Chris Wondolowski has had a dream season.  He finally broke out this year with a league-leading 18 goals and almost single-handedly led San Jose to the playoffs, where they will try and pull out a win at New York tonight.  He has shown the ability to score and lead a team, and with the national team gearing up for a friendly in South Africa later this month, should Wondo be included on that team?

Bob Bradley recently has looked at MLS play as an indicator of who he should call-up for the team.  As we all know, Edson Buddle and Robbie Findley both earned call-ups because of their successes with LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, respectively.  And we all know how that turned out – neither made much of an impact in South Africa and, in some cases, may have hurt the squad.

One reason that Wondo should get a call-up is the utter lack of depth at his position for the national team.  Looking at the roster, the only guaranteed lock to start is Clint Dempsey, who has been impressive in England this year.  Jozy Altidore has also been written into the ideal starting lineup, but his play in South Africa was rather disheartening.  He is young, so he has time to grow into the role, but as we know with young players he may or may not turn out to be what the US team needs.  Wondo should be given a shot if for no other reason than Bradley has so few options that he needs to see if he can find someone, anyone, who can create scoring chances for the team.  Seemingly the Quakes forward can do that.

But if the Quakes lose tonight, will he get the invitation?  Consider the opposite argument against his call-up.  Before this season, Wondolowski showed potential, but nothing more.  He has been the surprise of the league, but is he a flash in the pan?  Is he a more talented Maykel Galindo?  Another knock against him may be his playoff performance.  If the Quakes lose to New York, will he be penalized?  In the first match he failed to score against a good Red Bulls backline, and with the return leg in New York, it will be harder to pull out that victory.  A failure in the playoffs could lead to some doubts about his big-game ability.

Also, Bob Bradley could go a different direction.  His Edson Buddle/Robbie Findley experiment so far has proven to be a failure, so he may shy away from mid-career MLS strikers and go much younger by selecting a player like Juan Agudelo or Omar Salgado.  Or Bob Bradley could simply stick with Altidore and Dempsey, work Charlie Davies back into the starting lineup, and hope his recent call ups like Brek Shea can become contributors, or continue to develop Buddle, Findley, and Eddie Johnson.

But I hope he picks Wonodolowski and gives him a chance, regardless of how the playoffs turn out.  What’s the worst that could happen?

Major League Soccer

A common complaint about Major League Soccer is its failure or unwillingness to observe FIFA International breaks. As recently as this month we have seen MLS matches played at the same time as crucial World Cup Qualifiers involving the United States National Team, this despite earlier indications from MLS that the League was going to pay closer attention to these FIFA breaks during the 2009 season. While frustrating, this attitude by MLS towards the FIFA breaks is not surprising since, historically, MLS does not suspend its season during the World Cup finals.

Today there was finally some good news for those of us who have criticized MLS and its stubbornness when it comes to the FIFA breaks, MLS has announced that it would suspend its 2010 season during the two week group stage portion of the 2010 World Cup finals. Additionally, MLS will not schedule any matches on the same days that the South Africa 2010 semifinals and finals will be played. While this is not a total victory for those of us that would prefer to see MLS suspend all league action during the World Cup finals, it is a positive, and realistic, step forward for the League, which was criticized earlier this year by FIFA President Sepp Blatter for not following the traditional European club schedule of a fall-winter-spring season.

Admittedly, suspending the league season through the entire World Cup finals would affect the match fitness of MLS players not playing on the US National Team, and would create scheduling headaches for MLS clubs that share their stadiums with high school, college, and/or professional thowball teams.

If marketed right by MLS and ESPN, the league hiatus could work to the League’s advantage in attracting newly minted football fans. The first two weeks of the World Cup finals are an utter football orgy, but the number of daily matches starts to drop after the knockout stage. New fans looking to learn more about the game might be more willing to seek out their local MLS side or MLS matches on ESPN2 or Fox Soccer Channel once the group and knockout stages have taken place. Additionally, after the group stage the possibility of MLS matches conflicting with U.S. National Team matches drops exponentially. Should the U.S. National Team go on a shocking run, there won’t be any conflicts during the semifinals and finals.

Finally, this acknowledgement of the World Cup finals is a smart move by MLS in the sense of supporting the United States’ bid to bring the World Cup finals back to the States in 2018 or 2022. The last thing the bid committee needs to deal with is having its competition argue that the U.S. does not deserve to host the finals since its Top Flight League’s schedule plays on as if the World Cup finals are not occurring.

The other important news coming out of MLS headquarters today is that, for the first time in MLS’s short history, the 2010 season will be a balanced season. Each team will play 30 matches in 2010, meaning one home and one away match against every other team in the League. This move is another step that should satisfy football purists and followers of the European leagues who have previously ridiculed the MLS season as not really counting since it wasn’t balanced.

I for one applaud MLS for making these scheduling moves. These are small steps, but it is by making such small steps that MLS manages to improve its product and survive financially.

- As a follow up to a recent article I posted here regarding Vincenzo Bernardo, MLS’s transfer window has closed without seeing the young Italian-American sign on with an MLS club; however, there has been some chatter lately about the possibility of Bernardo joining the expansion side Philadelphia Union for the 2010 season. This would be a good move for both the new side and the New Jersey native. Signing Bernardo would give the Union good press in regards to obtaining the services of a young American who has trained in Europe and would create an immediate connection to the strong football fan base in New Jersey.