The dust of MLS Cup and the Expansion Draft has settled and there is still one topic currently making the rounds in MLS circles: the selection of Brian Ching by the Montreal Impact.
Jesse Marsch likely made few friends in Houston with his selection of Brian Ching in the expansion draft. Really though, Houston have no one to be mad at but themselves.

The dust of MLS Cup and the Expansion Draft has settled and there is still one topic currently making the rounds in MLS circles: the selection of Brian Ching by the Montreal Impact.
Jesse Marsch likely made few friends in Houston with his selection of Brian Ching in the expansion draft. Really though, Houston have no one to be mad at but themselves.

It's always a drag when work gets in the way of your retirement dreams. On Wednesday as millions of us were travelling to Thanksgiving dinner, the Montreal Impact selected ten players left unprotected by their fellow MLS clubs and, for ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

Three familiar faces will arrive at Robertson Stadium tomorrow night when the Portland Timbers make their first trip to Houston since joining MLS this season. Mike Chabala, Lovel Palmer and head coach John Spencer will all be returning for the first time since their exits and should receive a warm welcome from the Dynamo fans.

Philadelphia Union

This Vancouver blog attributes Nizar Khalfan's inability to become a regular starter with the Whitecaps to being away on international duty and being on the outs with then head coach Tommy Soehn. "Frankly, I think the Whitecaps should have kept him, and my feeling is the loss of the Vancouver Whitecaps is the Philadelphia Union's gain.

Philadelphia Union

This Vancouver blog attributes Nizar Khalfan's inability to become a regular starter with the Whitecaps to being away on international duty and being on the outs with then head coach Tommy Soehn. "Frankly, I think the Whitecaps should have kept him, and my feeling is the loss of the Vancouver Whitecaps is the Philadelphia Union's gain.

Well this is going to piss off some Dynamo fans. Just days after protecting Bobby Boswell in the expansion draft, the Dynamo declined his 2012 contract option. They could of course be hoping to re-sign Boswell at a lower wage, but I doubt this is going to sit well with fans after the loss of Brian Ching, who was left exposed in the expansion draft.

Here are some photos from today's groundbreaking ceremony on the Houston Dynamo's new downtown stadium.

The following photos were provided and taken by Katy Umaña

Dynamo Diesel

Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell

Oscar De La Hoya

More photos after the jump

Future location of the midfield center circle

Danny Cruz

Brian Ching's ceremonial first goal

The following photos were provided and taken by Brian Zygo

Mike Chabala

Photo: Nigel Brooks

View full size photo »

It goes to figure that the aftermath of a rivalry game, even one played in the pre-season, will have at least a couple stories that don't do the sport or the athletes involved anything good.

It wasn't picture perfect, there were some mistakes, but the Dynamo got the goals they needed (with some help from Heath Pearce) and defeated Chivas 2-1 at Robertson Stadium tonight.
The first half got off to a frantic start as the Dynamo looked to have scored in the third minute. Bobby Boswell headed home an early Brad Davis corner, but the goal was waived off on an interference call on Cam Weaver.

It's still strange talking about the Dynamo in relation to the Eastern Conference, but when the Columbus Crew come to town this weekend, it's a battle for conference playoff positioning. Houston sits in third place, tied with the Crew on 18 points, but ahead on goal differential. It's these matches type of home matches that will ultimately decide the Dynamo's season so needless to say, Saturday's match is important.

It's a generally accepted rule that when things looks their darkest, a hero will rise. Tonight in Washington, D.C. the Dynamo's hero rose in the 89th minute in the form of Brian Ching whose goal help save Houston from another disappointing loss.

After Will Bruin hit the post and Danny Cruz missed a wide open net early in the second half, the deck appeared stacked against Houston when Charlies Davies put United ahead 2-1 in the XX minute.

In part one of this series, we saw an overview of Bob Bradley's career, focusing on his time as the United States national team manager. Bob saw some pretty amazing heights, from the ethereal Gold Cup 2007 campaign to the extraordinary Confederations Cup in 2009 that saw his USA squad beating European and soon-to-be world champions Spain.

