Martin Rennie looks to have built an offensive juggernaut. (Photo via Vancouver Whitecaps)

With the news of Sebastien Le Toux joining the Vancouver Whitecaps on a trade today. It has to, no, it must be pointed out exactly how stacked these Whitecaps are on offense.

Just look at these names currently on the roster (and in camp):

• Camilo
• Eric Hassli
• Atiba Harris
• Omar Salgado
• Darren Mattocks
• Davide Chiumiento
• Lee Nguyen
• Long Tan
• Sebastien Le Toux
• Etienne Barbara (not currently signed)

Holy smokes. Is Martin Rennie going to play six players up top in 2012?

A couple of those guys are more midfielders than strikers but they are worth pointing out here. And if the club signs Barbara – the NASL leading scorer from 2012 – that will put their striker force numbers close to double digits.

You have to think someone will be on the move today here. Either going to Philadelphia in the Le Toux deal or somewhere else to a team that needs a striker (hello Houston?).

Today is already shaping up to be a fun one huh folks?

Just a week or so ago it was Sebastien Le Toux on a plane to England to train with Bolton. Now he is back in North America and has been traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

No word yet on what the terms of the deal will be but the Frenchman just tweeted out that it is official.

Just got traded to Vancouver !Saddest day for me in my Philadelphia Union story.... Still can't believe it

January 31, 2012 9:10 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@SebastienLeToux

Sebastien Le Toux

One thing is clear, the Caps should have a tough offense this season. They have the depth up top to make many teams scared in my mind but someone like Omar Salgado may want to back his bags up as he is looking like a lesser needed player today than he did yesterday (someone like Houston needs to get on the horn to get him).

The Philadelphia Union are preparing to sell star striker Sebastien LeToux to a European club. Story coming on Fox Soccer. #Wow

January 18, 2012 11:02 am via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@SoccerByIves

Ives Galarcep

To further drive home the rumor, Le Toux tweeted the following:

On a jet plane to England

January 17, 2012 7:09 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@SebastienLeToux

Sebastien Le Toux

Ives later goes on to report that Bolton could be the landing spot for Le Toux. The Frenchman has a European passport so getting a spot with an English side like Bolton won’t be  an issue for him. If completed, the transfer wouldsee Le Toud join fellow Major League Soccer all-star Tim Ream, who is awaiting a UK work permit to complete his own transfer to Bolton.

In two seasons with the Union, Le Toux has scored 25 goals and registered 20 assists. He has been labeled as the face of the franchise and would be a major blow to this club.

Of course this is all rumors at this point but all signs are pointing to a transfer. A big one really that could change the landscape of how the Eastern Conference will be won this year.

Brek Shea sits atop the MVP race, can he hold on to it? (Getty Images)

With only a few weeks left in the season the awards race in Major League Soccer is pretty dang hot. The MVP race alone is very interesting this season. In my book if I had to vote today for the top three in the MVP race would be fairly simple but there are a few dark horse candidates to keep a watch on.

The Top Contenders

Brek Shea, M, FC Dallas: This one is fairly simple. If Shea isn’t at the top of most folks list right now it means they either hate Dallas or don’t watch the league at all. The second one probably speaks more truth than anything if someone doesn’t have Shea in their top three once it is time to vote. Shea has done everything right for Dallas since the injury of last year’s MVP, David Ferreira. He’s scored plenty of big goals and has come up with a few quality assists. Simply put, Dallas is nothing without his service from the wings.

Mauro Rosales, M, Seattle Sounders FC: In a way Rosales has really just come on strong in the last two months but overall he is a huge reason why the Sounders are in the thick of things in the Supporter’s Shield race. His five goals and ten assists are something to marvel over but for me it comes down to his distribution and setting up the Sounders’ attack. I don’t see Lamar Neagle or Mike Fucito getting the goals that they have gotten this year without Rosales. Bold statement to make, sure, but it is one I feel pretty good about.

Landon Donovan, M, LA Galaxy: Of course, another season with Donovan in the MVP mix. His 11 goals and three assists will keep him in the discussion even though he hasn’t played as many minutes as Shea or some of the others here.

Still In The Mix:

Thierry Henry, F, New York Red Bulls: The New York Red Bulls’ season goes with Henry. As he goes, the club goes. He may lead the league in goals scored with 12 and have four assists on the year  but the way his club has played these last couple of months are hurting his MVP chances. He needs to continue to score goals and help get his club in the playoffs to get this award.

