Hans Backe wants to go for it all. (Getty Images)

File this under "we've heard this before".

New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe made a sweeping declaration yesterday to reporters while in Mexico. He plans to go all-in this season.

"I say we should go for it all: the Open Cup, the Shield, the MLS Cup," Backe told reporters in a conference call on Thursday from Mexico, where the Red Bulls are training.

One game. Everything on the line.

This is the stuff that rivalries are made of.

Philadelphia Union vs. the New York Red Bulls. On national TV. It's so on.

If Philadelphia wins, the Red Bulls go home for a long winter. Their disastrous season is over. The Union win the Eastern Conference and home field advantage if they make it to the conference finals.

Missing Thierry Henry and facing a strong FC Dallas side on the road, the New York Red Bulls didn't look like a good bet to get the three points they needed to pump some sorely-needed life into their fading playoff hopes.

No, the Red Bulls didn't have their star goal-scorer, or three fourths of their starting defense, but the team that hadn't won since July found a way to win anyway, as a Luke Rodgers goal and standout performance from Frank Rost helped New York post a sorely-needed 1-0 victory over FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.

The Red Bulls completed their participation in the Emirates Cup on Sunday and they aren't returning to the States empty-handed. They will return stateside as the 2011 Emirates Cup champion. Here is a look at their performance in the tournament and what it means for the MLS.

Red Bulls 1-0 PSG

The Red Bulls started the two-day tournament with a victory over now oil money-rich Paris St.

In a surprise move, DC United and the New York Red Bulls swapped midfielders on Monday. Dax McCarty, who joined DC in the offseason from MLS Cup runners-up FC Dallas, is now a member of the New York Red Bulls. New York parts company with five-time all star Dwayne De Rosario, who joined the Red Bulls earlier this season from Toronto.

The New England Revolution are making the trek down I-95 to Harrison, NJ to take on Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls. New York hasn't won in their last six matches (five draws, one loss), but the Revs are looking to stop a three-loss slide and are still searching for their first goal from the run of play since April 23rd.

Tomorrow in New York, Sporting Kansas City begins the second half of their 10 game road trip against the New York Red Bulls. New York comes into the game tomorrow on the backs of two blow out wins against San Jose (3-0) and DC (4-0). Thierry Henry has started to get into good goal scoring form, getting 3 goals in the last two games.

Little change in the rankings this week as the favored teams all won at the weekend. This is how MLSoccer ranks the MLS teams after three weeks of the season.

1: Real Salt Lake
Nothing anyone in the league did this past weekend could have knocked RSL out of the top spot: a 4-0-1 mark in all competitions heading into Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second leg, Nick Rimando the Player of the Month for March and every reason to believe the RSL machine will keep chugging along indefinitely.

It's no April Fools joke; Dwayne De Rosario has been traded to New York. As per the deal, which was announced yesterday, the Red Bulls will be giving up Tony Tchani and Danleigh Borman for the Canadian star. At 33 years old DeRo remains in peak condition, having scored 15 goals last year and receiving an All-Star team nod.

GUADALAJARA Las Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara derrotaron por marcador de 3 -2 al New York Red Bulls en el Estadio Omnilife y se llevó la Copa Gol Marketing, en una noche donde el 'Rebaño Sagrado' vencio al equipo de Rafael Marquez y el mano larga de Thierry Henry de la major league soccer de Estados Unidos en partido amistoso.

The best part of post-draft analysis is that everyone's opinion may be right. Hometown fans are usually very optimistic and begin that glimmer of hope that this coming season might bring them a championship.
Since nobody can prove my opinions wrong (yet), here is my take on the "super" winners , losers and highlights of the day.