So the second leg is approaching, and seeing as how we did the usual How you doin'? questions thing just a week ago, we changed things up a bit this week to go with a more conversational chat kind of thing. So, here's me, once again with Sofiane Benzaza of Mount Royal Soccer looking back at the first leg and ahead to the second. They actually have a poll up on the front page about who's going to win, so you know, click on the above link and go vote, it might just be the only thing TFC win all year. Anyway, Montreal, how you doin'?

Duncan: Bonjour Sofiane. We'll get to this week's game in a moment, but first let's look back at the first leg. I don't have much feistiness in me right now, but I'll get my bravado out there early...how bad are Montreal that they couldn't even score against TFC?

Sofiane: Scoring was always an issue for Montreal. Before even signing an old Bernado Corradi out of nowhere, Justin Braun and Sanna Nyassi were pretty much the offensive options up front. The positive spin on this is that half-chance are becoming chances since the 2-0 thrashing at Vancouver but the finishing is still lacking for a professional team.

Duncan: Presumably you're looking forward to Di Vaio coming along?

Sofiane: Marco Di Vaio or at least the profile and potential he represents would probably be that spark needed for the trail of powder this team has been spreading. The finishing sector needs a boost and that was identified a few minutes after the Expansion Draft and that still included that Brian Ching was supposedly staying

Duncan: To be fair, they probably weren't expecting to be having to be facing such an uber-defensive approach as TFC put out there.

Sofiane: Not that uber, that is true. But chances were created and Kocic did his job perfectly. When you think about it, it kind makes sense that TFC wanted to shut it down and keep it simple.
Talking of defending, without wanting to go through 6-7 years of MLS, but more like the last one, why does it seem so hard for TFC to field an organised team early in the season? It seemed like that desperation of not wanting to be in the history books made the team to be more organised but still...

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Ahead of the first match up between Toronto FC and DC United, I got in touch with Martin Shatzer of Black and Red United, SB Nation's DC Blog, where you can go for the DC view of the game. After the jump, Martin answers my questions about "Maicon Fuckin' Santos, Dwayne de Rosario and Dejan Jakovic and gives info on what players might be rested after their late night game in San Jose on Wednesday. So, DC, how you doin'?

Waking The Red: After a decent end to last season, DC have had a great start to this season. What's been the key to their good start, and can they keep it going and make an impact in the playoffs?

Black And Red United: The difference this year has been in defense(sic). In central defense(sic), to be specific. Emiliano Dudar, to be more specific. The big Argentine center (sic) back has provided leadership across D.C. United's back line, and making everyone around him better. The offense (sic, alright I'll stop now) is clicking too, but Dudar was easily the biggest reason for United's seven game undefeated streak that just ended in San Jose. Unfortunately though, a hamstring strain kept him out of the match against the Earthquakes on Wednesday night, and will continue to keep him out for a few more weeks, leaving a major hole on the back line that was already missing Dejan Jakovic and Ethan White.

Our long-term aspirations for United are still sky high though. This team deserves its standing at second place in the Eastern Conference, and just as soon as Dudar returns to action, a new winning streak will begin.

WTR: Seems like Maicon Santos hasn't been showing off his hopeless unbrazilian alter ego Mike Sanders yet, aside from his goals, how's he fitting into the team? Also with an eye to the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, how are Dwayne de Rosario and Dejan Jakovic looking? Also fill in the blanks, in the 2 upcoming games against TFC, De Ro will score __ goals.

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Well, here we are again, heading into the concrete deathtrap that is the Big O to face Montreal, with a place in the Voyageurs Cup final on the line. We once again swapped questions with Sofiane Benzaza of Sb Nation's excellent Impact blog Mount Royal Soccer. After the jump, Sofiane answers my questions about how seriously the team and supporters are taking the Voyageurs Cup, why so many players seem to want to leave Montreal, and whether all the chatter about random different old Italian's coming over in the summer will actually lead to a new DP. I also answer Sofiane's questions about Aron Winter and the lesson's he's learning, if any, and what the cup means to an increasingly beleagured TFC squad. So Montreal, how you doin'?

Waking The Red: So, how's MLS treating you kids so far? Easier or harder than expected? Which players have surprised you so far negatively and positively?

Mount Royal Soccer: The beginning of the season was really rough with the first 6 games out of 8 on the road including the harsh road trip that took the Montreal Impact to Columbus, NYC and Salt Lake City. It helped to keep the group tight as a unit being crowded in airplanes, airports, buses and hotel rooms. It also generated a sense of urgency to get points as that road trop produced 0 points but some progress in their game.

