1. Los Angeles Galaxy: Right on cue, Landon Donovan and co. have put their stamp on the new season and already look to be the class of the league.Excellent defensively and through the midfield, LA’s biggest worry was finding consistency from the forward position. Someone needed to step up, and Edson Buddle’s 3 goals in 2 games has allowed LA to streak out of the gate in pole position.

2. New York Red Bulls: A new, energizing Red Bull Arena and a focused and simplified re-organization by new manager Hans Becke has turned the Red Bulls into the surprise package of the early season, following a solid opening day home win vs. Chicago with a very impressive, and entertaining, road victory at Seattle. Lindpere looks like an MVP contender so far and Juan Pablo Angel hasn’t even scored a goal yet. Just maybe, look out for the Red Bulls.

3. Colorado Rapids: Colorado can perhaps count themselves lucky so far, getting an opening day road win vs in-flux Chivas, followed by a very good half vs Chicago, and finished off by a 2nd half letdown vs the Fire in their home opener after Marvell Wynne gave up a poor penalty to speedster Prick Nyarko and a Brian BcBride spot kick. Still, both Conor Casey and Omar Cummins have been on-target so far, giving the Rapids one of the best-playing forward combos in the league.

4. Houston Dynamo: Earned a point on the road vs an improving FC Dallas, and followed with a workmanlike home win vs excellent Real Salt Lake. Solid start to one of the veteran sides in MLS, though they have lost Brian Ching for “a few weeks” due to a hamstring injury. If under-performing Mexican DP Luis Angel Landin can prove he is worth the money Houston spent on him, Houston should be able to continue a strong start. At the moment though, that is a very big “if”, and Houston may have to find a way to win without a consistent attack.

5. Kansas City Wizards: The Wizards have played only one game, but they did win 4-0, with England new man Ryan Smith looking like a very good signing. Their defense will be tested in their next game, vs high scoring Colorado. It’s far too early to tell anything about KC right now but they must have a lot of confidence, and looked like a very good side vs a very poor DC United.

6. Real Salt Lake: RSL streaked out of the gate vs lowly San Jose on opening day, only to be taught a lesson in professionalism in Houston a week later. If they can find a more consistent scoring touch, they seem poised for very good things this season.

7. Columbus Crew: One game, one solid win for the Supporters Shield holders. F Stephen Lenhart looks poised for a breakout season.

8. New England: The Revs proved they are still a force in MLS despite a slow multi-season decline in recent years, following a strong performance in an opening day loss to LA with a terrific road win vs a truly awful looking DC United. Rookie forward Zac Schilawski has looked promising, though it was his replacement Kenny Mensally who scored two vs DC and may push the youngster to the bench at least temporarily. New England will take what it can get from it’s thin forward corps at the moment.

9. Seattle Sounders: last season’s achilles heel is this season’s as well, at least so far. Seattle looks very good from the back through the midfield but still has not found consistency in the attack. A solid though less-than-impressive opening day win vs expansion Philadelphia bought the Sounders some early breathing room but they need to get their attack sorted sooner rather than later.

10. FC Dallas: FCD showed grit in an opening day draw vs Houston but may face a bigger challenge getting fans into the stands than they will on the playing field this season. David Ferriera is a very, very good player but Dallas have not done anything like replaced Dave Van Den Bergh.

11. Chicago Fire: The Carlos De Los Cobos era has not started well in Chicago, and it’s not yet clear if the new manager will be able to adapt to MLS after two tepid performances from his charges. F Collins John has looked very good however and if the Fire can figure out how to use McBride and John together then they may have the league’s most potent attack.

12. Philadephia Union: So far the only remarkable things about the Union are their surprisingly ugly uniforms and the fact that they seem to be attempting to create-by-talk their own reputation as a hard-charging, physical side. There’s not enough to go by yet, but so far they look like clumsy hacks that talk too much. Rookie F Jack McInerny looks very good, but the Union seemed out of their depth vs Seattle.

13. Toronto FC: Going into the season, everyone thought TFC may be a bit over-matched this year after a rocky off-season transition to a new manager. They have done nothing to dispel these worries, and looked very poor vs Columbus in round 1.

