As I mentioned in my last post, I'm in the middle of moving into residence at York University, which means that this preview is going to be a little shorter than I would like it to be.

Tonight marks the opening match of a home and home series with Chivas USA. Unfortunately for TFC, a home and home includes a road game.

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As I'm sure you've noticed, the promises I delivered about contributing regular articles and even live blogs during my time in Germany were as empty as...well as a net after Cunningham has had a breakaway. The live blogs were not possible for various reasons:

Colorado: I couldn't get a consistent feed (just like the TFC strikers, but thankfully one of them buried a deadly set piece)

New York: I was on an 8 hour train ride home from Freiburg, where I watched the season opener of my other team, 1860 Munich.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Los Angeles Galaxy has traded Carlos Ruiz to Toronto FC, sources told SBI on Tuesday evening. Details of the deal were not available yet. To make room for Ruiz on the roster, TFC has waived French midfielder Laurent Robert.

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You all have asked, now you all shall receive. Here is an updated MLS Allocation list fresh off the trade between New England and Toronto. Now in that trade Toronto and New England switched places, the Revs moved down to Toronto and the Reds moved up and claimed Johann Smith. After that claim they moved [. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Former U.S. Under 20 forward/midfielder Johann Smith is set to make his debut for Toronto FC today against the New York Red Bulls after signing with TFC on Thursday.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Former U.S. Under 20 forward/midfielder Johann Smith is set to make his debut for Toronto FC today against the New York Red Bulls after signing with TFC on Thursday.

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New York: The bids the club placed for foreign based strikers were rejected, so it appears that the Red Bulls will be going even harder after Macoumba Kandji of the Silverbacks. The issue at this point is acquiring enough allocation money through the league to pay Atlanta's approximate $200,000 transfer fee. Click to continue reading...

Very quick notes while on the run in Beijing:

- The EPL team we've picked to follow, Everton, kicks off the season at 10 a.m. ET Saturday against Blackburn, conveniently on Fox Soccer Channel. Take a look.

- Could the LA Galaxy be doing any more to telegraph the expected hiring of Bruce Arena?

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According to Larry Millson at the Globe and Mail (click here for the original article), US U-20 standout Johann Smith has been acquired from Bolton Wanderers as a new striker for TFC. TFC traded up the allocation list with New England receiving allocation money for the swap in allocation order. Click to continue reading...

Toronto FC announced the signing of free agent forward Johann Smith today. Toronto acquired the former Bolton Wanderers striker after acquiring the No. 2 allocation ranking from the New England Revolution in exchange for allocation money and Toronto's 13th allocation ranking. This swap in allocation allowed Toronto FC to sign Smith. Click to continue reading...

In the last week speculation has increased that FC Dallas Attacking Midfielder Brek Shea, a standout of recent US Youth National teams and the 2008 MLS Combine has drawn the interest from Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. While this sounds glamorous, Shea would be just the latest youngster plucked from American shores by United in the last several years.

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Football is a funny game. The US Copa America Team played Argentina toe to toe for 65 minutes on Thursday night, yet lost by the lopsided score of 4 to 1. Yesterday the highly touted US Under 20 National Team was thoroughly dominated by South Korea in the U-20 World Cup Opener but managed a 1-1 draw. US Coach Thomas Rongen has a lot of work to do before the US faces Poland who shocked Brazil yesterday on Tuesday. Click to continue reading...

Young American Johann Smith is injured and will miss the entire tournament.

Apparently he strained his ankle during the recent closed-door scrimmage versus New Zealand. His replacement, Preston Zimmerman, has already arrived with the squad in Canada. Johann must be pretty upset.

This is alarming, both because the world will not get a good look at this talented young American during the scouting orgy that is U-20 WC, and also because Smith is a focal point of the US U-20 attack. Click to continue reading...

Soccerlens mentioned him as one of Bolton Wanderers three best young prospects. I would love to see someone come up with a list for MLS, if they felt like taking a crack. Between Arguez & Casal, I think DCU would be very well represented. I've also heard good things about NYRB youth. Click to continue reading...