Will San Jose lose one of their players in the expansion draft? (Getty Images)

Today is the final day in our expansion draft coverage/speculation/etc. as we look at three clubs. First up this morning is the San Jose Earthquakes. Later on today I will have Seattle Sounders FC and Toronto FC to round out the lists.

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Make no mistake - Mo Johnston needs to make more than a few good player acquisitions this winter in order to improve TFC. However, the decision that will have the deepest impact on The Reds will be who Johnston hires to manage the team. There are high expectations from the supporters but betting on a big name may not be smart. Click to continue reading...

As mentioned earlier on my Twitter feed today has been a slow day due to some bad headaches on my end. I won't go into it much but I am feeling a little better after some medicine kicked in here (thanks to the few who asked). I didn't have much planned for tonight but I did want to get into the coaching carousel that is going on in Major League Soccer.

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Ryan Johnson was one of the few bright spots for San Jose in 2009. (Getty Images)

It's hard to decline as a club after being an expansion team in 2008 but the 2009 version of the San Jose Earthquakes did just that. They became the first team to lose more in their second season than in their expansion season.

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Landon Donovan continues to impress. (Getty Images)

While I realize that the news of Landon Donovan winning his latest US Soccer's Honda Player Of The Year award isn't exactly new, I thought it was important to discuss the progress of the USA's number 10. I myself will be the first to admit was one of his fiercest critics not because of his three stints in the Bundesliga, but because at one time his attitude was all wrong.

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Former Toronto FC coach, Chris Cummins

With the not too surprising news this morning that Chris Cummins is out as coach of Toronto FC, let's look at the rest of the coaching candidates for dismissal in MLS. Starting from the team with the worst record in the league, the New York Red Bulls, and working our way up the table, these men should be feeling the pressure from team owners for failing to qualify for the postseason.

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Game story.

Notable: The Galaxy set a new club record tonight for shutouts - 12. Quite a turnaround from last year when the team had just two - a club-record low for a season.

Quotable:
Here's former Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop on his old club's playoff outlook -

"They're well-organized.

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The Galaxy come into the season's final game knowing a win will give them the top spot in the Western Conference and home field advantage in the playoffs because L.A. holds most of the tiebreakers over Houston and Chivas USA, which play each other at noon Sunday here at Home Depot Center, should either of those two teams finish tied with them on points.

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The possibilities are endless for tonight's game in terms of where the Galaxy will end up in the standings.

The Earthquakes will be looking to put a season that initially promised so much behind them. Personally, I think the biggest mistake was getting rid of Ronnie O'Brien, but whatever.

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With six games left in the regular season, the San Jose Earthquakes notched their first away win, a 2-1 triumph over DC United. The victory broke a 20-game winless streak on the road going back to June 7, 2008. "It was a long time coming," Quakes coach Frank Yallop said. "We have been very close recently to getting a win on the road. Click to continue reading...

1) Shalrie Joseph for MVP? It seems like all the forces are converging and settling on him after his player of the week performance. Today alone, there were three articles touting his candidacy from Ives Galarcep (Soccer By Ives), Ridge Mahoney (Soccer America), and Kyle McCarthy (Goal.com).
He has a lot of things going for him. Click to continue reading...

I don't have too much going into tonight's Evening Links and Thoughts. I mainly wanted to touch base with the current coaching hot seat situation in Major League Soccer. I don't expect any coaching changes to take place until at least after the regular season finishes here. Something crazy would have to take place for any of these teams below to even think about making a switch with so few games left.

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This week has me thinking about tipping points. No, not Malcolm Gladwell's book, but rather coaches, teams and the playoff races.
You know, before watching the highlights from the Denver leg of the San Jose/Colorado home and home Wednesday night, I wondered what could possibly go worse for the EQuakes this year. Click to continue reading...

Colorado's Jacob Peterson goes flying after colliding with Andre Luiz in the first half Wednesday. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

You've got to be kidding. For the second time in less than a week, Conor Casey scored on a penalty kick deep into extra time as the Colorado Rapids tied the San Jose Earthquakes 1-1.

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Here in Los Angeles, there's a minimum level of fame you must have in order to get away with a serious crime. We call it the Phil Spector Scale. It's sort of like the Mendoza Line, but for murderers.
Well, MLS apparently has a similar line, and at least a couple of Galaxy players are well above it. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee gave additional one-game suspensions to Chivas USA midfielder Marcelo Saragosa and Houston assistant coach John Spencer after both were sent off during their teams' games this past weekend.

Saragosa was issued an extra game to his suspension for kicking Seattle Sounders forward Fredy Montero in the face.

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                                                                                 Photo by ISIphotos.com

Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee gave additional one-game suspensions to Chivas USA midfielder Marcelo Saragosa and Houston assistant coach John Spencer after both were sent off during their teams' games this past weekend.

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Huckerby waves goodbye to MLS?

A rough season for the San Jose Earthquakes only got worse with the news that star midfielder Darren Huckerby was lost for the season after undergoing hip surgery last Friday. The Newcomer of the Year winner in MLS last season, and a player San Jose hoped would lead a dynamic attacking offense in 2009, was limited to just 14 appearances in an injury marred season.

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(photos by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

John Spencer was made the fourth member of Colorado Rapids' Gallery of Honor on Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The 38-year-old assistant coach for the Houston Dynamo was in town for a fixture between the two teams, and the Rapids honored him at halftime.