14. CD Chivas USA: Chivas is of to a slow start under new manager Martin Vasquez, and have shown little polish in the new manager’s style. Very early days for Chivas, it’s easy to see the potential but they need more time to get it together, and the big question is how much of a hole might they dig themselves before they start to figure it out.

15. San Jose Earthquakes: The Quakes looked horrible in their home opener vs a rampant Real Salt Lake, an don’t yet look to have improved from the last two poor seasons. Frank Yallop will need to find a way to turn the corner soon or he could be the season’s first managerial casualty.

16. DC United: One word: wretched. Two words: how long, or “how long” will Curt Onalfo keep his job. DC United have been utterly outmatched in their first two games, scoring 0 goals and conceding 6. With 16 teams vying for 8 MLS Cup playoff spots this year, they do not have the luxury of a continued poor start.

While no club fielding a Designated Player has yet won MLS Cup, the last three MLS Cup final losers all fielded DP’s and it would be difficult to argue that players such as Landon Donovan in LA, Juan Pablo Angel in NY, Cuathemoc Blanco in Chicago, and Freddie Ljungberg in Seattle have not had a significantly positive impact on their clubs. Even David Beckham, who has played in less than half of LA’s games since joining in 2007,  has unquestionably had a significant impact on the profile of the league both within and without the USA. There have of course been high profile DP failures as well; Denilson barely lasted long enough to break a sweat in Dallas, Claudio Reyna in NY was clearly too fragile by the end of his career to have a significant impact on the Red Bulls, and Luis Angel Landin of Houston has become the highest paid seldom-used substitute in the history of the league. But there is little question that the DP program as a whole has helped both the league and the clubs who have fielded those players.

In summary, New York Red Bulls had replacement players flown in from Austria ahead of the Santos friendly and opening of brand new Red Bull Arena, ready to play if the MLS players decided to shut it down. This may be understandable as a stand alone incident; Red Bull had just spent $200 Million on a new stadium and the Santos friendly was a key part of a strategy to relaunch both the stadium and club by drawing in the many Brazilian residents in the area hoping to connect with that fan base. One might be tempted to forgive the Red Bulls in that instance, given the circumstances; it was a freindly after all, not a league or cup game.

It may not have been a stand alone incident however; Hunter suggests a majority of MLS teams would have also fielded replacements for the start of the MLS season, with the exception of New England and Columbus, though how that would have worked, as well as why those two clubs in particular, remains unclear.

What seems clear is the resolve of the owners to not let the players stop the season from happening, replacements or no -possibly an enormous bluff to be used at the negotiating table, certainly the eventual CBA settlement included a number of concessions from the MLSPU. Tactics aside, it seems that having the games go on was more important to the owners than was the short term impact on the quality of play, and the probable damage to existing fan bases and hit to the reputation of  game that is still struggling for acceptance in the US sports scene. Tough love perhaps, and maybe it would have been best for the game if MLS had used replacements in the event of a strike. Certainly the owners seem to have been thinking that way. After all, MLS needs to draw new fans, and cannot do so if it is not playing -it’s not the core soccer fans that need to be pandered to, they are already under the tent.

Fortunately we do not have to test the hypothesis.

MLS 2010 Supporters’ Sheild/Playoffs final standings prediction:

1. Los Angeles Galaxy (West 1)
This pick is perhaps contingent on whether or not Landon Donovan stays with the Galaxy for the entire season, instead of being sold during the summer, if/when someone makes an offer MLS and LD cannot refuse. But one thing is clear: until that day, reigning MVP Landon Donovan will remain the best player in MLS. He has the ability to make any team better, and he can take a good team and make them into a great one. Good news for the Galaxy, as they’re a pretty good team even without Landon Donovan, or, for that matter, without David Beckham, who will miss not only Englands’ 2010 World Cup but also pretty much the whole MLS season after tearing his achilles tendon while on loan at AC Milan. LA’s strength will begin with a defense that allowed the third fewest goals in MLS during their 2009 Western Division winning run, with an excellent goalkeeper in Jamaican International Donovan Ricketts, and a defense led by back-to-back rookies of the year Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzales and experienced US International defender Gregg Berhalter. The midfield will be solid through the middle and excellent on the flanks with both Donovan and another experienced US International in Eddie Lewis. The question marks appear in attack. LA acquired a trio of Brazilian loanees from Sao Paolo, one of whom, Juninho, appears set to begin the season as the starting attacking midfielder behind a forward tandem of Mike Magee and Edson Buddle. Both are players who can score, but who have not done so consistently in their MLS careers. LA will need them to find their form this year. LA has some talent on the bench, particularly newboy Michael Stevens, and has arguably the best manager in MLS in Bruce Arena. Unless the attack sputters (unlikely with Donovan), the Galaxy should be the class of the league in 2010.