This progression has been seen in different players and we can mention Justin Mapp who has always helped the team start its first half strongly and Felipe Martins, the versatile midfielder who is a box to box midfielder with underestimated offensive skills. Matteo Ferrari has been a rock in central defense, not surprising if you look at his CV but the way he upped his game in a short period of time was impressive.

On the negative side, I can maybe point to Donovan Ricketts. He has made big saves in many games and important saves to keep a lead, but sometimes disappoints with some 'blunders'. My blame towards him stops here as he is still an excellent MLS goalkeeper and he is earning his money. It`s all about managing expectations I suppose.

WTR: Brian Ching and now Mike Fucito. Why do so many players hate Montreal? Do you think one of the many random potential DP Italians that have been linked will come over in the summer?

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Ahead of Saturday's must win, but probably can't win game against Real Salt Lake, I got int touch with Denz of RSL Soapbox, SBNations's RSL blog, where you can go for game previews from their point of view, they're confident. After the jump, Denz answers my questions about javier Morales and Will Johnson, as well as what sort of lineup we`ll be seeing after RSL had to play in midweek. I also answer his questions about just what`s gone wrong so far, how much time Aron Winter might have left, how Ryan Johnson's doing and which RSL player I'd love to see on TFC. So, Salt lake, how you doin'?

Waking the Red: After looking good, RSL stumbled when they came up against some good teams recently. Obviously TFC at home is just what any team needs to get some confidence back, but does RSL have what it takes to compete with the best in MLS, and CCL? How do you see the season going?

RSL Soapbox: I guess for me the answer is stumbled or were tripped, against Sporting KC we failed to adjust our style to be more productive against them, and they took advantage of poor marking on a set piece, so yeah I can say we stumbled in that one. Against San Jose, an early red card left us down a man but we for large stretches of the time where we were 10v11 the better team, we gave up a late stoppage time goal in the 1st half but battled back to even it up despite being a man down. Then we got tripped on a bad call that left us 9v11, but even then we did a decent job withstanding the storm and it wasn’t until the middle of 6 minutes of stoppage time (which seemed a bit over the top) that San Jose were able to get a game winner. At FC Dallas, both teams battled, the difference Dallas was gifted a goal on a mystery PK call, but RSL was able to answer back.

I do think RSL has what it takes to compete against any team in MLS, and I can see us making a deep run in Champions League again this year, we do have to consider that RSL have yet to start a match with their "top" lineup. So I consider 5-3-1 to be a decent start to the season considering that 5 of those matches have been on the road. I think we will contend for the top spot in the Western Conference and when it comes to the playoffs, well you just never know.

WTR: How has the return of Javier Morales gone so far this season? Also, with an eye on this year's international games, how's Will Johnson looking?

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Ahead of Toronto FC's game on Saturday against the Chicago Fire, I swapped questions with Ryan Sealock of SBNation's Fire blog Hot Time In Old Town, where you can go to get the Chicago view of the game. After the jump, he answers my questions about what kind of formation we'll see and who are their dangermen, as well as how Dan Gargan's doing in Chicago. and i also answer his questions about TFC. So, without further ado, Chicago, how you doin'?

Waking the Red: The big news right now in Chicago is the return of Chris Rolfe. What does this mean to the team and the fans, and what sort of impact do you see him having on the pitch this season?

Hot Time In Old Town: Chicago Fire fans are absolutely ecstatic right now. Chris Rolfe is a beloved Fire player and a fan favorite. He is also a great soccer player. His return to Chicago is a big lift for a team that has started out in a bit of an up and down trend so far this season. While we have a very dangerous scorer in Dominic Oduro, we haven't had anyone else step up to the plate to help him out yet. Thus, opposing teams are developing game plans around shutting him down by laying deep on the pitch with their defenses. This negates Oduro's speed because it is harder to play long balls and through balls when you have a bunch of defenders just in front of the goal. In my opinion, this is the biggest problem for the Fire so far this season- not having another scorer helping out Oduro.

Going back to Rolfe signing, he possesses many traits that the team needs, especially right now. He is dangerous and can score. Although he can also play in midfield, head coach Frank Klopas has said he will be deployed up top with Oduro as a striker. This will give opposing teams a 2nd danger to worry about, which should help everyone involved. Rolfe is a dynamic player, can make plays, and is a danger from distance. I certainly have seen him let a rocket or two fly in his time. This will take pressure off of the rest of the team and help open up space for other players that can also score, like Grazzini, Pappa, and even Pavel Pardo.