Brad Davis, M, Houston Dynamo: Another player who’s team goes as they do. Davis is always overlooked but there is no reason why he should be. His league-leading 13 assists are the main reason why the Dynamo are even in the playoff hunt to begin with. You want a valuable player to a club, look no further than to Davis.

David Beckham, M, LA Galaxy: Donovan and Beckham will likely cancel one another out in this race but consider Beckham’s stats at the moment, 12 assists and two goals isn’t bad at all. To be fair, this has been his best season to date as a member of the Galaxy.

Jack Jewsbury, M, Portland Timbers: You want some good stats? Seven goals and eight assists. That’s quality folks. Portland would be a really bad expansion team without Captain Jack.

Dwayne De Rosario, M, DC United: Another player with monster stats on the season, nine goals and eight assists. What will hurt him is he’s played on three teams this season. That really shouldn’t be the case as he’s really helped improve United’s offense.

Some Potential Dark horses:

Dominic Oduro, F, Chicago Fire: Hard to ignore Oduro right now. He’s scoring loads of goals (and missing loads too). He’s a long shot at best but he’s worth mentioning.

Sebastien Le Toux, M, Philadelphia Union: I think if he can continue his scoring (six goals on the year) to go with his assist numbers (eight assists), he’ll easily move up this order here. Last night’s great come back performance against New England was a sign that Le Toux will be in the mix.

Kyle Beckerman, M, Real Salt Lake: With Javier Morales going down earlier in the season, it was Beckerman who had to step up and be the midfield general. Looking at things today, RSL isn’t far away from an automatic bid into the playoffs.

David Ferreira should be in the running once again for MVP. (Getty Images)

We’ve pushed through the positional rankings on here and have done a few other previews to get things going for next week. It is time once again to dip back into the other previews for the upcoming 2011 Major League Soccer season. Today I will be taking a look at the possible MVP candidates out there to start the season.

With the season being a little longer and the amount of extra games this season, we’ll see various candidates have more chances to sway the votes of the press, players, coaches and whoever else votes at the end of the season for these awards (yup, that includes yours truly).

I have in mind six candidates right now and of course this could easily change over the course of the season. I’ll try to update this from time-to-time like I have over the past few years on here. (Note: the order below is in no particular order)

1. Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake) – I still believe Morales is the heart and soul of RSL. I know they have that whole we are one team kind of moto but Morales is the biggest reason behind their success over the last couple years in my opinion. In a way he was shafted a bit last season in the MVP votes as he helped guide RSL through a tough MLS season and he also helped RSL win their CONCACAF Champions League group. This could be the year he breaks through and gets the votes for the award.

2. David Ferreira (FC Dallas) – Hard to do a MVP watch list and not mention the reigning MVP. Ferreira will be called to do a tad bit more in Dallas this season as the Red Stripes have some extra CCL games to deal with, plus the chance of more USOC matches too. Ferreria makes this club move offensively and without him they’ll be in a world of hurt. As long as he doesn’t take too many knocks this season (expect him to be fouled a boat load this season), I look for him to be in the thick of things for when it comes to the MVP race.

3. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) – Being that this is David Beckham’s last year you’d think his name would be listed here but really, that won’t happen with Donovan on the field. Donovan is still the heart and soul of this club and even with some weeks in the summer that he’ll be gone due to Gold Cup matches, I still view Donovan as a force to be reckoned with this season. LA wants to get back to the promise land that is MLS Cup and so does Donovan. He wants a title bad, just wait and see how bad he wants it too.

4. Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls) – My gut tells me to watch Henry this season, not because he’ll be healthy and with the club all year, but because I have to think he’s hungry to really prove himself for real in this league. If New York is a true contender it will fall a lot on his feet (not his hands, let’s hope!).

5. Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids) – I really hope Colorado is able to hold on to this guy for the long haul but even if it is just for this year, look out, because I believe he’s going to light up the boards in 2011. Cummings showed he can carry this club both in goals and in assists when needed. Don’t be shocked if he has another large outburst in production this season as he proves to clubs all over the world he is worth a look at.

6. Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union) – Philly fans still feel the cold burn of the snub that Le Toux got last season. While I don’t believe he’ll have the exact same numbers as he did in 2010, I do believe 2011 will be a very nice season for him. He’s got a little more help now in Philly offensively, which should free him up for setting things up more.

