Toronto will certainly protect their stars but who won't be protected? (Getty Images)

The 15h and final club in our expansion draft speculation lists is Toronto FC. Yesterday they announced Preki as their new head coach and his first big task will be helping General Manager Mo Johnston with figuring out who to protect and who to leave exposed in the expansion draft.

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Preki is headed north to Toronto FC. (Getty Images)

Former Chivas USA head coach Preki will be introduced as Toronto FC's fourth head coach.

Preki led Chivas USA to the playoffs in all three seasons he was head coach, but he will be looking to improve on three first round exits.

With Preki in town you have to believe the Toronto roster may get a little makeover in the winter months.

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Major League Soccer announced its all-star team today and a certain England midfielder was missing from the lineup.

The MLS all-stars (Best XI) are chosen by the media, MLS players, MLS coaches and general managers.

Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton earned his second career Best XI nod.

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Yesterday, Toronto FC midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was named into this year's MLS Starting XI. It is the dynamic Scarborough native's fourth time on the year end honours and the third club he has done it with. Most notably, his appearance is the first for any TFC player.
While De Rosario is enough of a fan favourite, mostly from being local, it is fair to say that his star has yet to rise to high enough levels in Toronto. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer announced the league's Best XI yesterday, as voted for by media, players, coaches and GMs. Here's what they came up with: GOALKEEPER (1): Zach Thornton (Chivas USA) DEFENDERS (3): Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew) MIDFIELDERS (5): Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), [. Click to continue reading...

Conor Casey holds the ball in a 2009 match against Chivas USA at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Casey was named to the MLS Best XI team (and the ColoradoSoccerNow.com team, too).
(photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey has been named to the Major League Soccer Best XI team.

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By now you've heard that the MLS has dropped their official Best XI. And while we'll get to that at the end of this bit, there's a better way to do that. Some players in the mix didn't belong there. Hence the reason to build OleOle's own version of the best XI.

Without further adieu, here we go.

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First the list, then the thought.

Goalkeeper: Zach Thornton, Chivas USA.
Defenders: Geoff Cameron, Houston; Wilman Conde, Chicago; Chad Marshall, Columbus.
Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC; Landon Donovan, Los Angeles; Stuart Holden, Houston; Shalrie Joseph, New England; Freddie Ljungberg, Seattle.

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How does this look for a best XI lineup. Â This is the group that was named to the MLS best XI for this 2009 season. Â Only a single player from the best XI will be represented in the MLS Cup this Sunday. Â That is of course Landon Donovan US player of the decade.

Conor Casey Jeff Cunningham

Dwayne De Rosario Landon Donovan Stuart Holden Shalrie Joseph Freddie Ljungberg

Geoff Cameron Wilman Conde Chad Marshall

Zach Thornton

So what do you think, is this a good lineup?

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Why is this man not in the All XI?

Its the numbers you produce and not the little things that you do on the pitch to improve your team which seems to drive the MLS All XI. Even when you factor in stats it does not seem to add up to why Cuauhtemoc Blanco was left out.

Blanco played 21 matches, started in 15 of them and in 1452 minutes of playing time he scored 5 goals and 8 assists.

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Press release from the Rapids today. Good to see further recognition of Casey's talents. Does anybody else think that having only three defenders nominated is a bit weird?
MLS Commissioner Don Garber today announced that Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey has been named to the 2009 MLS Best XI during his annual State of the League address. Click to continue reading...

MLS announced it's 2009 Best XI today and one Fire player, defender Wilman Conde, made the list. It's the first time on the Best XI for the 27-year-old Conde, who made the list despite missing 11 regular season games due to injury.

The honor caps a solid season for Conde, who was a rock in the back for the Fire and even contributed two goals and two assists on the year.

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On Tuesday, Major League Soccer announced the League's Best Eleven players for 2009. Zach Thornton (Chivas USA) Chad Marshall (Columbus) - Wilman Conde (Chicago) - Geoff Cameron (Houston) Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto) - Landon Donovan (Los Angeles) - Stuart Holden (Houston) - Shalrie Joseph (New England) - Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle) Conor Casey (Colorado) - Jeff Cunningham (Dallas) Click to continue reading...

Today Major League Soccer has announced it's Best XI for the 2009 season.

Keeper: Zach Thornton

Defenders (3): Chad Marshall, Wilman Conde, and Geoff Cameron

Midfielders (5): Dwayne De Rosario, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Shalrie Joseph, and Freddie Ljungberg

Forwards (2): Conor Casey and Jeff Cunningham

Some shockers may jump out at your like Seattle's Ljungberg.

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While we are no big fan of the playoff structure in MLS, it seems to be a necessary evil in a North American league for now. The 2009 MLS Playoffs have actually been quite good though with 3 out of the 4 teams who remain being deserving. Sometimes however, there are off the field occurrences which can be just as interesting. Click to continue reading...

BMO Field finally turned into a fortress in 2009. (Getty Images)

2009 was expected to the be year that Toronto FC turned the corner and really made a splash in Major League Soccer. The moves were made to get local star Dwayne De Rosario at the start of the season and things looked promising early on but midway through the first full month of action manager John Carver stepped down and if you ask me the club never really rebounded from that change.

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I turned in my media vote for MLS awards this morning. Some of the choices were tough – and I'm lucky to have had a head start in considering all the awards.