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Ahead of Saturday's game against Carson City's number one team Chivas USA, I got in touch with Alicia Ratterree of SBNation's Chivas blog The Goat Parade. After the jump Alicia answers my questions on which of Chivas' new players has had the most impact, and how TFC old boy Nick Labrocca and Canadian Ante Jazic are playing, and I also talk about TFC's expectations for the game and the season, as well as Ryan Johnson and Nick Soolsma. So, Chivas USA, how you doin'?

Waking The Red: So, to the casual observer, Chivas looked like they were going to be pretty hopeless again this year, then they went and won in Salt Lake and Portland. How the hell did that happen? Is that the real Chivas, or the one that's lost 3 games at home?

The Goat Parade: To be fair, I thought Chivas had a decent shot at a playoff spot heading into the season, but their early performances left many to question their quality. Although they have lost all of their home matches so far this season, each loss has been by a 1-0 scoreline, and they have not been substantially outplayed in any match. While beating RSL on the road was a surprise, even to those of us who watch Chivas very closely, it seemed justified considering how unlucky they had been otherwise this season. And the win this past weekend in Portland demonstrated not only that the RSL match wasn't a complete anomaly, but that this team is capable of battling back from a deficit to win on the road. All of this is to say that there are many games left in the season and by no means can Chivas be given a playoff berth at this point, but I think there are signs that they can make a significant improvement over the course of an entire season, and prove the casual observers wrong.

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This week I got the chance to exchange some questions with Sofiane Benzaza of the fantastic Montreal Impact blog Mount Royal Soccer. We swapped 5 or 6 questions this time around so you can find Sofiane's answer here but to see what he asked me you will have to head over to Mount Royal and be sure to leave them some lovely "encouraging" messages.

WTR: The Impact have basically one Canadian player on their roster in Patrice Bernier. I realize that they have met the league minimum of three but the other two are not likely to be major contributors this season. Is the lack of Canadian content something that sits well with Impact fans?

MRS: I wouldn't call it a concern but more of a wish. The biggest wish that first came from fans and media (some of them) was the possibility of the presence of Quebec players in the team, 99% fueled by the availability of Patrice Bernier before his signing in December 2011. The need for Quebecker players is not as as big as in hockey with the Montreal Canadiens but we all know that some members of the media have their agenda ready to pull out the local card. Fans in any market will always want local talent to play, perform and represent the city,state, province,country. I do believe that the Montreal market is filled with highly soccer-educated fans that come from different backgrounds (social, cultural etc..) and understand the value of a player on the field, beyond any language, origin and such. One thing for sure, with Jesse Marsch and his supporting staff, it was expected to see a very US-centric touch to the team with 294 US-born players in the MLS.

The Canadian content debate is very interesting as I think that a big chunk of Canadian talent might probably have to pass by the 3 Canadian MLS clubs that will need to fully integrate in some shape and form the grass roots soccer programs and help out in the process of producing quality soccer players, like the US Development Soccer Academy.

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So the first leg ended 1-1 with all sorts of feistiness and suspensions all over the place, and now Toronto FC are heading to what the media seem to be trying to tell us is the world's most dangerous place, and a stadium where if the team returns defeated but actually alive, we should probably look at that as a decent result. Eben Lehman of FMF State Of Mind joins me once again to try and explain just why Santos are so good at home, and what changes we can expect to see from the side that came to Toronto? So for the second time in a week, Santos Laguna, how you doin'?

WTR: Santos Laguna are obviously a much tougher team to play against in Torreon, where North American clubs have had some memorable collapses. What is it in particular that makes the home advantage so large? Weather? supporters? A mental block about playing in Mexico? Or something else?

FMFSOM: It's probably a combination of all of the above. There's no question that Santos have been a very tough team to play at home of late -- the club is undefeated in seven league games at Estadio Corona this season, plus that huge 6-1 win over Seattle in the CCL quarterfinals. I don't know that there is any one main factor that you can point to that accounts for the recent success at home. It's not necessarily the most intimidating venue, and the fans aren't quite as rabid as you might see at some other stadiums in Mexico, but Santos just seem to perform at a higher level on their home field. Sometimes for North American teams just playing in Mexico itself is intimidating, let alone against an opponent as tough as Santos. As you said, we have seen some monumental collapses by visiting foreign teams in Torreon (see: Montreal, 2009 quarterfinal round). So even with a lead, it's never safe for the visiting team until the final whistle.

WTR: Last week's game obviously got a bit feisty, and the coach and Herculez Gomez in particular had angry words to say afterwards. Did that sense of outrage carry over to fans and media in Mexico? Is that going to play a part in this week's match as extra motivation or after a day or two to calm down, is Toronto now being treated as just another team that should be easily beaten?

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