Philadelphia Union take their show on the road to Toronto tonight. (Getty Images)

Its a big week for Toronto FC, not only have they made a few changes since their last game (a 4-1 loss at New England) but they will also be making their home debut for the season. BMO Field will also be debuting it’s new grass surface, the grass that fans all across the league have been begging for in Toronto since the club launched in 2007.

Philadelphia comes into town tonight, making their first trip to Toronto. They’re riding the waves of their first win in club history thanks to a Sebastian Le Toux hat trick on D.C. United last weekend.

I look for this to be a fairly physical game, even with Philly’s win over D.C. they’re still an expansion team and you can expect plenty of fouls out of them on the road. Also, Toronto will likely foul a decent bit with all the new parts on the field who aren’t familiar with the MLS style of play.

The Reds are out to get their first win and if they want to do so they need to get their offense in check. With only one goal to their name this season they have to find a way to get guys like Chad Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario and O’Brian White involved more often. Defensively they’ll have to slow down the attack from Philadelphia by keeping Alejandro Moreno and Le Toux in check.

The big thing will come down to wing play and I absolutely love how Philadelphia is doing with the wings in the midfield. Roger Torres is a guy more folks need to talk about here as one of the best newcomers in the league this season. His pace and skill in the midfield is helping the expansion side come alive for manger Peter Nowak.

I’m curious to see how Toronto’s new bunch of players do. Preki added three defenders over the last week in Latvian Raivis Hscanovics, Russian Maxim Usanov and Canadian Adrian Cann. The thing is I have to believe it will take some time before they improve this defense.

In the end here it looks like Philadelphia will likely pick up some road points here. There just isn’t enough to like about Toronto yet this season even though I know Preki is going to turn this club around eventually. It just won’t happen tonight.

Player to watch out for: O’Brian White – He has to be the man that comes alive for the Toronto offense tonight. Sometimes its about taking some chances and he, along with the rest of the Reds, need to take some chances on Chris Seitz’s goal.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 2, Toronto 1

Amobi Okugo could be a big time player for the Union. (Kevin Kinkead for WVHooligan)

In this expansion era in Major League Soccer we’ve seen the good and the bad on how to bring a new club into the league. The bad is obviously just about everyone but Seattle. Most clubs stumbled in their first year due to either poor management from the start or bad player choices.

With a new kid on the block it is worth looking into see how the Philadelphia Union are looking right now as they head into their first season. Coming in a year after the Seattle Sounders FC set the MLS world on fire, Piotr Nowak and company have a lot of work to do but so far their efforts have been pretty good.

The Union hasn’t dipping into any big foreign signings just yet but with the transfer window still open there is still time for a couple big signings. Also, don’t be shocked if they do end up with one of those Americans that are rumored to return to the States this winter too.

For this look at the Union I’ll go position by position to see where they need some help before the season starts. (note, I am aware there are other reports like this out there, I’ve had this one in the icebox for a week now. I was merely waiting for a rainy day to release it!)

Keeper:

What they have so far: Brad Knighton, Chris Seitz and Brian Perk.

All three really could be the day one starter so the competition for this spot is going to be good to see. I’m a big believer in healthy competition and what it brings out in good players. No doubt who ever wins the starting role will have earned it.

I don’t look for them to even consider looking elsewhere for this position from here out unless they want to use one as trade bait, which wouldn’t be a terrible thing to do if they get a quality player in return.

Defense:

What they have so far: Danny Califf, Jordan Harvey, Shavar Thomas, and David Myrie.

All quality but honestly not nearly enough to get the job done right now. More than likely we’ll see Nowak go with three in the back as he typically likes to run at 3-5-2, so right now you have a couple good options but they’ll definitely need more.

Where will they go for more help? They’ve been linked with Michael Orozco for some time now and that could be a good move if it pans out. They’ve also been said to be linked with a Colombian player as well that has already signed with the league. With the possibility of Califf being gone this summer with the National team at the World Cup, Nowak has to find someone to fill in for him. Getting a strong center back also has to be a priority too.

Midfield:

What they have so far: Fred, Andrew Jacobson, Stefani Miglioranzi, Amobi Okugo, Shea Salinas, Toni Stahl, Kyle Nakawaza, and Nick Zimmerman

So far this is a pretty solid group, though its a pretty young one. I do like the idea of Zimmerman and Salinas on the wings. Okugo has the potential to be a good rock in the middle and I do see Stahl being the defensive-midfielder that everyone expects him to be. Believe me, I’ve seen Stahl enough to know that he has the full potential to be a Jeff Larentowicz-type player.

Still I believe they do need a playmaker though Fred will probably handle those duties starting out. Though this group should be a pretty good one to watch and a tough one to face.

Forwards:

What they have so far: Jack McInerney, Sebastian Le Toux, Alejandro Moreno, and Danny Mwanga

A solid mix of young and veteran players here. No doubt Moreno and Mwanga will be day one starters for this team. Le Toux may see a starting role out of the midfield as well but we’ll see how Nowak handles his lineups before we really make that prediction.McInerney will be a project that will probably get some decent time this season too.

They probably still need a big finisher to come off the bench or even another speedster. I’d say if they did make any big splashes in the summer with transfers it will be here in this department, especially if they are wanting to me a run late in the season.

