It's kind of a crazy game, predicting the next World Cup roster after the current tournament run ends, but it's tons of fun. Several people have done it lately, including the great Greg Seltzer at MLSsoccer.com. We figured we'd take our crack at it. Let us know what you think, and check back with us in May of 2014 to make fun or give praise.

Peter Nowak and Philadelphia make their home debut this weekend. (MLSSoccer.com)

Are you ready for tomorrow? Seriously, are you ready? Eight games in one day, a new league record. We knew this day would come eventually with all the expansion in the league and kudos to the league for putting one so early in the season too.

by Brian Mechanick

When Justin Mapp was traded to Philadelphia Union for allocation money, rumors immediately started floating that the Chicago Fire were going to sign an additional Designated Player, to go with big signing Nery Castillo earlier this month.

Let the Bob Bradley scrutiny begin!

In the next eight weeks or so, with an increasingly "intelligent" American soccer public, Bob Bradley will be under the microscope unlike any American soccer coach in history. Of course, it won't compare to the pressure in England, Brazil, Germany, Argentina or most anywhere else for that matter.

The last day of play before teams lose players to their national teams for World Cup training camps features mostly interconference games. Only Eastern foes Kansas City and Chicago stay on their side of the divide; by the end of the week, will Western teams have padded their 15-6-6 edge, or will the East have cut into that difference?

Here's who did NOT make the squad:

Defenders: Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall

Midfielders: Alejandro Bedoja, Robbie Rogers, Sacha Kljestan

Forwards: Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson

You think the performances in that game last night mattered - on yeah.

Last weeks uninspired performance against DC United was not only a disappointment when put into context of the weeks events, but it was also a lost opportunity for the Red Bulls to tie the Columbus Crew for first place in the East. This week, the team has a shot at redemption, and then some.

With their tie last week, and the Crews loss, the Red Bulls found themselves two points out of first place through 15 games even.

That imposition known as CONCACAF Champions League is back tonight for two MLS teams. The Crew are in Mexico to take on Santos Laguna, a match that should represent the next best chance for MLS to break their Mexico curse.
I say "should" because the Champions League as imposition means a weakened Crew squad will be on the field tonight.

Normally I tackle one of these kinds of posts each year it seems as there are always a group of guys that just look prime to go from MLS to Europe at the next chance. A year or so ago (okay December 08) I wrote that guys like Sacha Kljestan and Michael Parkhurst were on their way out of MLS.

Jimmy Conrad pulling the young boys along during a national team fitness run. (Photo courtesy U.S. Soccer)

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CARSON, Calif.

Mike Lapper, current assistant coach for the Columbus Crew, former defender for the U.S. National Team and various clubs, most notably the Crew, was kind enough to give me an exclusive interview for Pro Soccer Weekly. Mike is a really nice guy and gives some very frank answers to the questions that I had for him.

The roster for the upcoming friendly against Brazil was announced last night: GK: Brad Guzan, Timmy Howard D: Carlos Bocanegra, Jon Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Chad Marshall, Jon Spector M: Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan F: Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez This roster is interesting to say the least and not at all what some of us.

photo credit: DeusXFlorida

The Side: Arrr matey! It is I, Captain Yank, and I am here to regale you salty seadogs with some scenes from the story of the bearded brethren known as the Columbus Crew. This team has plundered many opponent's nets over the last two years and they have found bountiful booty, the 2008 MLS Cup and the 2008 and 2009 Supporters Shields.

I set a low bar for Bob Bradley and he easily cleared it today when he named fis 30-man preliminary roster.

As I wrote yesterday, all I wanted him to do was:

1. Name only three goalies.
2. Don't name less than 30 players.
3. Leave Frankie Hejduk in Columbus.

Pass, pass and pass.

Seattle got back on track with the win in New York. (Getty Images)

Let's just go ahead and say it. The Western conference will have six clubs in the playoffs while the Eastern side will just get two this year. Is it safe to say that right now? Its quite possible with the way things are headed here.

Major League Soccer has suspended Columbus Crew star Guillermo Barros Schelotto for one match for throwing an elbow and hitting Chivas USA defender Michael Umana during the Crew's 1-0 win last Saturday.

Schelotto will miss the Crew's match against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Thursday night after the league ruled on Tuesday on the incident, which was missed by the match referee.

It was a bittersweet moment watching Eddie Gavin of the Columbus Crew score the first goal in the 6th minute of their away game against the San Jose Earthquakes. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and my family were season ticket holders from the inaugural MLS season in 1996 to last year when they moved to Phoenix, AZ.

Lately Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad has been busy. He's been spending his days and nights at U.S. Men's National Team camp in Carson, Calif. He's also been showing up on just about everybody's list of MLS Team of the Decade, including at least a trio of nods for MLS Defender of the Decade. We talked to Jimmy about what he thinks of all that.

The 2010 Crew look a lot like the 2009 Crew, does that mean another Supporter's Shield is on the way? (Getty Images)

I had hoped to get this post out of the way earlier in the day but some issues on the back end of my site kept me busy all day (some PHP bug!). But I felt like it was still alright to move on with out look at each Major League Soccer club and how they are doing this offseason.

By TRAVIS CLARK

Fresh off the heels of a second consecutive Supporters' Shield, the pressure is on Columbus to stay at the top.

Nearly the entire established first XI from last year returns, with only Alejandro Moreno departing for Philadelphia via the expansion draft.

Today's the day.

U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley pulled the curtain back on his 30-man preliminary World Cup roster today, and while he still has to whittle that down to a 23-man group in the next couple of weeks, here are those invited to the camp at Princeton.

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan and Marcus Hahnemann

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce and Chad Marshall

Midfielders: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestian and Robbie Rogers

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Robbie Findley, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson and Herculez Gomez

Missing from the roster are, among others, Charlie Davies, Conor Casey and Freddy Adu.