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San Jose built a rock-solid defense in 2008, but hasn't enjoyed the same defensive success in 2009. Kyle McCarthy talks with Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop and defender Chris Leitch to figure out why one of the league's most consistent units has struggled in 2009.
He scored a goal. Click to continue reading...

A pretty light day for the world of soccer, loads of folks are gearing up for the weekend since it is the start of something across the pond from what I hear. I have a couple MLS items to go over, including an update from the trade from earlier today.

First up though is a thought about where the clubs stand as we are in the final third of the season.

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The San Jose Earthquakes were unable to capitalize on the momentum from last week's blowout of Seattle, falling 3-0 to the Columbus Crew Saturday in a result that flattered the visitors. "You look at the score line, it looks like we were murdered," Frank Yallop recapped, " but up until the [70th minute] goal it's an even game. Click to continue reading...

Time to round out the end of the work week with some links and thoughts. I have a couple MLS thoughts and one US national team item to discuss tonight.

DC Plays For Trophies

Link

I love DC United and how they market their club. They've put little stickers on newspapers throughout DC with the date of the US Open Cup final against Seattle.

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My post-game video interviews of the Seattle Sounders FC at San Jose Earthquakes match including:
-Emerald City Supporters pre-game cheering before marching into the stadium
-Coach Frank Yallop on new guys, having Luiz for an 18 month loan, the young guys, and the Heritage Cup
-Joe Cannon on FCD game, footwork mixup, confidence, supporting WPS FC Gold Pride
-Cornell Glenn on impact of new guys, playoff need, chemistry with Johnson and Wondolowski, and Dwight Yorke wanting to come to MLS
-Andre Luiz Moreira on training only 1 week, more Mexican players interested in MLS but pay in MLS still too low sometimes, desire to come to US because of lifestyle as well as the growth of MLS and US Soccer
-Ramon Sanchez on MLS, the San Jose Earthquakes, and winning 4-0 (En Espanol)
-Shea Salinas on his performance, strategy against Seattle, and new players
Translations from Spanish to English by Jed Mettee of the San Jose Earthquakes front office. Click to continue reading...

Somehow this man still has a job. (Getty Images)

In light of Kansas City dismissing manager Curt Onalfo yesterday evening, I figured it was high time I updated my coaching hot seat look once again. Funny thing was yesterday I was already set to work on this and got caught up in something else, by the time I went back into it last night the news came down about Onalfo.

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When you are in the gutter of your conference you will try anything to get out of it. Give credit to San Jose general manager John Doyle and head coach Frank Yallop for trying here. Today they've made another move in signing Brazilan midfielder Andre Luiz Moreira.

Moreira most recently played for Jaguares de Chiapas FC in the Mexican First Division.

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The newest Q&A is up and taking questions, but there was still the matter of the last batch of unanswered questions from the June Q&A. They're finally done and ready to go.

There were plenty of national team questions, including a few about U.S. coach Bob Bradley. There were also questions about journalists, Kenny Cooper and world soccer regions.

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The newest Q&A is up and taking questions, but there was still the matter of the last batch of unanswered questions from the June Q&A. They're finally done and ready to go.

There were plenty of national team questions, including a few about U.S. coach Bob Bradley. There were also questions about journalists, Kenny Cooper and world soccer regions.

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Dominic Kinnear (right), who wrapped up a fourteen year professional career with a stint with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, is set to coach the MLS Allstars against English Premiership side Everton tonight. Kinnear is the highly successful coach of the Houston Dynamo and it is their league leading form that got the former Mutiny man the Allstar gig. Click to continue reading...

The English Premier League is one of the most popular football leagues in the world for many reasons, especially its coaching soap opera. No other league has managed to turn coaching vendettas and spats into a complex, highly entertaining mix of both low and high art in the manner that the EPL has achieved.

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William Mancebo/Tri-City Voice (Fremont, Calif.)

It was a tale of two halves at Buck Shaw Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University on Saturday night.
Well, really one-third in favor of DC United; two-thirds in favor of the San Jose Earthquakes as the two sides drew even after the full 90 minutes, 2-2.

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Test yourself for self-delusion: "A point on the road is a good thing." Right?

No, none of us are that deluded. How about this? "The most frustrating thing about this match was giving up a two goal lead." Any buyers? I see a few hands out there.

But, of course, that's a comforting delusion as well.

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David Beckham is back, and fans of Major League Soccer are preparing for their next ride on the Goldenballs Rollercoaster. To spice up the moment, a book hit the shelves on Tuesday which has ignited interest in his return and will go down in US soccer history as a must-read.

The Beckham Experiment, by Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl, got another boost from the USA's Confederations Cup campaign in which Beckham's colleague Landon Donovan played himself not only into the affections of football observers worldwide, but back into those of the American fans who feel they've never seen the best from a man who should've been a superstar.

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It was an ugly win, but it was a win nonetheless. Three more points to our total locking us up in a tie with Chicago Fire for first in the East for the time-being. Let's just say I'll take it.
After the busiest start to a season in our club's brief history, the guys were coming into this one well rested having not played any matches in two weeks, and if you ask me, it showed. Click to continue reading...

Harmse out, Pozniak in...it's music to my ears. Reports out of Scotland are suggesting that Chris Pozniak is set to return rejoin Toronto FC for a second stint with us.
He played a pretty significant role in our first season as the ultimate utility man, playing just about everywhere in the defense and the midfield. Click to continue reading...