Given that we’re now only days away from the big event, today’s newsstand is full of MLS Cup 2009 coverage once again. Kyle McCarthy is currently in Seattle and shares his predictions for Sunday in his Friday MLS Forecast on Goal.com. In his MLS Cup Notebook, McCarthy also takes a look at other goings-on around the league.

Lastly, Landon Donovan was named 2009 Volkswagen MLS MVP yesterday for the first time in his career. Donovan played a large part in the LA Galaxy’s success this season, and he will take the field this weekend with hopes of bringing yet another award back to LA.

Unsurprisingly, almost all of the talk regarding Major League Soccer this week is focused on the impending MLS Cup meeting between the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. However, there are 14 other teams - including the Philadelphia Union, which will begin to fill out its roster in the expansion draft next Wednesday - which are already looking toward the 2010 season. Kyle McCarthy takes a look at some of the questions to be answered by Eastern Conference teams, while Jeff Carlisle focuses on the Western Conference.

This past weekend, 11 members of the Revolution’s youth teams were given the opportunity to travel to Portland, Conn., to participate in the U.S. Soccer Market Training Center, an event featuring three training sessions conducted in front of many of the country’s top youth and college coaches. Seven clubs from the northeast had players represented at the event, including the Revolution, Boston Bolts (Mass.), Empire United (N.Y.), FC Westchester (N.Y.), Oakwood SC (Conn.), Seacoast United (N.H.) and South Central Premier (Conn.).

The day featured three separate training sessions, one each for a group of U-18, U-16 and U-14 players, all of which were supervised by Tony Lepore, the Technical Advisor and Director of Scouting for U.S. Soccer. The Revolution sent groups from both the club’s U-18 and U-16 teams, while a group of players were also selected to represent the Revs at the U-14 level, although they currently do not have a U-14 program.

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As announced yesterday, Kevin Alston is headed to South Africa for the annual offseason Generation adidas training trip. One of the highlights of the trip will come on Friday, Dec. 4, when the group watches the draw for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. The GA team will also play several matches, while getting additional off-season training under the direction of Columbus Crew head coach Robert Warzycha.

But Alston isn’t the only player headed to South Africa. Chris Tierney is also headed to the World Cup 2010 nation for a month-long service trip with Grassroot Soccer, which Survivor winner Ethan Zohn helped co-found and promote, which uses soccer to educate and combat HIV and AIDS in African nations.

We’ve asked both players to check in periodically during their trips, so hopefully we’ll begin to get some updates once the trips begin.

With the closing of the Major League Soccer season inching closer with MLS Cup on Sunday night, eyes around the league are looking to the future - next season in particular. In today’s Boston Globe, Frank Dell’Apa writes on what to look for from a personnel standpoint heading into the 2010 season, as well as the decisions the Revolution will have to make over the offseason. Read more »

The Major League Soccer season is coming to its end, and the weekend was an exciting one in the world of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Both Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake won matches in exciting fashion to move into MLS Cup ‘09. Across the media today, Kyle McCarthy files his Monday MLS Breakdown for Goal.com, reflecting on the conference finals and looking ahead to MLS Cup. Also a good read is Steve Davis’ MLS Conference Finals Review for ESPNSoccernet.com, where he looks at those who made an impact throughout the two matches this past weekend.

It’s a difficult day for Revs fans who would’ve ideally been heading to Gillette Stadium tonight for the Eastern Conference Championship, but of course last weekend’s match in Chicago didn’t go quite as planned and now the Fire will host Real Salt Lake in the East final tonight at Toyota Park.

The first conference final took place last night at The Home Depot Center, where the LA Galaxy defeated the Houston Dynamo, 2-0, in extra time to advance to the club’s record sixth MLS Cup. For those interested in general (and now slightly dated) news, Steve Davis has a look at who’s understated and underrated for all four conference finalists in his weekly Five-a-side.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Union has unveiled its uniform, which can be seen here.

Finally, the U.S. National Team is battling Slovakia in a friendly in Bratislava this morning, and the Associated Press previews the match here.