It is that time again, the new season is here and I will make my annual Bold MLS Season Predictions.

Last year I did alright in some predictions, and pretty poorly in others. In years past I’ve always thrown out a few random predictions to mix things up a bit so this isn’t just another predictions post out there. You may like what I say or think I’m crazy, either way I try to have a bit of fun with this each year.

I’ll start off with some early awards predictions, followed by some random stat predictions, and finally the season outcome I see happening.

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 still beyond me. I’ll give you my top three for each since that is how we have to vote on it anyways.

Goalkeeper:

1. Nick Rimando (RSL) – Always a frontrunner for this award, I think he’ll have a solid enough season to finally win this award.
2. Kevin Hartman (FC Dallas) – Another always in contention for this, I’d expect his level of play to be better this season after a disappointing finish to the 2011 season.
3. Stefan Frei (Toronto) – I really like Toronto this season and Frei has always had the talent, this year he and his club finally “get there”.

Defender:

1. Jamison Olave (RSL) – The guy is still a beast.
2. George John (FC Dallas) – He’s back for the season and will be looking to secure a big contract at the end of the season.
3. Geoff Cameron (Houston) – He’ll keep them in most games this season, and probably help them win a few too.

Newcomer:

1. Kris Boyd (Portland Timbers) – Love the early look I got of him last week in a preseason game. He’s a natural goal scorer and one that will do very well in MLS.
2. Hamdi Salihi (D.C. United) – A lot rests on how he messes with Dwayne De Rosario but the guy just scores goals. Should be fun to watch.
3. Blas Perez (FC Dallas) – Another guy that is expected to score goals this season, he’ll have a tall order in front of him to lead Dallas but so far he looks good.

(Note: this will easily change as newcomers join the league in the summer)

Coach:

1. Peter Vermes (Sporting KC) – I think KC has a chance to be really special this year.
2. Bruce Arena (LA Galax) – LA is strong and if they can do well in the Champions League and win another Supporters’ Shield then there is no doubt he’ll win this or at least be in contention to again.
3. Aron Winter (Toronto FC) – A wild pick in one sense but I do like where he is taking this club.

Rookie:

1. Kelyn Rowe (New England) – This kid fits in perfectly in the midfield for Jay Heaps. Something about him there makes me think this will be a really good first season for Rowe.
2. Darren Mattocks (Vancouver) – A lot depends on how much time he gets on the field but he showed flashes of how talented he is in the preseason.
3. Luis Silva (Toronto FC) – Don’t sleep on this kid for a moment. Silva fits into Winter’s 4-3-3 perfectly.

MVP:

1. Javier Morales (RSL) – I expect big things from him after a tough 2011.
2. Mauro Rosales (Seattle) – A guy that nearly won the award last season. I’d expect more of the same from him in 2012.
3. Landon Donovan (LA) – He’s always in the mix really and with a slightly more favorable schedule this season, he should continue to put up big numbers.

Next MLSer to move to Europe:

• Brek Shea (FC Dallas) – It will happen before long…I keep saying after the Olympics.
• George John (FC Dallas) – Same as Shea, it will happen before we know it. Third time will be the charm but likely after this season is over.
• Geoff Cameron (Houston) – Throwing this one out there, I’ve always been a fan of Cameron’s game and as he gets more time with the national team, his stock should rise for clubs overseas.

2012 WVH Bold Predictions:

1. MLS will get 4 clubs in CCL knockout stage after this fall’s group stage – LA, RSL, Seattle and Toronto will all make a return to the knockout round after getting through the group stages this fall.
2. A MLS club will win the USOC – Not a stretch but go a head and bet on a MLS club winning it again, my money is on Seattle again to make it four in a row. Though that new format certainly makes it more interesting for another team to win it all.
3. Four clubs add DPs this summer – With the Young DP rule in effect, look for Chicago, DC, Dallas and New York to all add DPs this summer.
4. A couple more Yanks return home – Just a hunch as always but given Rangers financial woes, at least Carlos Bocanegra will return to MLS, maybe even Demarcus Beasley will as well.
5. The 20th club will be announced…and it will be New York. Yeah surprise, surprise. I think some kind of deal gets worked out in this year to add New York. Not sure which group will be part of it or where a stadium will be but something will get done.
6. But a deal with Orlando comes up as well…yes team number 21. I said this was a bold prediction page now didn’t I? I think something also gets worked out in Orlando and they’ll enter MLS a year after NY does.
7. A late run this season will help…Portland – While the East certainly is weaker I do think a late run to get into the playoffs will be done by a Western side. The Timbers have the talent and the chops to get through the West.
8. Golden Boot winner will be…Danny Koevermans (Toronto) – I’ve been saying how much I like Toronto and a big part of it comes down to how well Koevermans looked late last season. He has the size and skill to deal with MLS defenses and I think he has the chance to bag at least 18 goals.
9. Mauro Rosales will lead the league in assists – I’d say he’ll get 15 assists this season.
10. US will finish with a bronze medal in the Olympics – Qualifying will be one thing but I do see the US doing well in London.