2. Houston Dynamo (West 2)
Houston might not seem like a likely #2 pick, having lost midfield stalwarts and US Internationals Ricardo Clark to Eintracht Frankfurt, and Stuart Holden to Bolton Wanderers. But the Dynamo still have a deep roster, and they still have Dominic Kinnear as manager. Houston have slotted the excellent Cam Cameron into Holden’s spot, and signed Jamaican international Lovel Palmer to fill the DMid role Clark filled so well for the last several years. Houston is very solid defensively, returning the ageless Canadian International Pat Onstad in goal, along with excellent defenders Eddie Robinson and Bobby Boswell. Houston still has forward Brian Ching as well; likely to miss a few games due to International duty with the US at this summer’s World Cup but still a force in MLS. The roster is talented and deep, but most importantly this is a club that finds a way to get it done, as they did last year, after losing Dwayne De Rosario to Toronto, and yet finishing one point off the Supporter’s Shield and making the final 4 of the MLS Cup playoffs. 2009’s success will give Houston much confidence that they can reload again this year and make another run at a league title they won in both 2006 and 2007.

3. Columbus Crew (East 1)
Manager Robert Warzycha will have had another year to put his stamp on the  post-Sigi Schmid era at Colubmus. This is a veteran team with veteran leadership and until someone in their weakling division  proves they are better, they will remain top dogs in the East, though they will have to take it a step further in the MLS Cup playoffs after a disappointing early round exit in 2009. Last year’s Supporter’s Shield winners and 2008 MLS Cup winners will return most of their 2009 roster, with the notable exception of F Alejandro Moreno, who joined Philadelphia. The Crew did however re-sign Argentine legend and 2008 MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who turns 37 in May yet remains one of the best players in the league. Defensively, Columbus will be very solid, returning Will Hesmer in goal and former MLS defender of the year Chad Marshall in defense. Colombian International forward Sergio Herrera comes in with an impressive resume to replace the departed Moreno, and his success at integrating with emerging F Steven Lenhart could help make this season. The Crew roster is dotted with experienced players like M Eddie Gaven, M Robbie Rogers, D/M Danny O’Rourke, D Gino Padula, D Frankie Hedjuk, and others. It is as deep a roster as exists in MLS.

4. New York Red Bulls (East 2)
Am I crazy? New York was far, far and away the worst team in MLS last season, propping up the Supporter’s Shield table 9 points under San Jose, themselves 9 points under the third worst team in the league. The 2009 NY Red Bulls scored a league worst 27 goals in 30 games, went winless in MLS play between May 8 to August 23, and was bounced from the Champion’s League by T&T minnows W Connection. If there was relegation in the United States, they would have been down by July. But this is MLS, and you need look no further than last year’s Los Angeles Galaxy to see an example of a worst-to-first turnaround. 2010 sees an almost complete re-boot for the suffering MLS club that has never won a single bit of silverware in 14 seasons despite having some of the biggest name players and managers in league history and playing in far and away the league’s biggest market. Experienced Scandinavian Hans Backe steps in as Manager and brings a renewed sense of organization and professionalism. The Red Bulls are expected to have fully 5 new starters in their lineup come March 27, including former Toronto captain D-Mid Carl Robinson, and maybe the best of the bunch in Esthonian International captain Joel Lindpere. At 28 years old, Lindpere is in his prime and is an excellent, speedy midfielder who will at least initially slot in behind the forwards and may be just what the doctor ordered for NY’s dangerous forward tandem of Juan Pablo Angel and Mac Kandji, particularly on the new lush grass field of Red Bull Arena which will hopefully allow the classy Angel, who scored 12 times in 2009, to avoid the recurring back and knee injuries he suffered on the concrete turf of Giants Stadium. New York also brought in athletic, erratic GK Buona Condoul from Colorado, who has looked stellar in pre-season. One of NY’s most important player additions this offseason could come in the form of rookie defender Tim Ream, who’s size and poise may make him this season’s Omar Gonzalez, particularly as he will learn alongside longtime defender Mike Petke. And, of course, NY now has by far the best stadium in the league, a building sure to give NY a home field advantage for perhaps the first time in the clubs’ existence. Should NY sign a second Designated Player this summer, perhaps (if you believe the rumors) Thierry Henry or Raul, they may well become this season’s version of the 2009 Los Angeles Galaxy.