Quick Recap:

One team came out like their playoffs were on the line and another came out just to play. The Houston Dynamo take a 2-0 lead in the first half and never look back. 2-1 Portland Timbers lose.

First Half:

Portland came out and played like they usually play on the road, tentative.

• MLSSoccer.com Team of the Week...Brian Ching Makes the Team! [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo aim for first road win tonight [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo gearing up for final 10 games [MLS Soccer]
• For Dynamo, it's time to put up or shut up [Houston Chronicle]
• Spark lacking in Revolution game [Boston.

When the Montreal Impact select 10 players at Noon Pacific a couple may never set foot in Quebec as they will be used in swaps to get protected talents, allocation or draft picks. Considering the Seattle Sounders needs - veteran leadership, fullback, target forward - there are a few players that make a bit of sense.

The Houston Dynamo took a gamble this week by leaving striker Brian Ching unprotected for today's expansion draft, hoping that Ching's age and salary would prevent the Montreal Impact from drafting him. Additionally, Brian Ching made it clear that if he was drafted by Montreal, he would retire.

The Houston Dynamo took a gamble this week by leaving striker Brian Ching unprotected for today's expansion draft, hoping that Ching's age and salary would prevent the Montreal Impact from drafting him. Additionally, Brian Ching made it clear that if he was drafted by Montreal, he would retire.

That five thoughts on the expansion draft post seemed to work pretty well yesterday, so with time short and you (maybe? hopefully?) interested, here are five more on how the Montreal Impact might be the new evil geniuses of Major League Soccer.

And they might just be that. Because right now Montreal looks evil, re: Brian Ching, and they look like geniuses, re: Justin Braun.

That five thoughts on the expansion draft post seemed to work pretty well yesterday, so with time short and you (maybe? hopefully?) interested, here are five more on how the Montreal Impact might be the new evil geniuses of Major League Soccer.

And they might just be that. Because right now Montreal looks evil, re: Brian Ching, and they look like geniuses, re: Justin Braun.

Por snedecor
Dicen los estudios que Montreal es una de las ciudades con mejor calidad de vida de toda Norteamérica. Un lugar próspero, grande pero tranquilo, con el encanto de la Europa más añeja, situado en un entorno natural privilegiado y con una variada e infinita oferta cultural para deleite de habitantes y turistas.

First, we'd like to wish our own holiday wishes to our readers and new visitors. Thanks for making 2011 a special year at The Yanks Are Coming, and we hope to provide more solid coverage, analysis and unique perspectives on both the USMNT and USWNT in 2012. Soccer has always had a place at Christmas- [.

Vancouver will start its MLS journey in a few months, and the Whitecaps may be doing so with some imported talent.

The Daily Mirror is reporting that Derby County's Robbie Savage is considering making the move to MLS.

"The presentation they made to me was brilliant. To be honest, it blew me away," he told the Mirror.

It's nearly time for the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, the league's annual player selection meeting that could help a team find a new star or leave them wishing they'd spent more more of their development academy.

The SuperDraft is changing, not just in actually form and function, but it just how relevant it will be to the league as all the teams continue to build their academy systems are are allowed to sign more home grown talent, thus circumventing the draft process.

Photo by Katy Umaña

At last, the shovels are in the dirt and construction can begin on the Houston Dynamo's new downtown stadium. It's been a long time coming for ownership, staff and fans and all the speed bumps, delays and political debates are over. All that matters now is that this time next year, we'll be preparing to open a beautiful new soccer stadium in Houston.

The Houston Dynamo's East End stadium took a large step on Saturday, with the official groundbreaking ceremony. Dynamo forward Brian Ching took the ceremonial first goal on the site for the new stadium. "It's one of the main reasons why we came here a little over five years ago, so we've all been on the outside of it waiting for it to happen," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.

By THOMAS FLOYD

The optimism surrounding Charlie Davies' trial with D.C. United seems to increase by the day.

In a development that is sure to please U.S. national team and United supporters alike, Davies notched two goals and an assist during the Black and Red's 4-0 win over the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 national team Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Photo by Amanda

Even in the pre-season, beating FC Dallas is fun. The only thing better is completely annihilating them and on Saturday afternoon at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, the Dynamo did just that.