I'm going to have to watch more Mexican soccer.

I think that is the only way I will better understand Herculez Gomez's success this past season and find a way to grasp his inclusion on the preliminary US Men's National Team roster for the World Cup announced on Tuesday. Among the 30 picked by Bob Bradley were some intriguing and confounding choices.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team began its pre-World Cup training camp today in Princeton, New Jersey today and the mood was a happy and confident one as the squad prepares to begin work on building the team that will represent the United States at the World Cup next month.

Joe Cannon and Bobby Burling continue to lead the Quakes. (Getty Images)

The week was a short one, some clubs didn't even get invited to the party while one club had to go on the road twice. Seemed unfair at the start of the week but by the end of it things really didn't matter, that team, the Columbus Crew made no mistake that they are one of the best sides in the league with two straight road wins.

The Los Angeles Galaxy has held a firm grip on the top spot in the MLS Rankings for two months now, but a challenger looks poised to try and take No. 1 from Bruce Arena's squad.

The Columbus Crew posted a pair of road victories to catapult itself into first place in the Eastern Conference and draw closer to the Galaxy just before the unbeaten teams are set to meet at Crew Stadium.

Saturday at 4:30 on FSW the LA Galaxy travel to Columbus Crew stadium to take on the Crew in a showdown of the two best teams through the first third of the MLS season. You can watch it on TV or you can follow along with the liveblog that Jen will be moderating.

The Galaxy bring their 8-0-2 record in to face Columbus' 6-0-2 mark in the toughest challenge the team has faced all year.

Saturday at 4:30 on FSW the LA Galaxy travel to Columbus Crew stadium to take on the Crew in a showdown of the two best teams through the first third of the MLS season. You can watch it on TV or you can follow along with the liveblog that Jen will be moderating.

The Galaxy bring their 8-0-2 record in to face Columbus' 6-0-2 mark in the toughest challenge the team has faced all year.

I think Bob Bradley has it in for me personally.
I truly, truly just cannot believe this roster.
The list for the U.S. national team's friendly against Brazil next Tuesday night at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.....
GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa).

GK Jon Busch (San Jose Earthquakes) Simply put, Busch was phenomenal on Saturday afternoon. The 34 year-old striker made a series of sensational stops that clearly left the Galaxy's Landon Donovan a bit frustrated after 90 minutes of play. Any keeper who shuts down the league's first-place team like Busch did, in our book has definitely earned the spot for GK of the week.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The decade from 2000 to 2009 was a landmark period for Major League Soccer, both in terms of growth and improved quality of play, so it's only right to take a look back at the decade some are calling the Aughties.

To some fans scattered across the U.S., Saturday's friendly against Honduras means very little. You'd have to be a bit delirious to think Bob Bradley will draw on members of the January camp squad for the World Cup.

But don't tell that to the players, some of whom have a real shot at the very least, a back up when the team gets on a flight to South Africa at the end of May/early June.

USA 1-3 Honduras

The United States started 2010 and the final stretch to the World Cup with a 3-1 loss to Honduras Saturday at the Home Depot Center is Los Angeles, California. The result broke an eight game winning streak for the US against Honduras.

The US began the game applying high pressure to the Honduran back line, but was unable to break through the defense when in possession of the ball.

In this monthly segment, we attempt to answer the question, "Who should we take to South Africa?" Rather than taking the standard approach (doing our best to guess who Bob will take to South Africa), we focus on who we think Bradley should take.

This month's edition of Bradley's Babes is coming out a little late because we wanted to wait for the month's lone friendly before we made our selections.

1. This match will make it onto ESPN Classic. Unfortunately, tonight's live broadcast will be both its first and last appearance on the Classic channel, as it will never make it into their must-see replay rotation.

2. Jonathan Bornstein will get beaten numerous times by his man, but praised overall for his crossing ability.

In only a few hours time the Columbus Crew will renew their battle for the CONCACAF Champions League when they take on Toluca of the Mexican First Division at Crew Stadium. The match is the first leg of a two game series, the second of which will take place on Toluca's home turf, Estadio Nemesio Diez.

March is halfway gone, and the U.S. men's team won't play another match until May 25, when they host the Czech Republic and Turky for the World Cup send-off series.

Form and fitness are at the top of the list for players and their hopes of making the U.S. roster for South Africa. Time is running out for those on the fringe, and it won't be easy to change Bob Bradley's mind.

The rise of the Columbus Crew has been a slow and steady one, but it doesn't seem like the new powerhouse will go away anytime soon.

The back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners are locked and loaded for a third consecutive chance at finishing top of the league during the regular season campaign.

The rise of the Columbus Crew has been a slow and steady one, but it doesn't seem like the new powerhouse will go away anytime soon.

The back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners are locked and loaded for a third consecutive chance at finishing top of the league during the regular season campaign.

Charlie Davies' quest to make the U.S. World Cup team appears over, but the dream is alive for 30 others.

Davies was not named to the U.S. team's 30-man provisional World Cup roster. Herculez Gomez and Edson Buddle did make the list, as did Eddie Johnson.

U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley stated that Davies was in consideration right up until Monday, and that club team Sochaux had yet to fully clear him, which played a part in the decision to leave Davies off the squad.

US National Team coach Bob Bradley today announced the 30-man provisional US World Cup team that will head to Princeton, NJ for its pre-World Cup camp. This is not an easy task and Coach Bradley will inevitably have people pick away at his choices from every conceivable angle.

Choosing this team, and soon having to narrow the list to the 23-man FIFA limit, is a difficult task for any World Cup bound coach – at least as far as media/blogger critiques are concerned.