5. Seattle Sounders (West 3)
In their first MLS season, Seattle shattered all existing MLS attendance records, qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, and won the US Open Cup. In 2010, manager Sigi Schmid will get back practically his entire roster, including F Fredy Montero, M’s Freddie Ljungberg and Osvaldo Alonso, D’s Tyrone Marshall and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, and legendary US International GK Kasey Keller. The single biggest issue from 2009 will therefore remain the same: can Seattle find more consistency in the attack, the one element of their game that failed them in the end during the 2009 season. If they can manage a turnaround offensively, they could easily finish higher than 3d in the West, particularly if transitioning Houston slips up. If they continue to sputter in the final third, they will have difficulty finishing any higher than they did in 2009.

6. Real Salt Lake (West 4)
This pick may be a bit unfair to the reigning MLS Cup champions, particularly a their only significant player loss is 8 goal F Yura Movsisyan, who is being replaced by a better player in Costa Rican International F Alvaro Saborio. But let’s be honest here: RSL in 2009 barely qualified for the playoffs and won MLS Cup because they were the form team over the last month of the season. They were not the best team in MLS last year and require a significant improvement in results for me to consider them a contender for a repeat performance, particularly in the stacked West. Still, RSL is a good side, with a solid defensive core, an excellent midfield featuring Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales, and 16 goal F Robbie Findlay. The talent is there, RSL has the pieces to be the best for real this year, but manager Jason Kreis will have to find a way to coax greater consistency out of his squad. If he cannot, he – and RSL’s front office-  really will have no one to blame but themselves.

7. FC Dallas (West 5)
FC Dallas looked like one of the worst teams in league history early in the 2009 MLS season, helping ensure a league-worst attendance average. By season’s end, however, FCD had completed a dramatic turnaround that saw them score a league best 50 goals and finish one point shy of the MLS Cup playoffs. 17-goal frontman Jeff Cunningham, 33 years old but still enough of a speedster to have caught the eye of USA manager Bob Bradley ahead of this summer’s World Cup, is the unquestioned big gun, but it is excellent Brazilian M David Ferriera who pulls the strings. Dallas is thin at the forward position, but is loaded with speedy, athletic talent all over the field, that really began to play well together in the second half of last season. With a bit of luck, FC Dallas might be one of the best teams in the West this season. They might. I just have a hard time picking a team managed by Schellas Hyndman to be any better than 7th best in this league. Still, the playoffs are realistic.

8. Chicago Fire (East 3)
There are too many question marks from this off-season for me to think Chicago has taken a step forward. Chicago was a penalty kick away from their 4th MLS Cup final appearance last season, but despite their 2009 success they have had one of the most dramatic turnovers in the league. Gone is manager Denis Hamlett, replaced by former Mexico International player Carlos de los Cobos, most recently manager of El Salvador for their 2010 World Cup qualification run. Gone also is Mexican legend Cuathemoc Blanco, as well as excellent defender Gonzalo Segares and  forward Chris Rolfe, who both bolted for Europe; inexplicably, also gone is 2008 MLS goalkeeper of the year Jon Busch, unceremoniously waived in the pre-season. All of these players were core elements of Chicago’s run into the last 4 of the MLS Cup playoffs in 2009, and none seems to have a proven replacement. The Fire do however still have a solid veteran core, led by US International legend Brian McBride, M John Thorrington and Marco Pappa, and Willman Conde, still one of the best center backs in the league. But Chicago may still need to rely on creaky veteran CJ Brown at the other center back position, and they have an unproven young goalkeeper in Andrew Dykstra. To replace Blanco the Fire brought in forward Collins John, only 24 but in recent years a shadow of the player he had been as McBride’s teammate at Fulham. The Fire always seems to find a way to be competitive, but to me this is the weakest they have looked in a pre-season for a number of years.