Overall:

So far its looking pretty good in Philadelphia. Nowak has been able to put together a fairly solid roster so far. They have a few more open roster spots that should fill in the rest of the holes. For me they need to concentrate on defensive additions before the season. As much as I loved they handled things in the expansion draft for their defense they have totally cooled off on that area. Depth will be key but I love the look of their midfield so far which could go a long way in an eastern conference that could still be just as weak as it was a year ago.

They’re not on Seattle’s pace from a season ago but I definitely don’t see them being another Chivas or Real Salt Lake in year one.

Freddie Ljungberg and Osvaldo Alonso have been huge additions to Seattle and to MLS this year. (Getty Images)

While rookies have been doing well this year so far, so have the list of newcomers to the league that aren’t rookies. It seems like last year we talked at length about the lack of positive newcomers until the summer months when guys like Darren Huckerby came into town for the San Jose Earthquakes.

This season is far in a way different as plenty of newbies are making a positive impact on the league. Most of the list below does contain a lot of Seattle Sounder players, but there are a few others that have made similar headlines this year that aren’t in Sounder green.

The list below is really no particular order here. After a while though I will still track the newcomers to the league this season as we gear towards the end of season awards. If you see a newcomer that I failed to remember, be sure to post his name below. Again, no rookies please, they have their own watch list that will probably be updated again next week.

Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle) – As some of you know, I am part Swedish so I am a little biased on this one when I see a Swede in the league and one doing well. So far Ljungberg is playing just the way Seattle needs him to be, a strong part of the midfield and one that hits the back of the net when called to do so. Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle) – He may not light up the scoreboard this year but he could actually be the best new addition to the league. How all the clubs failed to see this guy a year ago while he was in the USL-1 with Charleston is beyond me. Funny part is several clubs passed on this Cuban after he defected to the US. He already has three assists on the year and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him tally plenty more.

Fredy Montero (Seattle) – There really isn’t much to say other than what we’ve already said about this kid. He is more than a handful and as clubs are already seeing, they need to continue to find good young talent like this kid to help grow the league.

Eduardo Lillingston (Chivas USA) – For a while now Chivas has been looking for a go-to Mexican striker and maybe they have finally found it with Lillingston. He isn’t a big name draw for those Mexican soccer fans but that may just be what this club really needed.

Gerson Mayen (Chivas USA) – When I first saw him a couple weeks ago in Dallas I was like “who the hell is this guy?” But after seeing him play in person I realized the kid has some talent behind him. He’s been a handful for other clubs on the wings and could be a big part of this Chivas club this season if they continue to play well. Hard to believe he signed with the club a year ago and we are just now seeing him play.

Kasey Keller (Seattle) – Okay red card against KC aside, Keller has been far in away one of the best pickups by any club this year. He’s proving to everyone that he still has it at his present age and that his experience is still good enough to lead a young expansion club like Seattle.

David Ferreira (Dallas) – Schellas Hyndman is slowly starting to get what he needs and wants out of his number 10. While he hasn’t done anything wonderful yet for the club you are starting to see him get use to the MLS style of play here. I would be willing to bet by the middle of the summer he will have racked up his fair share of assists to Kenny Cooper and company.

Sebastian Le Toux (Seattle) – Another USL to MLS guy that is probably making some general managers wonder why they didn’t sign before this last year. Le Toux is quickly becoming one of my favorite Sounders.

Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle) – Another Sounder on the list, this one is a defender that is showing his worth so far in the league. He hasn’t done anything too flashy but for the most part he has done enough to help his club only give up one goal on the year after four games.

Santiago Hirsig (Kansas City) – Still waiting to truly see if this guy helps this club out or not this season. I am holding out belief that he will keep their offense in tact and maybe even help relieve some pressure of their defense. If that is the case we could see a playoff club in the midwest.

Pablo Vitti (Toronto) – For the most part I think Toronto would be better off if they’d get this guy more playing time. While he may not be the full answer to the Reds offensive issues, I do believe he is better than some of the forwards John Carver currently employs on the field.

Cam Weaver (San Jose) – Another player I am pretty high on here but am still waiting to really shine this season. Weaver has a goal to his name this year and I really still believe he will be a huge part of this club’s offense in 2009. Once Darren Huckerby and Arturo Alvarez figure out how tall he is Weaver should be able to get more headers in the box, and more looks in the box overall. That can only make things better for the Quakes.

Bojan Stepanovic (Chivas USA) – Not a bad debut a couple weeks ago against Dallas. First touch lead to his first shot on goal, which ended up being his first MLS goal. Yeah, not a bad start.

I know there are plenty more on the way here this season. Off the top of my head I know of a few with New England that have yet to debut (their new African players for those who wonder), Gregory Richardson in Colorado has played a little bit for Colorado, Ade Akinbiyi in Houston, the few in New York that have been talked about for months now, and probably a few others that I am failing to remember.

Well sorta at least.

Not that we didn’t have the right information or anything on it but it appears that the club is finally coming out and saying they have signed Sebastian Le Toux to a MLS contract.

This may not be anything new to people in Seattle. Though I did find it interesting to see that a few people had already sent me this link today.

No word yet on if Le Toux had indeed signed a four-year deal with the expansion club or if that talk was just talk to start out with.

Same thing goes for the talk of Le Toux and a couple other Sounders being on loan this season to the USL Sounders. Yeah, that was something floating out there that a couple players had been signed by the league only to be loaned back out to the USL version of the Emerald City club.

Either way its more official now I suppose than it was a month and a half ago.

And for info on Le Toux, you can revert to the previous post about this subject or check out his wiki page.