Playoff Predictions:

Eastern conference order of finish: Sporting Kansas City, Houston Dynamo, Philadelphia Union, Toronto FC, New York Red Bulls, Chicago Fire, D.C. United, Columbus Crew, New England Revolution, Montreal Impact

Western conference order of finish: LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps, Chivas USA

Darkhorse clubs: Portland and Chicago

I like both sides to be fairly sneaky this season but Chicago will just barely miss out in a surprisingly crowded East.

Supporter’s Shield Winner: Sporting KC

Notes: With the unbalanced schedule, KC has a chance to get a ton of points on a much weaker conference while clubs like LA, Seattle and RSL will be fighting it out behind them. The unbalanced schedule really opens up nicely for KC to win the Shield this year as they have the talent to do it and the lack of non-MLS games to deal with (only the USOC is on the slate so far outside of MLS).

MLS Cup Winner: LA Galaxy

Notes: They may have to go on the road to win the Cup this year but I think they’ll repeat. Just too much talent not to.

DC United plays host to New England first at 7:30pm ET at RFK Stadium and will only be broadcast via two radio streams (available at www.USOpenCup.com).

The Seattle Sounders vs Charleston Battery game also kicks off at 7:30pm and will be shown on USLLive.com.

More from these games later on tonight or early tomorrow morning! Enjoy!

The only MLS side that could host is DC, that is if D.C. United and Charleston advance. In that case, the game would be Sept. 3 at RFK Stadium (7:30 ET). Otherwise…..

DCU at Seattle, Sept. 3, 11 p.m. ET.

New England at Seattle, Sept. 15, 10 p.m.

New England at Charleston, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. ET.

This is all pretty interesting. The fact that a USL club could be hosting the title game is pretty big for both Charleston and Seattle. You know Seattle is hoping to make their mark on this tournament and head to the CONCACAF Champions League next year with this win. Yeah that will also be their first year in MLS so even bigger if they do.

Same could be said for Charleston, except they won’t be getting the “promotion” to MLS anytime soon, but a US Open Cup win never looks bad no matter what division you are in.

Do you all think this will make it tougher on the MLS sides (DC or New England) to win if they are playing in Seattle or Charleston? I think it adds some more interest the tournament for sure.

Lately, Fox Soccer Channel is scheduled to show the final live.

AND, the semifinals are next week (more coverage then too):

New England at DCU and Seattle at Charleston.

Three of the four games went into extra time, two of the games were decided on penalty kicks. Great night of soccer all around.

The results set up an all MLS semifinal and an all USL1 semifinal. No matter what, each division will get a club in the final game later this summer.

New England 1 – 1 Crystal Palace Baltimore (NE wins 5-3 on PKs):

• New England had a lot of problems with the USL2 side, but put them away when it counted most in PKs.
• The Revs didn’t throw out all reserves in this one, you can tell Steve Nicol wants to repeat as Open Cup champion this year. But main keeper Matt Reis was on the bench for this one.
• Give a lot of credit to Palace too, they hung in there for the full 90 plus two extra frames. That’s a lot of gas on any team, especially one that isn’t as deep as a MLS club.
• Backup keeper Doug Warren came up big with the save in the forth round of PKs to win the game for the defending champs.

DC United 2 – 1 Chicago Fire (overtime)

• Largely seen as the ugliest game of the night by most people’s standards. Some said DC was lucky to win and others said Chicago lost it just like Blano did late in the game.
• Speaking of Blanco, there is some talk that he went crazy after the game or just after his ejection from the contest. Of course MLS Rumors is trying to get all over that one, head there if you really care about hearing what all Blanco did.
• DC beats the Fire for the first time in any elimination or knockout competition.
• Give the Black-and-Red a lot of credit for coming back and scoring late in this one to tie things up.
• Jamie Moreno was easily the man of the match, setting up both goals for DC.

Charleston Battery 3 – 1 FC Dallas

• A nasty night in Frisco, the rain interrupted this game for a little while which seemed to give the visitors all they needed to win.
• The rain caused a delay of over an hour, not many fans stuck around to see the finish. Probably a good thing they didn’t because it was nasty.
• Dallas largely held the possession but defensive miscues caused each Battery goal.
• A goal in stoppage time from each club. By then the Dallas goal was just too little too late.
• Defnintely one of the worst performances from Dallas this year. Not discrediting anything Charleston did but Schellas Hyndman fielded a normal starting XI for this one and got nothing but a disasterous result.

Seattle Sounders 0 – 0 Kansas City Wizards (Seattle wins 6-5 in PKs)

• I got to watch a lot of this one last night. Probably one of the more entertaining games of the night. Loads of end to end action from each club.
• Seattle easily put the peddle to the medal in this one against the Wizards. They probably could have won it in normal time had some shots not hit the post.
• Seattle has still yet to give up a goal in regular time in this competition. That is amazing this late in the tournament.
• KC had a couple of chances but you could tell late that their legs were road tired and they had little left in the tank.
• Two big saves by Seattle keeper Chris Eylander in the penalty round. Easily the man of the match right there.