9. New England Revolution (East 4)
Once mighty New England looks very much like a club that will continue it’s slide into mediocrity this season. The Revs lost M Steve Ralston to D2 St Louis, D Chris Albright to NY and Jay Heaps to retirement, and M Jeff Larentowicz to Colorado. Considering the questionable status of F Taylor Twellman, once one of the best forwards in the league who has spent most of the last two seasons injured, and the absence of GK Matt Reis, also to injury, it is hard to imagine the Revs as a club that is on the up side of the curve. After adding D Cory Gibbs from Colorado, the Revs ensured a solid veteran defensive core to go with some good young players, and they have MLS Best 11 M Shalrie Joseph. And, they are still led by manager Steve Nicol, who is one of the league’s best at adding talent through the college draft. Barring above-and-beyond contributions from this year’s crop of draftees, the Revs still have no proven forward without Twellman. The 2009 Revs barely managed to qualify for the playoffs with arguably a better roster. I think the long slow descent of New England will continue, and though they might be in the hunt for their 8th consecutive playoff appearance late into the season, I don’t see them making it this year.

10. Toronto FC (East 5)
Poor Toronto FC. A year removed from  stellar 2008-2009 off-season that saw key additions like Dwayne De Rosario, Amado Guevara and Adrian Serioux that had TFC supporters thinking playoffs for the first time in the club’s history, only to have their dreams dashed by the lowly Red Bulls on the last day of the season, one of the best fan bases in North America cannot believe they are better off now than they were a season ago. New manager Preki has made some drastic changes to a roster who weren’t far off the playoffs last season. Midfield creator Amado Guevara is gone, as is DMid Carl Robinson, a fan favorite and former captain who was traded away. Also, oddly, jettisoned is defender Adrian Serioux, Toronto’s best defender in 2009, sent to Houston for a 3d round pick one year removed from coming to TFC from FC Dallas in exchange for a 1st round pick. TFC do still have an aging Dwayne DeRosario and the excellent Juan De Guzman in Midfield, and one of the league’s top GK’s in Stefan Frei.  Yet they did not appear to have improved either defense, which in 2009 gave up the third most goals in the league, or their offense, settling on inconsistent Chad Barrett to handle the scoring duties. TFC supporters will be able to celebrate an expanded BMO Field and the replacement of the awful fake turf with a real grass field, but they sadly may not be celebrating a playoff run, despite Preki’s skill with thin rosters developed in 3 years at Chivas USA. If the Preki-led TFC does not make the playoffs again this season, there will really only be one constant left to get rid of:  GM Mo Johnston.

11. San Jose Earthquakes (West 6)
San Jose seem to have finally begun the process of  turning the ship around, three years after re-entering the league. Consistently poor in 2009, San Jose manager Frank Yallop, still one of the best minds in MLS despite his recent managerial failures in LA and San Jose, has rung the changes, jettisoning under-performing veterans and replacing them largely through the college draft, including another contender for the 2010 Omar Gonzalez play-alike award in Ike Opara, a tall, athletic central defender who has a very bright future.  Yallop also brought in Brazilian Eduardo to provide goalscoring punch from the forward line alongside Ryan Johnson. Those two, paired with inconsistent but talented Arturo Alvarez in the midfield, could have the makings of a very good goalscoring trio. Much, including perhaps the job of Frank Yallop, will depend on their success in this building season in San Jose.