Others to watch for: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo); Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC); Kenny Cooper (Portland Timbers); Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC); and Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).

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.

Buddle's 16 goals lead the league this season. (Getty Images)

I’ve always had a slight issue with one post season award that Major League Soccer hands out. The Comeback Player of the Year.

In some years the CPY is truly someone that had a great year after coming back from a big injury. Look no further to 2008′s CPY Kenny Cooper. It was a no brainer to pick Coop after his horrific injury in 2007. The following year he came back 18 goals, that my friends is a comeback. Same can be said about 2005′s winner Chris Klein who came back from an ACL injury.

In other years like this one it seems like the award will likely go to a guy that is simply having a monster year after not having one in the previous year.

I bring this up today because of what is on the MLS Insider blog this morning about Edson Buddle and Sebastien Le Toux. Both are in the running for this year’s CPY. But to me it seems like both are having more of a breakout season than a comeback. The Insider is dubbing the award as something you get when you come back from a dreadful season. I get that. But it always seems like we hype up a guy for this award when they have a breakout season instead of a true comeback season.

Maybe I misread something or just am not getting my facts straight about this award or maybe it is truly time for MLS to bring on yet another award, the Breakout Player of the Year.  What do you all think, is Le Toux and Buddle’s performances this season more Breakout than Comeback? Let’s hear it.

Javier Morales is one of a few players in the running for MLS MVP. (Getty Images)

I said earlier in the week I wanted to touch on this year’s MVP race. Well today looked like a good one to do it seeing as how I don’t care about Liverpool’s sale to John Henry and company and I feel a bit lazy to talk about the USOC Final from last night. What can I say its also a busy day around these parts for me.

This year’s MVP race is a hot one. I don’t think that can be said enough really as there are easily six to eight players in the running for the award. I’ll go ahead and say this list below is no ranking because right now today I honestly have no clue who I’d vote for. I know who I am leaning towards but if I had a ballot in my hand today I know it would take me hours to complete it. The race is just that damn close this year.

We have a two groups of players though in the running this time around, your playoff bound guys and your non-playoff bound guys. I’ll go with the playoff group first since it is a bit larger.

Playoff Bound

Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) – Based on stats you have to include Donovan who clearly makes his team better. He leads the league in assists with 15 and also has offered up a cool seven goals on the year. Not shabby but I do wonder if it will be enough to win the award for the second straight year. Probably to get there he’ll have to help lead the Galaxy to an unbeaten run to finish the season by notching a few more assists and dropping in a goal or two.

Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy) – Some folks will disagree to include the potential Golden Boot winner on the MVP list but why not? MVPs typically score lots of goals and Buddle is no exception. He cooled off a bit in the summer which was expected after he was blazing hot to begin the year. Its no secret he’ll need to get his goal numbers up to at least 20 to really catch people’s eye for this award though.

Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake) - I’ve seen plenty of rants and moans from the RSL folks about how Morales isn’t being discussed as a MVP candidate this year on other sites. Well RSL folks those sites are crazy to dismiss Morales in this award because as you know RSL is a lot different without him on the field. His stats are solid but his play and leadership are what makes this guy a MVP in my eyes. I have a feeling however he’ll be the Shalrie Joseph of this year, you know the guy who deserves it the most but will come up short in the running.

David Ferriera (FC Dallas) – He’s probably the guy I’m leaning towards if I had to vote right now for this award. Still the competition is stiff this year and Ferriera will likely need to help keep this amazing unbeaten run in tact if he has a shot at winning this award this season. Tough to say that but its likely true that some voters will overlook him if Dallas stumbles once down the stretch.

Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) – You saw last night exactly how good Seattle can be when they want to. Montero is a big reason because of that. He cooled off a bit in September so he’ll need a big October to get some votes here but believe me there is good reason to count Montero in on the voting this year. Not only has he put in his share of goals again this season but his assist numbers are up and he’s helping make guys like Steve Zakuani and Sanny Nyassi better.

Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids) – Based on stats alone you have to include him in the race. Boy lately he and the Rapids have been on fire (except for that D.C. game). Cummings’ 12 goals has helped push the Rapids back into the playoff picture for the first time since 2006.