Brad Davis was involved in three of the four Dynamo goals, scoring one off a free kick, assisting on Geoff Cameron's header and sending the cross in to the box that led to the FC Dallas own goal.

It's rather difficult to write up a report concerning a match you could only follow via a live chat. I'm not complaining of course, just stating facts. Fortunately, the Dynamo have provided us with some game notes that will at least give you an idea of what occurred in this morning scrimmage against Sporting KC.

Andres Mendoza scored the winner for the Columbus Crew as they downed the Houston Dynamo at Kennesaw State University's Soccer Stadium in the second game of Aaron's Pro Soccer Challenge. In comparison to Wednesday night's Columbus/New England exhibition, this match included much stronger teams, as many first team players took part.

We started this feature with the idea that it would be a chance to have a less emotional reaction to the game. A way to just be presented with the facts and make a more measured assessment.

What I didn't count on was actually being more emotional about a game the next day than I was at the time.

The expansion Vancouver Whitecaps are coming to Houston for the first time and will get one chance to enjoy the "unique accommodations" of Robertson Stadium. It's the first match back at Robertson for the Dynamo since their season opening loss to the Union on March 19th.

The Dynamo are coming off a 1-0 extra time loss to Sporting Kansas City in the U.

The Houston Dynamo offense enjoyed its best day of the young season, rattling off three goals to knock off the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1, on Sunday at Robertson Stadium.

Cam Weaver, Bobby Boswell and Will Bruin scored goals on a night when Vancouver's defense struggled badly, particularly after the departure of veteran centerback Jay DeMerit at halftime with a groin injury.

At last, I get to write about a Dynamo win!

Thanks to an all around solid offensive performance, Houston notched their first win of the 2011 season, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Sunday night. We can now exhale. Admit it, like me you had doubts in the back of your mind last night as the Dynamo prepared to face a resilient Whitecaps team without Brian Ching up front.

By CALEB SONNELAND

The Houston Dynamo bolstered its attacking corps with the acquisitions of Spanish striker Sergio Koke and Jamaican midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson on the final day before the early transfer window closes.

Koke joins the club from Greek outfit Aris, where the forward netted 38 goals in 175 appearances.

All I can say is thank whatever deity you like that the Houston Dynamo have just gotten deeper than they were, say at this time a couple of weeks ago. Check out this injury list for Saturday's clash with the Chicago Fire:

HOUSTON DYNAMO -- OUT: FW Calen Carr (concussion); FW Brian Ching (L rib separation); DF Jermaine Taylor (R foot sprain); MF Francisco Navas Cobo (R hamstring strain); MF Danny Cruz (R knee hyperextension); MF Lovel Palmer (L lower leg tendinitis)

Now Carr, Ching, Cobo and Taylor are unchanged, but adding Danny Cruz and Lovel Palmer to the list creates an interesting hole on the right side of midfield.

By THOMAS FLOYD

For Real Salt Lake, there will be no time to dwell on its crushing home defeat in the CONCACAF Champions League second leg on Wednesday, as it now faces another steep challenge: trying to get a result at Jeld-Wen Field.

The Portland Timbers are undefeated at their boisterous home field and will be trying to keep it that way Saturday against Salt Lake.

The Houston Dynamo shook off a winless March to post an unbeaten April, and no player deserved more credit for the Dynamo's surge than midfielder Brad Davis.

The skillful left winger carried the Dynamo attack, recording six assists to help the Houston offense carry on without injured striker Brian Ching.

The Dynamo are fired up, they are pissed off, they might even be irked. Whatever they collectively are, it's time for this team to take all the frustration, anger and any other useful emotion and channel it on to the field...and when better to start that tomorrow against Chivas USA.

The winless streak has reached seven matches, we are all where aware of it, but if bringing it up continues to irk the roster than I view it as a productive topic of discussion.

- Photo by Katy Umaña
Prior to Saturday night's match against Chivas USA at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas, the Houston Dynamo had gone seven matches without a win. After losing the lead to RedBull New York three weeks ago and losing badly to the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend, Dynamo fans were starting to get very impatient with the Dynamo's seeming inability to hold onto a lead or shut down inferior offenses.