12. Kansas City Wizards (East 6)
KC could easily be one of the surprise clubs in MLS this year, or they might be an absolute trainwreck. After the third worst record overall in MLS in 2009, KC has added more players than just about any other MLS side. Gone are manager Curt Onalfo, replaced by former GM Peter Vermes; gone as well are longtime GK Kevin Hartman, Argentine midfielder Claudio Lopez, and F Hercules Gomez. Added are 2-time Danish GK of the Year and International Jimmy Nielsen,  and a bevy of younger players including promising English winger Ryan Smith and F Teal Bunbury, son of former Wizard Alex Bunbury. With a new manager and tons of new faces, there are many unknowns. Still, the Wizards will field some solid veterans including F Josh Wolff and Davey Arnaud, as well as US International D Jimmy Conrad. M Kai Kamara, who showed some promise at Houston, could provide a spark. If KC can manage to score goals and the new faces play well, they could make a run at the playoffs.

13. Chivas USA (West 7)
After parting ways with manager Preki after three consecutive early round MLS Cup playoff failures, Chivas USA has embarked on perhaps the most ambitious makeover in the league. New manager Martin Vasquez will place an emphasis on individual skill and attacking style of play. Jettisoned are a truly impressive list of former starters: midfielders Carey Talley, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura and Sacha Victorine, D Shavar Thomas, F Eduardo Lillingston, and GK Jon Conway. The list of replacement players is much shorter: Costa Rica International central defender Michael Umaña, and El Salvador midfielder Osael Romero, already capped 39 times by his country. Chivas does still boast US International M Sacha Kljestan and F Maykel Galindo, one of the club’s leading scorers, when healthy, over the past several seasons. But the rest of the roster is made up of younger, unproven players. The Martin Vasquez experiment at Chivas may turn out to be a great success. I am not banking on it.

14. Philadelphia Union (East 7)
Call it that “new car” smell effect,  but I just have a feeling this season will be a successful one for Philadelphia. Not as successful as last year’s stunning season by expansion Seattle perhaps, but one that should establish Philadelphia as one of the cornerstone clubs in MLS. Manager Peter Nowak has assembled a fairly impressive list of veteran players to form the core of this new club, including defenders Shavar Thomas and Danny Califf, midfielders Sebastian Le Toux, Stefani Miglioranzi ans Fred, and forward Alejandro Moreno. Philly should be solid defensively, the question will come in attack. If Miglioranzi and Fred can work well with Moreno, the Union could score some goals. If not, they should be strong enough defensively and tenacious enough all over the field to be competitive. The playoffs may be a bridge too far for Philadelphia, but perhaps they can make a run in the Open Cup as Seattle did last season, and I think they might at least be able to finish above DC United in the East. For Philadelphia soccer fans, that will undoubtedly qualify as a success. 

15. Colorado Rapids (West 8 )
It’s hard to peg Colorado going into 2010. After missing the playoffs in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the Rapids are still perhaps unwisely sticking to a basic core. They enter 2010 with a long list of players recovering from injury, including much of their first choice midfield, and they look set to have new starters on half of their back 4 in front of erratic GK Matt Pickens. But Colorado lives and dies the forward tandem of Omar Cummings and Conor Casey. In MLS, if you can score goals consistently, you can do well, and Colorado has one of the better forward pairings in the league. Unfortunately I just don’t think it will be enough, and I think the West will have a new bottom club this season.

16. DC United (East 8 )
Going into 2010 DC United seems to be quite a bit worse than in 2009, and they weren’t all that good in 2009. After losing M’s Ben Olsen, Fred, and Christian Gomez, as well as forward and top scorer Luciano Emilio, and having manager Tom Soehn sacked in the off-season, DC United is in clear rebuild mode after missing the playoffs for the second year running in 2009. Soehn is replaced by Curt Onalfo, who failed at Kansas City. The attack will run through erratic M Santino Quaranta to 36 year old F Jaime Moreno and second year forward Chris Pontius. The midfield will likely rely on two new players, and the defense is patchwork at best due to key injuries. DC did sign veteran former Middlesbrough man F Danny Alsopp, and upgraded the GK position with Troy Perkins. But that seems far too little stop the bottom falling out.