I was on a small panel that voted weekly for MLSnet's Awards Tracker, where myself and a few guys smarter than me gave fans a sneak-peak at who might be worth considering.

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Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily make it the best option. As Toronto FC head into their last gasp attempt at making this year's playoffs, that conundrum does indeed rise. The enigma that is this season's Reds are quite frankly lucky to even have the chance to qualify for the post-season but that is the reality of MLS parity. Click to continue reading...

It's do or die for Toronto FC. (Getty Images)

Big time weekend ahead for Major League Soccer. Four clubs have punched their tickets to the post season dance with four remaining spots left open to possibly all get snatched up this weekend.

You can pretty much put a playoff implication on every game this weekend.

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For those of you out there wondering what exactly "dookie rope" is or isn't, please allow me to clarify. This is not a dookie rope, it is just a common chain painted gold. This on the other hand is a classic dookie rope chain. Note the tell-tale twisted flow of the rope; so gangsta.
Now, about that award then. Click to continue reading...

Jeff Cunningham is on fire like few others have ever been in MLS. After a slow start to the 2009 season, the 33-year-old striker has taken off ever since the departure of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. Since Cooper left, Cunningham has scored 16 goals in 13 games, including last night's game winning goal against San Jose.

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Jeff Cunningham is on fire like few others have ever been in MLS. After a slow start to the 2009 season, the 33-year-old striker has taken off ever since the departure of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. Since Cooper left, Cunningham has scored 16 goals in 13 games, including last night's game winning goal against San Jose.

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                                                                          photos by ISIphotos.com

by FRANCO PANIZO

From Olympic standout to orchestrator of the potent Houston Dynamo offense, to U.

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                                                                          photos by ISIphotos.com

by FRANCO PANIZO

From Olympic standout to orchestrator of the potent Houston Dynamo offense, to U.

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Just as the playoff race gets hot, the goals of the week get hotter. Something about a playoff race that makes the goals just a little bit better if you ask me.

Order of goals: Jamie Moreno, Ramon Sanchez, Ryan Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Juan Pablo Angel, Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barret, Brian McBride, Jeff Cunningham, Eddie Gaven, Fredy Montero, and Shalrie Joseph.

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Over the next couple of weeks, AMSL will be examining Major League Soccer through a series of anecdotes, stories, and opinions, to help get a better sense of where the league could or should be headed in future. Please see this post for an idea of what I'm after, and please do send in something either to amoresplendidlife[at]gmail. Click to continue reading...

Last night's game in Chicago was yet another episode in frustration for Toronto FC. TFC need every point they can get to cling to their slim chance of making the playoffs, and unfortunately they gave up two of them last night.

The frustrating part is that Chicago was definitely beatable, but Toronto still managed to squander the lead twice in the game and may now be too far out of the playoff race to catch up.

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McBride nets game-tying goal, but potential winner evades Carr
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Chicago Fire are likely bound for the postseason, but the degree of their mishaps do not exactly paint the picture of a playoff team.
The Fire did fight back for a 2-all draw Saturday night when they earned 1 point against Toronto FC at Toyota Park. Click to continue reading...

That's about it then right? Enough now with the endless quest for the playoffs? Toronto had to leave Illinois with three points tonight but could only grab one from a match that saw TFC start with a frenetic energy and end with most players about to collapse. The 2-2 result was probably fair for both teams who both showed a lot more in the way of mistakes rather than skill. Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire are down to four regular-season games remaining, including two at home. The first of those two takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Toronto FC at Toyota Park (televised on My50).
Toronto (9-10-7, 34 points) still is working in its recent designated player signing (Julian de Guzman). Click to continue reading...

Most parents will tell you that if you coddle a child for too long then they will end up spoiled. Now it's unsure how long "childhood" lasts for your average MLS club but three years seems to be at least "young adult". Why then, is Toronto FC being treated so gingerly by most observers - both on the inside and the outside of the club? Click to continue reading...

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena hasn't exactly rung the changes despite last weekend's record-setting 6-3 home loss to Dallas.

Sean Franklin has recovered from injury and replaces A.J. DeLaGarza (knee bruise) at right back in his first start since May, Chris Birchall makes his second MLS start in midfield, while Landon Donovan moves up front to partner Edson Buddle, perhaps the lone bright spot for the Galaxy last week when he came on as a sub.

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Gary Smith and the Colorado Rapids coaching staff don't look to have been able to snatch an extra player to add to their decimated ranks in time to beat the September 15th transfer deadline. It did seem a little bit of a stretch for the team to be able to secure a midfielder that would fit both short and long-term needs. Click to continue reading...

Loads of goals this week in MLS. Some were good and others were so-so. Throw in a few PKs and it was a busy weekend in MLS.

There are plenty of goals this week, especially since we had a 6-3 game and a 3-2 game.

Order of video: Frankie Hejduk, Maicon Santos, Dave van den Burgh, Jeff Cunningham, A.

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Once again it was Dallas making the multi-goal statement in Major League Soccer, beating Los Angeles 6-3 at the Home Depot Center. And, once again, it was Jeff Cunningham powering the Dallas offense. In the battle between Conference leaders, Columbus got a late goal to beat Houston. Colorado 2 - Toronto 3 Dwayne De Rosario put Toronto up in the 19th minute, but it ended up being the second-half that told the story. Click to continue reading...