Non-Playoff Players

Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC) – Hard to deny what DeRo means to Toronto. Take him off the team and you can imagine exactly how bad of a year this club would have had. It was already pretty bad towards the end but I’m sure it would be worse without him. His 13 goals have lead the team but he’s clearly the heart and sole of the club. Something you can’t replace which kind of sounds like “most valuable” to me.

Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union) – If I’m the Union faithful and the Union front office I would be doing a full on media blitz to get Le Toux up for the MVP. Nothing like trying to get some extra media votes by hyping up your best player. Le Toux has carried this expansion club like no other. There’s no getting around the fact that his 13 goals and 10 assists are impressive. No other player can say that right now this season that they have at least 10 goals and 10 assists.

Others of note: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose); Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus); and Juan Pablo Angel (New York).

Philadelphia hosts LA this Thursday. (Getty Images)

By Kevin Kinkead

Los Angeles. New York. Columbus.

Three remaining games for the Philadelphia Union, against three of the top five squads in MLS. It’s only fitting that the final test for this young expansion side, will come against the league’s best teams.

Though the Union are eliminated from the playoffs, it’s about ending the season on a positive note, and carrying the momentum into year number two.

Peter Nowak’s squad will want to forget about the May 1st trip to Carson, California. The Union conceded just 56 seconds into the game, the Galaxy cruising to a 3-1 win. The lone Union bright spot was a late goal from Jack McInerney, his first as a pro.

Fast forward to October, and the Galaxy atop the standings on 53 points.

If this were week 16 of the NFL season, we might be talking about putting in the backups. But regular season supremacy is on the line. A win Thursday can move the Galaxy 5 points clear of Real Salt Lake at the top of the table, another step towards bringing the Supporter’s Shield back to Los Angeles. RSL would then need to get a positive result against New York on Saturday, a Red Bulls side which will lose several players to international call-ups.

Three’s Company

In Philadelphia meantime, a sellout crowd will witness three of the best players in MLS this Thursday . (ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT))

Have a look at these statlines-

Sebastien Le Toux- 13 goals, 10 assists , 3 game winning goals

Edson Buddle- 15 goals, 2 assists, 6 game winning goals

Landon Donovan- 7 goals, 14 assists, 2 game winning goals

Safe to say, the key to this game will be finding these players, or denying them the ball. Le Toux, Donovan, and Buddle are all MVP candidates, and they’ve combined for 35 goals and 26 assists this year.

In fact, Le Toux has been involved in 23 of the Union’s 32 goals this season. He’s played 25 games this year, only Jordan Harvey and Michael Orozco-Fiscal logging more minutes. It’s easy to see why Le Toux’s trap and finish against Houston on Saturday, received a nomination for goal of the week.

Inside the Statistics

-The Galaxy have the best road record in MLS, posting an 8-3-3 mark away from the Home Depot Center. But the Union have only lost twice at PPL Park this year. Only FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake have lost fewer games on their home field.

-While Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle lead Los Angeles in the scoring department, 14 different Galaxy players have tallied this year.

-And the Galaxy are 15-0-0 when scoring first. They are only MLS team not to drop a point when bagging the game opener. When conceding first, the Union are 2-11-3 on the season. That means the Union have salvaged 9 points this year, even when the other team strikes first. No other team in MLS has salvaged more points than the Union, when conceding the first goal.

-Both teams are undefeated when leading at the half. Philadelphia: 4-0-2, Los Angeles: 14-0-0.

-When trailing at the half, the Union have come back to win two games this year. L.A. has not won a game this year when surrendering the half time lead. (0-4-1)

What should we expect from Los Angeles?

Bruce Arena has used different formations and pairings throughout the year. Obviously, injuries, national team duties, and suspensions are reasons to change the starting XI. But Arena is also trying to work David Beckham back into the midfield. Beckham missed much of the Galaxy season with that Achilles injury, but figures to have a key role in the Los Angeles playoff push.

Against New York, Beckham was used on the outside right flank. But his lack of pace, and perceived inability to cover ground, stalled the Los Angeles offense. The midfield was unable to distribute and get much of anything going.

But Sunday against Chivas, Arena paired Beckham in the central midfield with Juninho, using the Brazilian in his typical holding role while Beckham was given room to maneuver in front of him. Chris Birchall and Michael Stephens played on the flanks, while Landon Donovan moved up top with Edson Buddle. The change in formation resulted in a 2 to 1 win, Beckham completing 77% of his passes and committing just one foul in the process.