New Manager Hans Backe has clearly carried out a successful sea change in the  Red Bulls locker room. This did not look like any Red Bull team I have ever seen before, nor I suspect that most Red Bulls fans have ever seen before either.  Combative, composed, organized, surprisingly quick and technical, and very dangerous in the attack, this is a very good New York team. Joel Lindpere won the honor of scoring the first goal in Red Bull Arena history, and long time New York player Mike Petke got the second. Dane Richards, of all people, scored the last goal on a thundering volley that might have been deflected but still…damn. This is the same Dane Richards who in past years had a habit of dribbling blindly into 3 opposing players and being dispossessed with ease. Ubi Paripovic, who looked like one of the worst signings in league history under Juan Carlos Osario, was composed and effective. Mac Kandji is a beast and the Brazilians early resorted to fouling as the only way they had to slow him down. Buona Condoul has clearly beaten out Greg Sutton in net, and had a very strong outing. Juan Pablo Angel didn’t even play. This will be a team to reckon with this year, and they will have such a home field advantage.

You know a building is having an impact when players during introductions are looking around like the proverbial Kansas farm boy in his first trip to Manhattan. Enclosed by a wraparound roof (see? see? roofs aren’t just for rain), and a stunning grass pitch that doesn’t seem completely grown in yet, the place just feels like it has a tremendous atmosphere. Even through a television screen, it is unlike anything in MLS (sorry Toronto and Seattle). “Euro style” or not, this is a fantastic soccer stadium.

Cruising around the online haunts of US Soccer fanatics, good feeling is very very high at the moment. No more labor strife for 5 years; Philadelphia playing their first ever game this Thursday in front of a certain 30,000 plus crowd in Seattle; two beautiful new stadiums in NY and Philly; grass and expanded capacity in Toronto; some very strong competitive performances by MLS sides in pre-season and the Concacaf Champions’ League; Portland and Vancouver right around the corner; the US National Team getting all it’s players back from injury for the World Cup. This entire year may turn out to be a celebration, one of the continued emergence of the game in the United States.

It’s over. The players will not be striking, the 2010 MLS season will begin March 24. MLS Owners and Players came  to an agreement on a new 5-year Collective Bargaining Agreement on March 20 after three grueling days of non-stop negotiation involving representatives of the owners, league and players in front of two federal mediators.  Said Landon Donovan, “we are excited that we get to play soccer this season”. Here here, Landon. We are all excited. The league has yet to release the final details of the agreement, but revealed several important new concessions by the owners via teleconference at mlsnet.com: a “majority” of players will have guaranteed contracts, salaries will be improved, there will exist a form of limited free-agency, and there will be a new “re-entry” draft fcr players who have been waived, are out of contract, or are of “a certain age”.

Both sides in the process were conciliatory and complimentary after the deal was reached. MLSPA head Bob Foose said he “never questioned” the commitment of both sides in negotiations. MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who’s leadership in this process was lauded by Landon Donovan, praised the commitment of players and owners to the league and sport. Landon Donovan finished his statement by commenting: “this is not a 1 day celebration, this is the start of many good things”, having praised the new, positive relationships forged between players and owners in the process of the negotiations.

It will be interesting to see the final detail once they are released. How exactly will the “free agency” process work”? How about the re-entry draft for out of contract or waived players? Bob Foose said that the situation involving Dave Van Den Bergh, released by FC Dallas but apparently unable to join preferred destination New York due to the waiver policies under the old CBA, would have been “significantly different” under the new CBA. Exactly how much will salaries increase? How many players will have guaranteed contracts, and how will that be determined?

Questions aside, this is a very positive day in US Soccer. At a time when things are looking so good with the national team, many players performances overseas and the opening of beautiful new stadiums in New York and Philly, an MLS strike would have been devastating to the league’s momentum, and to the sport’s momentum in this country.

Well done, MLS!

“No one wants to go on strike, but we need to have certain conditions if we are going to continue” Donovan said earlier, indicating his full support of the MLS Player’s Union’s threat to strike and postpone indefinitely the start of the 2010 MLS season.

