, Davies, and the slightly older Ihemelu. Right now one of those open spots could go to Steve Purdy who is in camp and fighting for a roster spot. I’d honestly rather see another option there but at this point if it isn’t a foreign trialist or someone on loan then the pickings are slim.

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Midfield:

Who they have: Dax McCarty, Bruno Guarda, Eric Avila, Marvin Chávez, Zach Loyd, and Bryan Leyva.

Notes: On paper this is a very young midfield. Chavez is the oldest at 26. Still with guys like Pearce and Hernandez likely to be in the midfield this season it balances things out a good bit. Hyndman loves players who play multiple positions so that will also explain why there are only a few midfielders actually listed here. Forwards like Atiba Harris and David Ferreira also can play in the midfield too.

For me this group is the make or break part of this team. With no Dave van den Burgh this year (or at least it is looking that way for now) it seems like McCarty will be called to do a lot of the grunt work in creating offense while Harris, Pearce, and Hernandez will be called to hold things on the wings and in defense. This time last year I was on the camp that wanted McCarty out of Dallas but after his play last year I fully want him there. He’s turning into a very solid player and one that is highly underrated.

This group could still use some depth though going forward, particularly on the wings and I’m not entirely sure if I like Hernandez as the defensive midfielder going into the start of the year yet.

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Forwards:

Who they have: Jeff Cunningham, Andrew Wiedeman, Brek Shea, Atiba Harris, David Ferreira, and Peri Marosevic.

Notes: If Cunningham is as productive as he was in the second half of last year then there is really no need to make a lot of notes on this group. Honestly this group, even as young as it is right now is probably one of the more underrated forward groups in the league. Ferreira turned out to be one heck of a signing last year for Dallas once he (finally) got use to the style of play in MLS.

I do hope to see more of Shea and Marosevic this year, and to a lesser extent Wiedeman. Their development is so vital to the future of this club and I do worry some that they may not be getting enough playing time right now. Hopefully that thought will go away this year with more time on the field.

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Overall:

One thing is clear right now, the types of players Hyndman is going after (other than old SMU players) are versatile. He wants guys that can play all over the field to cover any depth issues that the club may have. Not a bad move on his part because it does create a lot of competition between the players for certain spots.

Right now though there are a couple areas that need patched up like the center back and on the wings in the midfield. Both are more in terms of depth right now than actually finding new starters. It will be curious to see if they do find a trade partner for van den Burgh’s player rights or if that will just fizz away here before the season. Also finding a solid backup keeper will be key as well.

Dallas has a shot to be really good this year if all the pieces fall in line like they were towards the end of last year. Though another slow start could make people question Hyndman’s tactics even more. Should be fun to watch though.