Another week of goals. Plenty to pick from too this past week. As always feel free to mention any goals that I may have missed.

DeRo may have the best goal but the best team goal probably was the Crew’s first on Saturday with Ekpo.

Order of goals: Alan Gordan (LA), Paulo Nagamura (Chivas), Kei Kamera (Houston), Shalrie Joesph (New England), Chris Pontius (DC), Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto), Emmanuel Ekpo (Columbus), Gulliermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus), and Josh Wolff (KC).

Mainly since I am running way behind on my weekend recaps my thoughts from this weekend will be sort of brief due to lack of time on my part. Not a whole lot changed for me over this past weekend. Some certain clubs finally won games for a change this season and others continue to impress. This weekend was full of sloppy defending and cool finishing.

Here are the notes I jotted down from this weekend’s action. If you have any comments from the games this weekend feel free to post below.

- Chivas continues to roll here. The AmeriGoats get another win at home, improving to 7-1-1 on the year. An eight point advantage in the standings right now. Wow. At this rate they will clinch a playoff spot by mid-July. I’m just wondering when the flame will go out and this club will cool off for real here. They have a tough stretch coming up with hosting DC, at KC and then home again against Chicago. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them either roll through those at their current pace right now. I mentioned their fast start in comparison to other fast starts in league history. Right now they are tied for the second best start behind the 2000 KC club and the 1999 Miami club. Interesting fact that Steve Goff mentions is the common fact is Preki. He played for those two clubs and is coaching this Chivas club.

Just how are they doing this though? The cast of no-names and what nots are just getting the job done no matter what. They clean up on sloopy defending and are very tight in the back. They are showing that they don’t need to be flashy to win or be well anything great to win.

- And speaking of the club Chivas beat on Saturday, Real Salt Lake continues to be unimpressive on the road. Let’s hit reality for a second. This club has always been terrible on the road. The fact that they don’t score on the road this season only makes it worse.

Jason Kreis has a lot of work to do with this club still. Right now they aren’t a contender. Kreis will probably make a change up top soon by placing Fabian Espindola up top instead of Yura Movsisyan who has been rather poor so far this season (one goal and one assist in eight games). Continue Reading…

Luciano Emilio hopes to keep a hot hand for DC tonight against New England. (Getty Images)

EDIT: Yeah I goofed and realized the game was on the wrong day…sorry folks…my brain is in another place right now…

I love a good rivalry, and yes I am one that still finds any of the eastern clubs against one another an interesting rivalry. I especially love it when we get one of the league originals pitted against one another in a Primetime clash on ESPN2.

This week we are getting just that with New England traveling south to face DC at RFK Stadium.

1. How will the extra week help New England?

Anytime you get a little bit of a break in a long season it should help with getting players healthy again. Thing is Taylor Twellman is still listed as out for this game, as are rookie Kevin Alston, Gabriel Badilla, and Mauricio Castro. All four players are key parts to this club and without them healthy in the early going it could be a long game against a DC club looking to hit it’s stride in the early going of this year.

Even without those guys I see Steve Nicol using that extra time off wisely to get his troops ready for this rivalry. Last year the Revs and United split the season series but the one New England loss came in RFK Stadium.

2. What can DC do to find some momentum here?

Well getting healthy is one thing but staying consistent offensively and defensively is another. Their depth has been questioned a lot in the early going this year due to three blown leads in games. DC has to show they can keep a lead at home and on the road. Usually finding that magic touch starts at home and even oddly enough it can come against a rival. They need to get the ball to the hot foot of Luciano Emilio early and often in this one.

3. Player to watch out for.

In this Primetime clash I am going to be eager to watch New England’s Jeff Larentowicz in the midfield. As he controls the defensive side of the ball for the Revs, it allows guys like Steve Ralston and Shalrie Joepsh to do their thing and spread the attack out to speed on the wings with Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi. I’ve said for years that Larentowicz may be one of the most under appreciated players in the league.

Quick Thoughts:

For New England to keep their early success going here they need to control things in the midfield like they normally do. Secondly they have to find a hot hand in front of the net and start scoring. Offensively they haven’t really impressed this year but somehow they have gotten the job done enough to be near the top of the table already this season. Saying that though I am going with DC in this one since it is at RFK. It is still one of those places that is a homefield advantage and hopefully the crowd will be loud and crazy for this one. I think Emilio keeps his current pace up and rookie Chris Pontius gets on board as well. New England will keep it tight with a late goal though.

WVH Prediction: DC 2, New England 1

Freddie Ljungberg and Seattle take their show on the road to Toronto. (Getty Images)

I just realized we have a slew of games this weekend. Seven games across two days, eight if you count the Thursday night game. The unbalanced schedule creeps in starting this week as Columbus has the lovely Thursday-Sunday swing going on. All clubs are in action this weekend though unlike the last two weeks.

But as mentioned we have seven games, four tomorrow night and three on Sunday. A lot of action if you are going to be around the house this weekend to watch. A few really good matchups too to look out for as well. Its still very early in the campaign but it will be interesting to see if clubhouse leaders Seattle and Chivas can keep up their good form.

As always feel free to pipe in your game predictions for the weekend below. Continue Reading…

I mentioned late last week that I would post my best XI for this season. As promised here it is for you all, this was how I voted (in a 3-5-2 formation).

GK: William Hesmer – Columbus
DEF: Gonzalo Segares – Chicago
DEF: Bobby Boswell – Houston
DEF: Chad Marshall – Columbus
MID: Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Columbus
MID: Dave Van Den Bergh – New York
MID: Sasha Kljestan – Chivas USA
MID: Shalrie Joesph – New England
MID: Javier Morales – Real Salt Lake
FWD: Kenny Cooper – FC Dallas
FWD: Landon Donovan – LA Galaxy

You may disagree with some picks and not with others. That’s how I voted anyways. It would have been different if there was a different formation given but the 3-5-2 set up wasn’t too bad to deal with in voting.

Who’s in your best XI for the year? Post your’s below.