In Los Angeles, in the final week of preparations before the 2010 MLS season, Donovan and Galaxy supremo Bruce Arena are all business when it comes to preparation for 2010. In today’s friendly Donovan liked what he saw of the new Brazilians as well as the veteran core of the Galaxy, even without superstar David Beckham, now a player the Galaxy may not be able to count on ever again, let alone this season. Michael Stevens was singeld out by Donovan for particular praise, and after last season’s run to the MLS Cup final, there is great confidence in the Galaxy camp. No one wants to strike. Everyone understands the fragile nature of the sport in this country; it is on the precipice of potentially explosive growth, or utter failure. Such is soccer in the USA even now, 20 years after Paul Galigiuri’s “shot heard round the world” that propelled the US into the 1990 World Cup to begin a remarkable decade of growth. The game is still fragile in this country, if not as much as it used to be.

At Everton, the fans are very sad to see Donovan’s 10 week stay end. There are Facebook pages dedicated to brining him back to play in Liverpool. In the final home game of the loan spell, Donovan scored one and set up another in Everton’s convincing 3-1 win over Birmingham, and the ovations from the stands were long and heartfelt. Donovan fits at Everton, in ways he probably does not even at the Galaxy or with the USA. In all Donovan scored 2 and set up several more in an incredibly successful loan spell.

Both Bruce Arena and Landon Donovan have stated it may be possible for Donovan to return to England in the event of an MLS strike. It is clear that should this happen, Landon’s destination will be Everton. Looking further down the road however, it is a little more unclear about whether Donovan would only accept a deal to bring him to England should that deal come from David Moyes and Everton. Given MLS” likely asking price, it is questionable whether Everton would have the resources to bring Donovan to Liverpool permanently. At age 28, it is now or never for Donovan in the Premiership, and rumored interest from Chelsea combined with the potential of Donovan’s rising stock thanks to this summer’s World Cup, would seem to cast a great deal of doubt on the possibility of Donovan playing for Everton again, outside of an unusual incident such as an MLS strike.

If Everton and Donovan truly want to be re-united, the best chance of that happening ever again may be in the here and now.

I am old enough to remember the NASL, and to have watched NASL games on television.  I was an 8th grade goalkeeper when the NASL folded in 1984. I also remember the following 12 years without a top level outdoor league. In soccer terms, it was a Mad Max Road Warrior wasteland in this country during those years, a US Soccer “dark age”. There was the indoor game. Players like Roy Wegerle and Preki played indoors. There was the struggling semi-pro American Soccer League that helped launch John Harkes and Kasey Keller, among others. Eventually the USISL would grow out of the splintered minor leagues, becoming the A-League and finally USL after MLS came around.

But that was about it. A few US players played overseas; John Kerr Jr, John Harkes, Kasey Keller, Bruce Murray. The national team in those dark ages struggled to be competitive in CONCACAF, barely missing the 1986 Cup in Mexico, and qualifying for Italy 1990 by the skin of their teeth. A third national team residence program in the early 1990’s helped the US get out of the first round in 1994. But it wasn’t until MLS began play in 1996 that things truly began to turn.

To judge the impact MLS has had on soccer in the United States is not difficult, and it is also not difficult to understand the importance of the league going forward.  The US is at a tipping point competitively: we are almost good enough to compete with the best teams in the world, and may get there with the next generation of players… IF MLS is still around, IF the game continues to grow in popularity in the USA. Many who scoffed at the game just a few years ago are starting to take it seriously, and a strong US performance at this summer’s World Cup will only help further that along. Only recently is it finally possible after all these years to actually see all MLS games on TV or online, and ratings are slowly improving. An entire generation of new soccer players has grown up with MLS as their professional target. It may be true that the general sports going public knows little enough about MLS that a strike will not be enormously damaging to the game’s profile in the US; it doesn’t have a very high profile so it does not have far to fall. But if a strike happens, and the league has to shut down for any sort of length of time, the damage will begin immediately inside a league that is still losing money on a yearly basis. If MLS fails and we have to start over again, it will be a giant step backwards at a moment when things are looking so positive.

At the end of the day, as a fan who suffered through US Soccer’s dark ages, I am not really interested in the positions of the owners and players, any more interested than I was then Baseball’s players and owners decided they were more important than the World Series in 1993, or the NFL players who caused that league to play with replacement players in 1987. I don’t care about your egos, fellas, I want the game to continue to exist in this country. I want to watch US players playing at the highest level in this country. I am not alone. Get it sorted, MLS.